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Arab reporters come under attack from Israelis

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli government is seeking to ban Al Jazeera from reporting in Israel because it’s a branch of a “terrorist organization.”

Today Al Jazeera’s offices were attacked in Gaza. Israel denies they were targeted. From the Guardian:

Israel‘s army has denied targeting the Gaza offices of al-Jazeera TV after the network’s correspondents reported that the building had come under fire on Tuesday.

Staff in Gaza said their 11th floor bureau was hit by two Israeli bullets as a crew was preparing to broadcast live from the balcony. “Two very precise shots were fired straight into our building,” said Stefanie Dekker. “We are high up in the building so we had a very strong vantage point over the area. But we have evacuated.” Al-Jazeera aired footage of their staff standing outside the building.

And that’s not all. The video above is of Feras Khatib, a BBC Arabic reporter. “Must see. BBC Arabic reporter attacked live on air by an Israeli near #Gaza border,” writes Jenan Moussa of Al Aan TV.

Washington Post’s Sarah Larimer reports:

In an e-mail, a BBC Arabic spokesman said the attack took place during a live report in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. [Reporter Feras] Khatib “was manhandled by an angry Israeli,” the statement said, adding: “Feras was unharmed and will continue reporting as normal.” The spokesman said the attacker “left immediately after the incident.”

BBC Arabic tweeted about the attack Tuesday morning

 

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I can’t find the link, and in any case I’m loath to link to the lying amoral toad, but I remember when Israel killed journalists in the last Gaza war, Mark Regev went on Al Jazeera and essentially said ”They’re not journalists, they’re Palestinians”. For Israel EVERY Arab is a legitimate target, and they know that when they kill them, there will be zero uproar anywhere that counts. Israel is deep deep into fascist territory now.

BTW not exactly on topic, but I can’t think of anywhere else to put it: The FAA has suspended American flights to Israel for 24 hours following a rocket hit 1km from Ben Gurion airport. That’s this holiday season shot to hell then. It seems churlish to talk of such a minor thing when civilians are being slaughtered in their hundreds but Israel is not used to privation. This will hurt.

The overtime at the Israeli Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda offices must be pretty good at the moment as they frantically try to bury, suppress, dampen and spin all these little unfortunate yet revealing incidents.

Gives a July 2014 context to shoot/kill the messenger. (especially if they speak/look a certain way)

We CAN handle the truth, but it seems that Israel and these Israelis don’t want the world to hear or see it. There’s something else that is really very disturbing, but undeniable. It’s de rigueur for these same people and the government to resort to violence first.

Maybe NBC was being honest, and maybe it was making the right call, when it said it was pulling Ayman Mohyeldin for his safety. Now I feel bad about expressing my regret about that to NBC. I’ve only seen one report from him since he returned. I wondered why that was the case, but maybe he has had to stay low for safety. Engel actually has been doing a good job. When one learns about episodes like this one, in which a civilian was targeted, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that anyone who looks like an Arab is at greater risk:
https://news.vice.com/article/cellphone-video-captures-gaza-civilian-shot-and-killed-by-sniper

Jazeera and its owner, the State of Qatar also under attack from the UAE after it aired a report about Lieberman having visited the UAE to discuss the attacks on Gaza. He probably did. UAE is asking for an apology. This may also have something to do with Lieberman’s anti Jazeera outburst that went as far as accusing Qatar of supporting ME terrorism. The Arabs are still punishing Qatar for backing Morsi.

BTW, Air France, Lufthansa, and the Scandinavians also suspended flights to TA. Not a good sign.