Israel vs. Al Jazeera

Israel's simmering conflict with Al Jazeera is heating up again.

The Israeli government stopped helping Al Jazeera after the station aired a birthday celebration for Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese killer freed last month in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah.

Danny Seaman, the head of Israel's government press office, called the celebration "unfathomable" and said he would stop helping the station by providing press cards and work visas for its reporters.

In response, Al Jazeera said the celebration violated its ethics code and announced that it was looking into the matter.

The dispute is the latest between Al Jazeera and Israel.

In March, Israel threatened to stop working with Al Jazeera because of its coverage of a particularly bloody IDF military raid in Gaza.

Israel also began punishing Al Jazeera before the latest public complaint.

In July, a veteran journalist who has covered Israel for two decades came to Jerusalem to get a temporary press card so he could do some work in Gaza for Al Jazeera's English language station.

At that time, before Seaman publicly complained about the Al Jazeera program, he rejected the correspondent's request. It was the first time Israel had ever rejected this journalist's request for a press card.

This journalist was also planning to shoot some photos in Gaza for McClatchy, so we sought to get him a press card to do the work for our bureau. Again, Seaman rejected the request. He made it clear that Israel was unhappy with Al Jazeera and that this journalist was one of those to pay the price.

The televised birthday celebration for Kuntar took place while I was in Beirut. We tried to attend Kuntar's first extended interview since his release, but we couldn't get into the event.

We stood outside the restaurant where the interview was held and watched two guys carry in the large white birthday cake for Kuntar.

The cake was covered with photographs of Kuntar, including one with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

During the show (video below), the Al Jazeera interviewer said that Kuntar deserved more than the cake, which was brought before him amid a small display of fireworks and a special band performing for the released killer.

Kuntar cut the cake with a large sword and called the photo with Nasrallah "the most beautiful picture."

Seaman said he is still waiting to see what Al Jazeera does in the wake of the show.

"This is a fundamental question as to where Al Jazeera stands," Seaman told Reuters. "Does it stand with the extremists or is it a professional organization?" 

Comments

[MelindaSamner]

Israel has always systematically targeted journalists through the Israeli military.

In fact, since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000, the Israeli military has killed at least nine journalists, including an Italian and a Briton. At least 170 other journalists have been wounded by the Israeli military during this period.

Why do they do this? To cover up the fact that they usurp, supress, deny, destroy, and systematically oppress their natural inhabitants of course.

[Steve]

Israel should consider anyone associated with al Jazeera as terrorist collaborators and arrest them on sight.

[Gary Rosen]

If Israel were serious about "targeting jounalists", the author of this column would be eating dirt right now. Too bad you, Melinda, like Dion, aren't as outraged when some psychopathic Islamofascist savage smashes the head of a little Jewish girl against a rock.

[hannibal abdullah-el]

the loss of any life, human or otherwise, is a tragedy. We should first look inward, then without. The whole time remembering that we should judge not less we be judged. i grew up in an islamic(father)/christian(mother)household and both the bible and quran preach the same message which is tolerance and love. doing unto others as you would have them do unto you! before we get involved in other peoples affairs we should take care of those here first, remember hurricane katrina!