Amnesty: Journalists get hit by all sides in Israel + Palestine

The director of Amnesty International’s program for the Middle East and North Africa, Malcolm Smart, has issued (on 12 March) a statement expressing concern about the “continuing curbs on media freedom and harassment of journalists working in Gaza and the West Bank”
The statement notes that “Amnesty International has called on the Palestinian and Israeli authorities [...]

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Hamas releases British freelance journalist Paul Martin – UPDATED

Paul Martin, detained nearly 30 days ago at the Gaza City courthouse when he was there to testify on behalf of a Palestinian member of a militant group who is charged with collaboration with Israel, was released today without having been charged.
Hamas said they released Martin to make us happy. We are happy. [...]

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Biden meets Abu Mazen in Ramallah

American Vice-President Joe Biden was received with red carpet treatment at the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters in the Muqata’a in Ramallah today — by polite and mildly-friendly Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and an irritated and angry, even sullen, Palestinian negotiating team.

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Will Hamas extend British journalist Paul Martin’s detention in Gaza? Yes?

The 14-day detention order issued by a Gaza prosecutor for “security concerns” against British freelance film maker and journalist Paul Martin is due to expire today. There were reports yesterday that the prosecutor may ask to extend Martin’s detention for another 14 days.
Martin had returned to Gaza 14 days ago to testify in court [...]

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On Journalism – the press corps as “courtiers”

The very estimable journalist Chris Hedges wrote in an article published by Truthdig on 1 February: “ ‘The very notion that on any given story all you have to do is report what both sides say and you’ve done a fine job of objective journalism debilitates the press’, the late columnist Molly Ivins once wrote. [...]

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A Journalist (find her) looks at excavations with new finds from 10th century B.C.

The caption for this AP photo reads: “A journalist looks over newly excavated fortifications outside the Old City walls in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 22 2010. An Israeli archaeologist says the ancient fortifications date back 3,000 years to the time of the Bible’s King Solomon and offer evidence for the accuracy of the biblical narrative”.

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Iran’s Supreme Leader insists: no nuclear weapons

Well, can it get clearer than this?
Buried in an AP story that was headlined as a criticism of U.S. military moves, the reporter, Ali Akbar Dareini, reported that Iranos Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [Khamene'i] “insisted his country is not seeking nuclear weapons, saying Islam forbids weapons of mass destruction. ‘Because of this reason, [...]

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Update on UK journalist detained by Hamas in Gaza

It has gone largely quiet.
Paul Martin, freelance British journalist and documentary filmmaker, who is now in Gaza’s central jail after being detained in a Gaza City courthouse, has apparently been able to speak to a lawyer. According to AP, Martin had just begin testifying in the Gaza courtroom when he was ordered detained.
Here [...]

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Is Hamas accusing British journalist detained in Gaza of looking for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit?

Freelance British Journalist Paul Martin — apparently a documentary filmmaker — was detained yesterday at a courthouse in Gaza City by Hamas authorities on “suspicion of breaking local/’Palestinian’ laws”, and Gaza’s Attorney General has now ordered him held for 15 days.  Martin is reportedly now in Gaza City’s central prison.  As the AP reports, this [...]

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Palestinian “sex + corruption” videotape scandal continues

Some of the reactions are interesting — some Israeli comments on various news stories and blog posts say they are happy to learn that the Palestinian leadership is interested in sex rather than violence… “Let them make love, not war”, one Israeli wrote. OK.
This only shows how the lack of contact, the media incitement [...]

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