 A
diplomatic row between Israel and the Vatican cast doubt over Pope Benedict
XVI’s planned visit to the Holy Land, after a prominent cardinal said that
Gazans were living in a big concentration camp.
In his annual speech to diplomats in the Vatican the Pope sought to damp down
the dispute. He said that the war was provoking immense damage and suffering
for the civilian populations in Gaza and Israel. He urged the rejection
of hatred, acts of provocation and the use of arms and added: Violence,
wherever it comes from and whatever form it takes, must be firmly condemned. The
military solution is never an option.
His remarks came amid outrage from Israelis over a statement by Cardinal Renato
Martino, the head of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace and a former Holy
See envoy to the United Nations, who compared Gaza to a concentration camp. The
cardinal criticised Israel for killing civilians who had taken shelter at a UN
run school in Gaza.
Israeli officials said that they were deeply shocked that a man of religion
is using the vocabulary of Hamas propaganda. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre,
which monitors antiSemitism and hunts down Nazi war criminals, said that
Cardinal Martino had used the language of a Holocaust denier.
Israeli Media Propaganda
Based on
article
from
indexoncensorship.org
by Dimi Reider
When I was in journalism school, we were taught that truth was the first
casualty of any war. But in the current seismic violence in the Gaza Strip,
truth was joined by three more casualties — decency, compassion and shame.
True, censorship is there. Not only are there no Israeli journalists in Gaza,
but Israel is also preventing all foreign media from reaching the Strip, with
even the circumspect decision by an embattled Supreme Court to let in a pool of
eight journalists (foreign and Israeli) not being carried out. Foreign
journalists have been detained, and online forums have been contacted and
requested to remove threads which the IDF considered dangerous either to
security or morale. The parliament has happily joined the bandwagon, with
one prominent MK suggesting to block al Jazeera and al Arabiya due to the
demoralising effect it has on our Arab population.
The media itself rushes to assist them with bucketfuls of self-censorship. But
all this pales before the unabashedly jingoistic tone struck by the media.
News sections in newspapers are entirely devoted to drums of war from day one,
when all media lauded the brilliant thinking of the surprise effect.
IDF statements are given as news items and the most extravagant quotes by
the Israeli politicians are reported as they are. (The prize-holder for these
is, undoubtedly, Tzipi Livni, with such profound statements as a ceasefire
would damage negotiations and the war is necessary to promote peace.
Censorship Bombshell
Based on
article
from
cpj.org
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Israeli military's bombing
today of a Gaza City building that houses the offices of a number of
international news organizations.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked the rooftop of Al-Johara Tower, an
eight-story building located in Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, which houses
more than 20 international news organizations.
Al-Jazeera reported that at least one journalist was injured while filing a
report from the roof of the building. Satellite transmission equipment on the
roof of the building was also damaged in the attack.
Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, defended the
strike in an interview with Al-Jazeera, saying that communications equipment in
the building could have been used by Hamas.
The Israeli military knows the location of TV facilities houses and news
bureaus in Gaza. It is simply unacceptable that working journalists and their
offices should come under fire in this way,"said CPJ Deputy Director Robert
Mahoney. Journalists enjoy protections under international law in military
campaigns such as the one in Gaza. Israel must cease its attacks on the media
immediately.
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