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	<title>UN-Truth &#187; Journalism and Journalists</title>
	<atom:link href="http://un-truth.com/category/journalism-and-journalists/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://un-truth.com</link>
	<description>This blog hopes to shed some light on issues that are discussed at the United Nations.  Now that I am in Jerusalem, it is focussing primarily -- but not exclusively -- on the Israeli-Palestinian conflictg.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:33:53 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<item>
		<title>Rosa Luxemburg &#8211; 93 years ago today</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/rosa-luxemburg-93-years-ago-today</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/rosa-luxemburg-93-years-ago-today#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Donor Opium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Occupy movement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rosa Luxemburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rosa Luxemburg Foundation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12368</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My Mentor, who shall be known as &#8220;Promeneur&#8221; until he authorizes otherwise, has sent a correction to a description I wrote about Rosa Luxemburg, in my post on Donor Opium [a film critical of Palestinian dependence on donor aid, which was sponsored by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation]. He wrote [from London, via email]: &#8220;Starved to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My Mentor, who shall be known as &#8220;Promeneur&#8221; until he authorizes otherwise, has sent a correction to a description I wrote about Rosa Luxemburg, in my post on Donor Opium [a film critical of Palestinian dependence on donor aid, which was sponsored by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation].  He wrote [from  London, via email]:</p>
<ul>
<em>&#8220;Starved to death??? How could you!</p>
<p>Clubbed to the ground with a rifle butt by a proto-Stormtrooper, shot between the eyes, dumped in a Berlin canal &#8230; precisely 93 years ago today Sunday [15 January]. They&#8217;ll have gathered at spot, as they do every year.<br />
              <img height="307" width="450" vspace="5" id="yiv1059403964MA1.1326656774" style="width: 304px; height: 208px;" src="http://f1205.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f95422741%5fAPNVimIAAGE2TxMtFgFbwGufSNI&amp;pid=1.2&amp;fid=Inbox&amp;inline=1"/></p>
<p>Memorise Brecht&#8217;s rhyme &#8212; <strong>&#8216;She told the poor what life was about / And so the rich have rubbed her out&#8217;</strong>.  </p>
<p>Slight frail fearless she was the real deal. Just who the Occupy movement could do with. Jewish, of course. Where&#8217;s her like today?  Dare one wonder where she&#8217;d stand on &#8230; well you know what.&#8221;</em></ul>
<p><span id="more-12368"></span></p>
<p>UPDATE: Wikipedia reports that Rosa Luxemburg was questioned &#8220;violently&#8221; by Social Democrats and then executed [hit by a rifle butt and also shot in the head, then thrown into a river] on 15 January 1919 in the suppression of an uprising that the Spartacist League she co-founded took part in.   The Wikipedia entry on Rosa Luxemburg can be read in full <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<p>Wikipedia also reports that &#8220;Luxemburg&#8217;s last known words, written on the evening of her murder, were about her belief in the masses, and in what she saw as the inevitability of revolution:<br />
    &#8216;The leadership has failed. Even so, the leadership can and must be recreated from the masses and out of the masses. The masses are the decisive element, they are the rock on which the final victory of the revolution will be built. The masses were on the heights; they have developed this &#8216;defeat&#8217; into one of the historical defeats which are the pride and strength of international socialism. And that is why the future victory will bloom from this &#8220;defeat&#8221;.<br />
    &#8216;Order reigns in Berlin!&#8217; You stupid henchmen! Your &#8220;order&#8221; is built on sand. Tomorrow the revolution will<br />
already &#8220;raise itself with a rattle&#8221; and announce with fanfare, to your terror:  I was, I am, I shall be!&#8221;</p>
<p>And, Wikipedia lists some of her other better-known comments:<br />
&#8220;Luxemburg&#8217;s best-known quotation is: &#8216;Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently&#8217; (Freiheit ist immer Freiheit der Andersdenkenden) &#8212; this is from a fuller quotation:<br />
    &#8216;Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of a party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of the dissenter. Not because of the fanaticism of &#8220;justice&#8221;, but rather because all that is instructive, wholesome, and purifying in political freedom depends on this essential characteristic, and its effects cease to work when &#8220;freedom&#8221; becomes a privilege&#8217;.</p>
<p>    &#8216;Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element&#8217;.</p>
<p>And<br />
    &#8216;Those who do not move, do not notice their chains&#8217;.&#8221;</p>

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		<title>On Press Cards here: the value of a PA Press Card</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/on-press-cards-here-the-value-of-a-pa-press-card</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/on-press-cards-here-the-value-of-a-pa-press-card#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:25:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine & Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nablus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PA Press Card]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PA Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unmarked black van]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12151</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is a tale that illustrates a number of things. Nablus, 3:30 pm on a sunny and relatively quiet Friday afternoon, at the entry to the city: an unmarked black SUV-type van, with very dark windows, was parked at 90 degree angle to road. The unmarked black van had a Palestinian Authority [PA] license or [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here is a tale that illustrates a number of things.</p>
<p>Nablus, 3:30 pm on a sunny and relatively quiet Friday afternoon, at the entry to the city:  an unmarked black SUV-type van, with very dark windows, was parked at 90 degree angle to road. </p>
<p>The unmarked black van had a Palestinian Authority [PA] license or number plate [white, with green numbers on white background], with the number <strong>7-8600-91</strong>.  </p>
<p>I glanced at it as I drove past, never having seen any of the usual white and marked PA security vans parked at the entry to the city &#8212; they used to be further in, at the point where you would turn if going to the Balata Refugee Camp, but never here.</p>
<p>But this was not a normal PA security van &#8212; it was black, unmarked, with very dark windows.  Just one.</p>
<p>It could be PA, but not the usual security.  </p>
<p>However, I thought, it could be Israeli &#8230; they could be using false PA plates.  But, it was just one van, and the Israelis don&#8217;t ususally station themselves around the West Bank so exposed.</p>
<p>Suddenly, just after I passed, it pulled out right behind me, and drove quickly right up on my tail, flashing its headlights on high beams.  As I slowed down, it zipped around to cut me off in front, blocking me diagonally.</p>
<p>Immediately, four men in civilian clothes (nice clothes, too &#8212; there were some honey- or cognac-colored suede jackets, trousers, normal shoes in good condition) jumped out of the side doors of the black unmarked van with black windows.  At least two men remained inside, in the front seat of the van.</p>
<p>The four rush, but do not run, to my window. They&#8217;re suddenly right there.  They don&#8217;t show any ID, but they don&#8217;t show any weapons, either.</p>
<p>In Arabic, they demand to know where I&#8217;m from. New York, I say. Then they ask to see my &#8220;hawiyya&#8221; [Palestinian ID card].  I tell them I don&#8217;t have a &#8220;hawiyya&#8221;. </p>
<p>I thought the best first thing to show, in the circumstances, <em>might </em>be my PA Press Card. </p>
<p>Luckily, I was right.  Oh, a journalist! they said, and backed off.  That was an immediately improvement in the situation.  But, I felt I had to ask them why they had chased and stopped me, in such an alarming manner.</p>
<p>What was the reason?  Why had these plainclothed officers in an unmarked black car with black windows chase + stop me for no apparent reason without showing ID?  Why did they never give me any explanation?  They didn&#8217;t even relax and smile, and say &#8220;Welcome&#8221;, the way the green-uniformed PA Security did at the very few Palestinian checkpoints that exist in the West Bank [at several places in Jericho, at the northern entrance to Nablus coming on the road from Shavei Shomron, and maybe one or two other spots]&#8230;</p>
<p>They just backed off, got into the unmarked black van, and drove away&#8230;Scary.  </p>
<p>At least, it showed the utility and usefulness of PA Press Cards&#8230;</p>

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		<title>Recommended Reading &#8211; Amira Hass: Palestinians are heroes</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/human-rights/recommended-reading</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/human-rights/recommended-reading#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:29:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Boundaries & Borders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine & Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amira Hass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Haaretz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israeli military occupation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestinians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12102</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Amira Hass has written this, or things like this, in Haaretz before. But, it&#8217;s like Picasso&#8217;s Blue period &#8212; she keeps trying to explain what she sees, over and over again, until she finally captures its essence. [I have sometimes explained what I'm doing in the same way...] It isn&#8217;t that this time she finally [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Amira Hass has written this, or things like this, in Haaretz before.</p>
<p>But, it&#8217;s like Picasso&#8217;s Blue period &#8212; she keeps trying to explain what she sees, over and over again, until she finally captures its essence.  [I have sometimes explained what I'm doing in the same way...]</p>
<p>It isn&#8217;t that this time she finally got it right &#8212; no, there&#8217;s still so many things to write, so many more ways to try to describe this reality so that it&#8217;s understandable, and comprehended by those not physically here [or, by those who are here, but don't see it, or who ignore it].</p>
<p>But, this time [as many times], the words resonate in a special way.</p>
<p>Amira writes: <strong>Palestinians are heroes, braving Israeli dictatorship</strong> &#8211; &#8220;To live this way and remain sane &#8211; that&#8217;s heroism. &#8216;And who says we&#8217;re sane?&#8217; Palestinians answer me.  Well, here&#8217;s the proof: self-irony.  The thugs of the hills are only the icing on the cake. <strong>Most of the work is being done by thugs wearing kid gloves</strong>&#8230;  Latest update 01:41 21.12.11, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/palestinians-are-heroes-braving-israeli-dictatorship-1.402660"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>

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		<title>PA says only journalists with PA Press Cards can cover major Bethelehem Christmas events</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/pa-says-only-journalists-with-pa-press-cards-can-cover-major-bethelehem-christmas-events</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/pa-says-only-journalists-with-pa-press-cards-can-cover-major-bethelehem-christmas-events#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:25:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boundaries & Borders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine & Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bethlehem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christmas 2011 in Bethlehem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghassan Khatib]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PA Press Cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestinian or PA Government Media Center]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is something I found out quite accidentally, in a discussion yesterday with a Palestinian official in Ramallah about the lack of reciprocity in Israeli-Palestinian relations [including Press accreditation for media]: This year, for the first time since the Israeli conquest in the June 1967 war, it seems journalists holding ONLY Israeli GPO press cards [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This is something I found out quite accidentally, in a discussion yesterday with a Palestinian official in Ramallah about the lack of reciprocity in Israeli-Palestinian relations [including Press accreditation for media]:<br />
</em><br />
This year, for the first time since the Israeli conquest in the June 1967 war, it seems journalists holding <em>ONLY</em> Israeli GPO press cards [<strong>UPDATE</strong>] <em>MAY</em> encounter slight problems in covering Christmas events in Bethlehem&#8230;</p>
<p>However, yesterday, I was informed by the Palestinian official I discussed the matter with that &#8220;Anyone who thinks that they can come to cover the Bethlehem Christmas events this year with just an Israeli GPO card [<em>and without a PA Press Card</em>] is in for a big surprise &#8230; I will personally escort him/her back to the checkpoint&#8221;.</p>
<p>This morning, to clarify this surprising change, I phoned Ghassan Khatib, Director of the PA Government Media Center in Ramallah.  </p>
<p>[Ghassan Khatib was for years the head of the JMCC [Jerusalem Media and Communications Center], based in East Jerusalem until the closure of Jerusalem to most Palestinians, and he continues to be editor of the weekly Bitterlemons online publication.  Khatib also served as the PA Minister of Planning, and formerly as PA Minister of Labor, and then as the Vice-President of Bir Zeit University just outside Ramallah.]</p>
<p>He replied to my question about the new requirement for PA Press Cards this way: &#8220;Um, Well, Why not?&#8221;</p>
<p>Khatib added that this is standard practice in every place [country] in the world &#8212; to require specific press accreditation for coverage of major events.</p>
<p>Was there notification of this new policy?</p>
<p>&#8220;A statement was distributed to all journalists&#8221;, Khatib replied. </p>
<p>This statement was issued jointly, Khatib added, by the PA Government Media Center, by the PA Ministry of Tourism, and by the Bethlehem Municipality.</p>
<p>But, though I have a Palestinian [PA] Press Card, and have had for several years &#8212; and though I have several times requested to be added to the PA Government Media Center&#8217;s email distribution list &#8212; I have not ever received any of the PA Government Media Center&#8217;s emails or statements&#8230;</p>
<p>Khatib, who recalled one of my requests during an interview with him, in his office, in September, said he would look into it.</p>
<p>[<em>During that interview, in September, Khatib suggested that he was thinking of doing away with the PA Press Cards, and wondered if they served any useful purpose...I argued that they were very important, even essential, especially in combat and conflict zones, and most particularly when crossing checkpoints and dealing with various security officials ...</em><em>] </p>
<p>I asked, what are the restrictions that will be imposed, exactly? Will holders of Israeli GPO cards only be able to enter Bethlehem but just not the Church of the Nativity?  Can they go elsewhere as well?  And, will this new requirement for a PA Press Card be for a limited duration of time?  If so, will it just be for this holiday season, and if so, for how long?</p>
<p>Khatib said he did not know the answer to these questions, and either he or another official in his office would get back to me within 30 minutes &#8212; but so far this has not happened.</p>
<p>So, I called a Palestinian journalist friend &#8212; who happens to be in Bethlehem from now through the weekend &#8212; who downplayed the whole thing, saying that the PA statement said merely that having a PA Press<br />
Card would &#8220;facilitate&#8221; the movement of journalists, and that there might be &#8220;inconveniences&#8221; otherwise.  </p>
<p>[N.B. -- This is not how it was phrased yesterday by one official in a position to know... However, this official indicated there MIGHT be exceptions made "if we know the person, and if we have worked with him/her before"]</p>
<ul> <strong>It was learned later on Thursday that the information below is incorrect [see information further down:</strong><br />
However, the Palestinian journalist friend told me this afternoon that there is a PA Government Media Center  presence now set up in Bethlehem, just outside the Church of Nativity, across from the Police Station in Manger Square, which will, among other things, issue PA press cards during the upcoming 2011 Christmas events...</ul>
<p><strong>UPDATE: The information above is not correct, it was later learned: the PLO Negotiations Support media team -- and <strong>not</strong> the PA Government Media Center headed by Ghassan Khatib -- has set up the presence in Bethlehem</strong>, just outside the Church, and across from the Police Station, and PA Press Cards cannot be issued there... </p>
<p><strong>UPDATE TWO [Saturday 24 December]: For journalists who may need help or assistance, there is a phone contact for the Christmas Media Center for JOURNALISTS at Nativity Square in Bethlehem, which just came by SMS: 0598999769 </strong>.</p>
<p>Meantime, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, his Advisor Jamal Zakout, and his Media Unit team sent out a Season&#8217;s Greeting wishing &#8220;all our fellow Journalists a Happy Holiday season.  May the year 2012 bring joy, prosperity, success and <strong>more freedom of press</strong>.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year&#8221; &#8230;</p>

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		<title>My Day in Court [cont&#039;d 1] Full text: Israel reports Committee decides bloggers are journalists</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/full-text-israel-reports-committee-decided-bloggers-are-journalists</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/full-text-israel-reports-committee-decided-bloggers-are-journalists#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:09:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government Press Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israeli Government Press Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israeli press cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[journalists]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12104</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Read it for yourself: here below is the full text, in English, of a press release announcing new rules, as transmitted from the Israeli Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs in conjunction with the Israeli Government Press Office [GPO] which is part of the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office [PMO] currently headed by Benyamin Netanyahu. First, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Read it for yourself: here below is the full text, in English, of a press release announcing new rules, as transmitted from the Israeli Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs in conjunction with the Israeli Government Press Office [GPO] which is part of the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office [PMO] currently headed by Benyamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p>First, though, just let me say here that I did not receive this press release myself, though I am still on various of the GPO mailing lists, despite the denial to me of an Israeli GPO Press Card since 2010, which is now under consideration before the Israeli High Court of Justice, or Supreme Court.  Follow my updates here.</p>
<p>Nor did various other journalists I know, who work for major media organizations, receive this press release.</p>
<p>It is a mystery: who received it, and why, and who did not.</p>
<p>Though there was a report on this decision, by the Government-appointed Committee mentioned in the press release above, apparently both in the Hebrew-language edition of <em><strong>Haaretz</strong></em>, and in the Israeli business publication <strong>Globes</strong></em>, it is not yet published in English, to my knowledge.</p>
<p>However, this press release does exist, in English &#8212; but was sent to only a limited distribution list.</p>
<p>What emerges, after consideration of the announcements made and the statements reported in this press release, is this important fact:  THERE ARE NOT [YET] NEW RULES.  </p>
<p>No.  There are only the principles mentioned in the press release above.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, in the first Supreme Court hearing of my petition for renewal of my Israeli GPO press card, on the basis of my own two &#8220;niche websites&#8221; [my words, contained in my appeal formulated in 2010], the Government of Israel told a three-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court that <em>I do not qualify</em> under these new rules.</p>
<p>The earlier ruling, which I had appealed, was that I do not qualify for a a GPO Press Card because this website does not have 100,000 &#8220;hits&#8221; from distinct visitors per day&#8230; </p>
<p>Yes, that&#8217;s true, I told the Israeli Government &#8212; we ourselves supplied you with the statistics from this site, and we do not have 100,000 &#8220;hits&#8221; per day.  </p>
<p>But, is that a reasonable criteria?  Or, is it the policy of the State of Israel that only a big journalist / media personality can qualify for an Israeli GPO Press Card?  </p>
<p>The Supreme Court Judges apparently agree that these are questions with legal merit &#8212; both in accepting my appeal in 2010, and in declining to dismiss my case on Monday as the Israeli Government urged the Supreme Court to do.</p>
<p>It should be noted, here, that I arrived in Israel in May 2007 having fulfilled all the Rules and Regulations for a GPO press card, to the letter.  Two weeks later I did receive a GPO Press Card.  </p>
<p>Circumstances changed, and in 2009 &#8212; after Operation Cast Lead &#8212; my GPO Press Card was not renewed, but instead I was issued a &#8220;Certificate&#8221;, which I questioned.  I was told that the &#8220;Certificate&#8221; was the same thing as the &#8220;Press Card&#8221;.  </p>
<p>So, I asked, why don&#8217;t you simple issue a GPO &#8220;Press Card&#8221;, if it&#8217;s really the same thing.</p>
<p>My appeal to the PMO&#8217;s [the only route] was somehow &#8220;lost&#8221;, I was informed later in the year.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I was delayed two hours in my first attempt to enter Gaza with this &#8220;Credential&#8221;, and it took a number of phone calls from the GPO&#8217;s then-Director, Danny Seaman, to straighten the situation out&#8230; he said he was angry, because he had explained to the IDF that the &#8220;Certificate&#8221; was the same as a &#8220;Press Card&#8221;, but the IDF was apparently not immediately convinced.</p>
<p>This is, of course, not the sort of thing one would want to happen every time one crosses a checkpoint &#8230; which is quite bad enough &#8212; particulary at Erez &#8212; without having one&#8217;s credentials questioned.</p>
<p>Here, let me note that the GPO decided to ban the entry of journalists into Gaza from early November 2008 [some 6-7 weeks before the launch of the IDF's Operation Cast Lead], until 23 January 2009, five days after the two separate but parallel cease-fires [Israel's, and Hamas's] went into effect.  The GPO explained to the Israeli media at the time that they did not want to facilitate the &#8220;distorted&#8221; reporting of international journalists on Hamas&#8230;  or, of course, on the situation of the other 1.5 million people squeezed into the Gaza Strip without any means of leaving.</p>
<p>In 2010 I was denied any sort of GPO Press Card or credential at all.  Danny Seaman told me at the time that he was surprised, he &#8220;had not been advised&#8221; &#8212; but, he said, he would stand behind his staff.</p>
<p>Appeal, he said&#8230; &#8220;No hard feelings.</p>
<p>One of the constants remains this blog, which I began well before my arrival in Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Without an Israel GPO press card, I am unable to go to Gaza &#8212; which severely hampers my ability to work and report &#8212; and I do not have a journalists&#8217; visa which permits me to &#8220;work&#8221;, however that is defined [this is still unclear as well]. </p>
<p>For the past two years, I have not been able to enter Gaza via the Israeli military-controlled Erez &#8220;Terminal&#8221;.<br />
And I have been legally present, though with simple tourist visas stamped &#8220;NOT PERMITTED TO WORK&#8221;&#8230;</p>
<p>These are important matters that do indeed raise important issues of principles [and democratic values] that, I am relieved to report, the Israeli Supreme Court continues to keep under review.</p>
<ul>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">State of Israel<br />
Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs<br />
Government Press Office<!--<br /--></h1>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">BLOGGERS TO RECEIVE GPO CARDS</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;The Advisory Committee on Evaluating the Criteria for Issuing Government Press Office (GPO) Cards this morning (Tuesday), 13.12.11, submitted its recommendations to Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, Public Diplomacy, Diaspora Affairs Ministry Director-General Ronen Plot and GPO Director Oren Helman.</p>
<p>The Committee recommended unifying the various types of cards issued by the GPO under the single heading &#8216;<strong>GPO Card</strong>&#8216; which would serve all those engaged in media professions.</p>
<p>In light of the Committee&#8217;s recommendations, it was proposed to expand the content of the substantive definitions of media and the list of media professions and positions in order to adapt them to recent changes and developments in the field.  The new definitions include media professions and means such as bloggers and niche portals.</p>
<p>The new definitions created by the Committee will make things easier for documentary film makers who, due to the nature of their work, do not operate under a permanent professional roof.  Similarly, the Committee lifted various restrictions that prevented the issuing of GPO cards, such as scope of output, the requirement to distinguish between managing directors and editors, and the need that those applying for GPO cards be engaged in media work full-time.</p>
<p>Committee Chairwoman retired Judge Sara Frisch said that, &#8216;The positions and the comments that were brought before the Committee strengthened the need, in my view and that of my colleagues, to change the rules and broaden the definitions of media vis-à-vis the issuing of GPO cards according to the rules.  The Committee&#8217;s recommendations were formulated such that the criteria for issuing GPO cards will be as inclusive and comprehensive as possible, while maintaining their effective benefit and preventing the excessive issuing of the cards, which would be liable to harm journalists&#8217; work itself&#8217;.</p>
<p>Minister Yuli Edelstein said that, &#8216;At a time when claims are being raised about shutting people up, reducing freedom of the press and interference, the Committee&#8217;s recommendations are genuinely good news in expanding pluralism and reducing the room for consideration by the issuing authority regarding the issuing of press credentials.  The Committee&#8217;s recommendations give expression to the undeniable changes vis-à-vis the development of the new media and questions of what is a newspaper and who is a journalist.  We are in a new era which finds expression in the recommendations of the Committee&#8217;.</p>
<p>GPO Director Oren Helman said that, &#8216;I ascribe great importance to the Committee&#8217;s recommendations and the opening of the ranks so as to allow a younger generation of journalists to receive access to events and to the sources of government information, due to their being included in the eligibility for GPO cards.  This is a genuine reform in the work of the GPO, which will lead to media pluralism and the strengthening of a very important democratic value – freedom of the press and media openness.  The new structure of rules recommended by the Committee gives a genuine response to the technological challenges and developments being dealt with by the GPO&#8217;.</p>
<p>GPO Director Helman added that, &#8216;Defining in legislation the definition of who is a journalist would be bad for democracy and bad for journalism.  We must avoid the possibility of influencing content via the definition of who is a journalist&#8217;.</p>
<p>The Committee&#8217;s recommendations were formulated with the consent of most Committee members – Shalom Kital, Yossi Ahimeir, Niv Calderon and Samir Darwish – except for a minority opinion by Committee member Dr. Amit Lavie-Dinur, which is included in the Committee report&#8221;.</p>
<ul>
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		<title>Telling a story in Tweets</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/telling-a-story-in-tweets</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/telling-a-story-in-tweets#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:26:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boundaries & Borders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine & Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador Hotel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East Jerusalem. Shoafat Refugee Camp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gershon Baskin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hatem Abdel Qader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerusalem. East Jerusalem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legacy Hotel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new Terminal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[north Jerusalem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine-Israel Journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Jerusalem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[OK, here we go, in an experiment in new media journalism: I&#8217;m going to repost, in chronological order from first to last, my Tweets this morning on a story about Jerusalem. Some related background, by Khaled Abu Toameh, was published on 17 December in the Jerusalem Post here. [Maybe it's a bit rough, this experimental [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>OK, here we go, in an experiment in new media journalism: I&#8217;m going to repost, in chronological order from first to last, my Tweets this morning on a story about Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Some related background, by Khaled Abu Toameh, was published on 17 December in the Jerusalem Post <a href="http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=249842"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Maybe it's a bit rough, this experimental hybrid technique may need polishing, or maybe it won't work -- but here's a try.  Meanwhile, my Twitter name -- you can, if you'd like, follow me there -- is @Marianhouk</em>]</p>
<p>(1) <strong>Palestinians in &#8220;East&#8221; as well as N + S Jerusalem have sulked 4 years about PA abandonment, are unprepared to carry out their own resistance</strong><br />
<em>9:52 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(2) <strong>Palestinian grievances in East, N + S Jlem are very grave, very real, leadership lacking. Sparks now: huge new IDF terminal near Shofat Camp</strong><br />
<em>9:53 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(3) <strong>Nobody knows when huge new IDF/Border Police will open, next to Shoafat Refugee Camp, once only camp in Jlem, now behind military checkpoint</strong><br />
<em>9:54 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web </em></p>
<p>(4) <strong>But very bright lights at night show huge Israeli military structure next to Shoafat Camp, 7-8 passenger + cargo lanes almost ready for use</strong>.<br />
<em>9:55 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 </em></p>
<p>(5) <strong>Why new road construction [unexplained] bet. Maale Adumim + huge new about-to-open &#8220;border&#8221; terminal next to Shoafat Refugee Camp in E Jlem?</strong><br />
<em>9:57 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(6) <strong>Fears of the apparent inevitable in EJlem are rising, incidents weekly or more at Israeli military checkpoint going in+out of Shoafat Camp</strong><br />
<em>10:00 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web </em></p>
<p>(7) <strong>Shoafat tensions seem related to new shock strategy of Fatah&#8217;s Jlem area leader, Hatem Abdel Qader, to attack Israeli-Palestinian meetings</strong><br />
<em>10:09 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(8) <strong>Hatem Abdel Qader is, as Gershon Baskin notes, the only Fatah leader behind call to block Is-PAL meetings in Jlem, but there&#8217;s a FB campaign</strong><br />
<em>10:10 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(9) <strong>Palestine-Israel Journal had their EJlem meeting abt Arab Spring yesterday cancelled at last minute by Legacy Hotel management after threats</strong><br />
10:13 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</p>
<p>(10) <strong>Legacy Hotel in EJlem [management from N Israel] told PAL-Is Journal that there were threatening phone calls, demands not to host meeting</strong><br />
<em>10:15 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(11) <strong>Explanation from PAL-Is Journal [email]: Legacy Hotel owner said &#8220;he cares about his business + doesn&#8217;t want any political involvement&#8221;</strong><br />
<em>10:17 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(12) <strong>A previous Israeli-Palestinian meeting at the Ambassador Hotel in EJlem was cancelled last week after PAL protesters disrupted session</strong><br />
<em>10:18 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(13) <strong>Stated reason for new shock campaign against Is-PAL meetings in EJlem: coexistence + normalization projects ignore devastating PAL reality</strong><br />
<em>10:22 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(14) <strong>PIJ editors say that bitter feelings are against the PA too, &#8220;which is also held responsible for letting down the Palestinians of Jerusalem&#8221;</strong><br />
<em>10:38 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>(15) <strong>Palestine-Israel Journal Co-Editors who wrote about cancellation under threat of meeting at Legacy Hotel: Ziad AbuZayyad + Hillel Schenker</strong><br />
<em>10:40 AM &#8211; 21 Dec 11 via web</em></p>
<p>END OF TWEETS<br />
<span id="more-12087"></span></p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Meanwhile, Gershon Baskon, JPost columnist and just-retired co-Director of the Israel-Palestinian Research and Information Center [IPCRI] which has thrived on such meetings which are now threatened, has just weighed in, writing this:</p>
<ul> &#8220;The Al Quds al Arabi newspaper, published in London, gave voice to senior Fatah member Hatem Abdel Qader Eid from Jerusalem announcing that Fatah has decided to boycott and prevent all meetings between Palestinians and Israelis, official and non-official.</p>
<p>Being one of the leading Israeli advocates of such meetings and someone who has organized more than 2,000 of them over the past 24 years, many people have asked my opinion of the move.</p>
<p>First of all, I put little faith in Al-Quds al- Arabi. The paper brings to mind the old joke that the only thing (usually) accurate in the newspaper is the date. Its editor and publisher, Abdel Bari Atwan, is a strange character who is known for taking money from all kinds of bizarre and infamous sources.</p>
<p>Secondly, Hatem Abdel Qader Eid is without doubt a serious Fatah leader, popular within Fatah, especially in places like the Shuafat refugee camp, his home district. But he is also well known for his opposition to meetings with Israelis, so this is not a new position for him.</p>
<p>I have not yet heard or seen an official decision of Fatah to boycott all official or unofficial meetings with Israelis. That does not mean that such a decision might not be in the offing.  It could happen, and if it does, I believe it would be another unfortunate mistake by the Palestinians.</p>
<p>It is important, though, to understand the Palestinian argument against negotiations in order to be able to counter it. Palestinians claim that Israel’s goal is to achieve legitimacy from the Palestinians and from the Arab world. The Palestinians and the Arab world are willing to grant that legitimacy, but only when Israel pays the price: ending the occupation and allowing the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory of the pre-1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.</p>
<p>Until that time, most Palestinians and most of the Arab world would agree that Israel should be denied legitimacy and normalization.  By normalization they mean normal relations that exist between states – cultural relations, scientific cooperation, joint educational programs, etc.</p>
<p>The anti-normalization campaign is part and parcel of the BDS campaign (boycott, divestment and sanctions) – locally and internationally. The BDS website defines the group as &#8216;a global movement against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights&#8217;.<br />
&#8230;<br />
Many Palestinians, especially in activist civil society organizations, are tired of waiting. They believe they must do something to shock the system, to create an understanding that Palestinians are not willing to continue to live under full Israeli control forever. One of the steps they are taking is to boycott Israel and Israelis, including meetings with Israelis.</p>
<p>For some reason they have the misconception that meeting Israelis in workshops, seminars, conferences and other activities organized by peace organizations – Israeli or international – is a form of punishment or some kind of motivation to get those Israelis to work harder for ending the occupation and making peace.</p>
<p>Unfortunately these ideas are mistaken and misconstrued and are counter-productive. I have asked Palestinian friends who support this form of anti-normalization just how not talking to me will advance the cause of Palestinian statehood, an end to the occupation and peace with Israel. I have yet to find a supporter of anti-normalization who can answer that question.<br />
&#8230;<br />
Anti-normalization campaigns are bogus and self-defeating and if Fatah leaders like Hatem Abdel Qader Eid support them, then I expect and hope to hear louder voices from within Fatah who demonstrate by actions that they will continue to search for real peace with Israelis who are equally committed to end the tragedy of our conflict which has gone of for much too long&#8221;.</ul>
<p>This commentary by Gershon Baskin, ex-Co Director of IPCRI, was received by email &#8212; and is also now posted <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=250134"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>

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		<title>My day in the Israeli Supreme Court</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/my-day-in-the-israeli-supreme-court</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/my-day-in-the-israeli-supreme-court#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:09:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boundaries & Borders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government Press Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High Court of Justice in Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israeli Supreme Court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a difficult subject for me to write about, but I shall start: On Monday 19 December, the a three-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court held its first hearing in my petition for restoration of an Israeli press card [which I did have from mid-2007 until 2010]. For the past two years, I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is a difficult subject for me to write about, but I shall start: </p>
<p>On Monday 19 December, the a three-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court held its first hearing in my petition for restoration of an Israeli press card [which I did have from mid-2007 until 2010].  </p>
<p>For the past two years, I have had no Israeli press card &#8212; and therefore no Israeli visa for &#8220;journalists&#8221;.</p>
<p>The Israeli journalist&#8217;s visa is a strange hybrid visa giving a one-year tourist status [no residency, and no resident's rights, but just <strong>a residency permit</strong>] <strong><em>plus</em><strong></strong> [and this is important] <strong>a work permit</strong>.</p>
<p>So, since 2010 &#8212; for the last two years &#8212; I have been staying precariously in Israel on a normal 3-month visa for any general tourist [except for the 3.5 month period this summer when I had no visa at all, but just a "receipt" from the Ministry of Interior].  Most of the series of 3-month tourist visas I was given since 2010 are marked: &#8220;NOT PERMITTED TO WORK&#8221;.</p>
<p>What does this mean, exactly?  It is certainly not clear.  </p>
<p>Does it mean if I write for my own blog &#8212; which is really more like a niche website &#8212; I am &#8220;working&#8221;?  If I do this without payment, is it &#8220;working&#8221;?  If I write for other publications, with or without token payments, is that &#8220;working&#8221;?  Does &#8220;working&#8221; require payment?  Is it merely payment that confirms working, and that also bestows the special status of &#8220;journalist&#8221;?   And so on&#8230;</p>
<p>How can I reasonably expect &#8212; and, importantly, how can the Israeli Government expect &#8212; me to be able to get work from any major media organization if I am being kept in a kind of stasis by a visa marked: &#8220;NOT PERMITTED TO WORK&#8221;???</p>
<p>I have been totally clear and honest about what I am doing, but my status, though legal, is not clear.</p>
<p>The Israel Press Cards are issued by the Israeli Government Press Office [GPO] which is part of the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office [PMO].  [The current Prime Minister of Israel is Benyamin Netanyahu]<br />
way through the process, beginning with a committee established by the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office [PMO]</p>
<p>Let me say here that I do hold a Palestinian Press Card &#8212; and used to hold both Israeli + Palestinian press cards, which is important for both security + for relative assurances of the ability to move throughout the area under Israeli administration or military control.  </p>
<p>But, as the Israeli IDF spokesperson said to me: &#8220;I can&#8217;t deal with that&#8221;&#8230; </p>
<p>In other words, a Palestinian press card means nothing to Israel &#8212; and Israel gives no reciprocal rights given to any holders, whether Palestinian or international, of Palestinian press cards.  </p>
<p>[Many of the members of the major international media organizations in Israel also have Palestinian press cards, too...]</p>
<p>But, one of the important points at the moment is, without an Israeli press card, it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to go in and out of Gaza [except through the Rafah Crossing, which I have not tried, due to the relatively high expense and high uncertainty involved].</p>
<p>Despite the request of the Israeli Government Attorney [State Prosecutor's Office], the three-judge panel sitting in judgement in Chamber Gimel of the Israeli Supreme Court on Monday did not dismiss my case from their docket and return it to the tender hands of the GPO.  </p>
<p>The Supreme Court judges asked the Government to be more prepared, and then set a second hearing for late February.</p>
<p><em>More to follow, later, in further installments on this developing story&#8230;</em></p>

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		<title>If posts were Tweets&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/if-posts-were-tweets</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/if-posts-were-tweets#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:23:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tweets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=12072</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time on Twitter this year, since the January 25 (#Jan25) demonstrations in Egypt that successfully demanded &#8220;Irhal&#8221; (Get Out!) the departure of the former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak &#8212; who left Cairo for Sharm as-Sheikh on 11 February, but who formalized military rule in his place. Demonstrations flared up again [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time on Twitter this year, since the January 25 (#Jan25) demonstrations in Egypt that successfully demanded &#8220;Irhal&#8221; (Get Out!) the departure of the former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak &#8212; who left Cairo for Sharm as-Sheikh on 11 February, but who formalized military rule in his place.</p>
<p>Demonstrations flared up again in November, just before the first round of elections for a new parliament, and then again last Friday, just after the second round.   The violence is so extraordinary that it almost doesn&#8217;t matter at the moment who will win. [Final results are not yet in, but it is believed they will show a substantial victory for Muslim religious groups.]</p>
<p>The violence of the military and police forces against demonstrators has been unspeakable.  </p>
<p>You can look it up on Youtube, as pictures speak a thousand words.</p>
<p>One of the many scenes of official brutality against unarmed [and, in this video, also handcuffed] demonstrators can be viewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&#038;v=4iboFV-yeTE&#038;skipcontrinter=1"><strong>here</strong></a>.  This one, said to contain scenes filmed on Friday 16 December, features extraordinary brutality against women demonstrators.  Some of those attacked are said to have died from the beatings.</p>
<p>Somehow, it has not been possible for me to post as I used to&#8230; events accelerated in Israel + in Palestine, with not fewer than five stories per day (if not more) worth covering, but it was overwhelming and not possible to maintain the pace.   Events in the region and the world also demanded time that they have not been given.</p>
<p>Twitter in the meanwhile has been compelling.  I use Twitter like a wire service, and see breaking news hours before it appears even on the wires.  The links posted by journalists and other interesting Tweeps are incredibly useful: first, I stopped reading the newspapers in print, and only read them on the internet; now, I hardly even go on my former ususal patrol of websites, and simply check Twitter at regular intervals.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve spent a massive amount of time studying the Twittosphere, and working on my Twitter technique (@Marianhouk).  Seeing how others do it, and distilling down large chunks of information takes quite a while.  Then, there are deliberate attacks from lurking Cyber-bullies &#8212; on which professional advice varies: ignore them, or take them on.  Sometimes pure adrenalin kicks in&#8230;</p>
<p>I will continue to post my longer analyses, according to possibility and inspiration.  </p>
<p>Otherwise, I will try to make my posts more like 140-character Tweets.</p>

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		<title>And in another world&#8230;a world away</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/blogging/and-in-another-world-a-world-away</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/blogging/and-in-another-world-a-world-away#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:24:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jean-Marc Ferre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheep grazing on the lawns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN Office in Geneva]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=11848</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An annual event at the pastoral tranquility of the UN office in Geneva &#8212; or, as it is known locally, the Palais des Nations, which is former home and site of the sad story of the League of Nations &#8212; the sheep-grazing of the lawns in October-November. The photo below was taken by the dashing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>An annual event at the pastoral tranquility of the UN office in Geneva &#8212; or, as it is known locally, the <em>Palais des Nations</em>, which is former home and site of the sad story of the League of Nations &#8212; the sheep-grazing of the lawns in October-November.</p>
<p>The photo below was taken by the dashing Jean-Marc Ferre, one of the world&#8217;s best photographers.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6042/6305804815_694528d4b1.jpg" alt="Photo by Jean-Marc Ferre for UN" width="412" height="274" /></p>
<p>A series of Jean-Marc&#8217;s shots of this annual sheep-grazing moment, in the lovely autumnal scenery [<em>more suited to landscape painters than to anyone or anything else</em>]  is now posted on Flikr <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/unisgeneva/6305804815/in/photostream/"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<p>The UN photo caption describes this as an &#8220;environmentally-friendly way to mow the lawns&#8221; &#8212; but it&#8217;s more than that.  It also fertilizes the lawns.  And, on top of all that, it&#8217;s an income-earning activity, as the sheep-owners pay for this privilege.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6222/6305807587_a6a0830cb4.jpg" alt="Another shot of the sheep grazing the lawn at the Palais des Nations in Geneva - by Jean Marc Ferre" width="412" height="275" /></p>
<p>But &#8211; wait a minute &#8212; are these photos also timed to coincide with the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, which starts Sunday early morning? [<em>And in which pious Muslims slaughter sheep to commemorate Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac</em>...  <em>though it could be argued that the Divine intervention would be better commemorated by abstaining from sacrificing lambs today</em>...]</p>
<p>Leaving that thought aside, and moving to another, here&#8217;s one more of Jean-Marc Ferre&#8217;s shots of the sheep on the lawn on the palatial grounds of the UN Office in Geneva &#8230; where the <em>Palais des Nations</em> was built in the 1920s, after the First World War, to house the headquarters of the League of Nations which became deadlocked and moribund in the mid-1930s, in the lead-up to the Second World War&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6056/6305800817_9230fc384f.jpg" alt="Sheep on lawn in front of Palais des Nations - UN photo by Jean Marc Ferre" width="378" height="567" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I could say something about the sheep in the park, and the sheep inside the buildings who have done so many dishonorable and disgraceful things &#8230; but I&#8217;ll refrain for the moment &#8212; in honor of the [<em>very very few</em>] good memories of the rather bad place I had the misfortune of working for some 14 years [<em>it is impossible to overstate the harm that was done</em> <em>here</em>], and in honor of these lovely photos taken on a beautiful fall day, and above all in honor of the photographer, Jean-Marc Ferre.</p>

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		<title>Part of the trouble with this place&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://un-truth.com/human-rights/part-of-the-trouble-with-this-place</link>
		<comments>http://un-truth.com/human-rights/part-of-the-trouble-with-this-place#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:39:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marian Houk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Donors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalism and Journalists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine & Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations Agencies and Programmes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spanish Consulate in [East] Jerusalem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spanish Cooperation Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UNRWA Press Release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UNRWA Public Information Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WAFA - the official Palestinian News Agencies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://un-truth.com/?p=11758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Take a look at this article, published here: Look at the headline: The Children of Shu’fat Camp Rejoice at “Animals” Muppet Show . OK. Now, read the article itself. It&#8217;s not so long. It appears, from careful reading, that this WAFA article was produced entirely on the basis of a press release from UNRWA. In [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Take a look at this article, published <a><strong>here</strong></a>:</p>
<p>Look at the headline:</p>
<h1>The Children of Shu’fat Camp <strong>Rejoice</strong> at “Animals” Muppet Show</h1>
<p>.</p>
<p>OK.  Now, read the article itself.  It&#8217;s not so long.</p>
<p>It appears, from careful reading, that this WAFA article was produced entirely on the basis of a press release from UNRWA.</p>
<p>In fact, the original UNRWA press release is posted <a><strong>here</strong></a> &#8212; and it&#8217;s exact title is:</p>
<h1>Children of Shu’fat Camp <strong>enjoy</strong> animals muppet show</h1>
<p>&#8211;<br />
[<em>note that UNRWA prefers to use the word "<strong>enjoy</strong>"</em>].</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p><strong>QUESTIONS THIS POSES</strong>:</p>
<p>There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever in this article as written that any correspondent of WAFA &#8212; the [yes, official] Palestine News [sic] &amp; Info Agency &#8212; was present.</p>
<p>So, how would WAFA be able to know whether the children of Shu&#8217;fat [Shoafat] Camp &#8220;rejoiced&#8221;, or not?<br />
[And, why is "animals" in quotation marks?]</p>
<p>Is this a genuine human interest story &#8212; or is it, as seems completely clear, institutional promotion?<br />
[UNRWA, Spanish offices in Jerusalem]?</p>
<p>Why would UNRWA + WAFA be so enthusiastic about the appearance of a Spanish performing troupe?  Is it because any infusion of donor money and interest, however self-serving, must be applauded?</p>
<p>Ah, yes.  Here it is, this is exactly what it says in the story below.  In the words of the Deputy Consul General of Spain Javier Gutierrez: <strong>&#8220;It is a good opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the &#8216;Spanish government and UNRWA since Spanish government is a main partner and donor for UNRWA&#8221;</strong>.</p>
<p>So, this is the &#8220;Thank you&#8221;&#8230;  with, of course, the pat on UNRWA&#8217;s own back. The Spanish offices mentioned in the WAFA article [and in the UNRWA press release] gets something nice to show the folks back home in the monthly, quarterly and yearly reports.  And, of course, so does UNRWA, as this highlights [entirely on UNRWA's terms] the &#8220;good&#8221; work that UNRWA wants you to know it does&#8230;</p>
<p>But, it is, certainly, almost unthinkable that UNRWA and/or WAFA [and/or the Spanish Cooperation Bureau] would promote any similar performance by a Palestinian puppet show&#8230;  More than that, there&#8217;s no way a Palestinian puppet troupe would be able to get, easily, funding for its work &#8212; certainly never to the same level that this Spanish troupe receives&#8230; not from UNRWA, and not from Spain.</p>
<p>And, what can you say about a news agency that does this?</p>
<p><span id="more-11758"></span></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<br />
EXAMPLE 1:<br />
Here is the full text of this WAFA &#8220;story&#8221; [which is really just a self-promoting UNRWA press release]:</p>
<ul>
<h1>The Children of Shu’fat Camp <strong>Rejoice</strong> at “Animals” Muppet Show</h1>
<p>.</p>
<p>JERUSALEM, October 27, 2011 (WAFA) &#8211; The Deputy Consul General of Spain Javier Gutierrez joined the children of Shu’fat refugee camp on Wednesday in a muppet show of &#8216;animals&#8217; in the center of the Shu’fat Camp Committee for services, said a press release by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) published Thursday.</p>
<p>This show was organized in cooperation with the Consulate General of Spain and Spanish Cooperation Office in Jerusalem and the UNRWA Education Program in the West Bank. This show was presented by &#8216;El-Retablo Muppet Theater&#8217; that has gained many international prizes in the field of puppet performances.</p>
<p>&#8216;<strong>It is a good opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the Spanish government and UNRWA since Spanish government is a main partner and donor for UNRWA. </strong>We are happy because the Palestinian children have the opportunity to share the Spanish children the things and shows they see&#8217;, explained Gutierrez.</p>
<p>This theater depends on the techniques of sound and movement. It is a concert of small histories concerning the animal world. Objects, elements and diverse materials are transformed into animals, animated beings whose forms, colours, sounds, rythms [<em>sic</em>] and movements draw varied scenic scores that captivate and amaze both children and adults.</p>
<p>&#8216;El-Retablo Muppet Theater&#8217; was founded in 1987. The company has done more than 100 performances in different places of Spain and abroad with diverse spectacles. The Theater will continue its shows across the West Bank to include UNRWA schools in Shu&#8217;fat and Balata refugee camps, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  M.S. [n.b. - these must be the initials of the editor or writer at WAFA who simply lifted, or picked up and then re-posted this material, now posing as news, straight from the UNRWA press release]&#8230;&#8221;</ul>
<p>This supposedly WAFA news story is posted on the WAFA website <a><strong>here</strong></a></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<br />
EXAMPLE 2:<br />
The UNRWA Press Release &#8211; picked up almost entirely <em>as-is</em> by WAFA:</p>
<ul>
<h1>Children of Shu’fat camp enjoy animals muppet show</h1>
<p>&#8220;27 October 2011<br />
Jerusalem</p>
<p>The Deputy Consul General of Spain Javier Gutierrez yesterday joined the children of Shu’fat camp in an animals muppet show at the Shu’fat camp services committee centre.</p>
<p>The show was organised in cooperation with the Consulate General of Spain, Spanish Cooperation Office in Jerusalem and the UNRWA education programme in the West Bank. El-Retablo Muppet Theatre, which has won many international prizes in the field of puppet performances, presented the show.</p>
<p><strong>&#8216;It is a good opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the Spanish government and UNRWA, since the Spanish government is a main partner and donor for UNRWA.</strong> We are happy because the Palestinian children have the opportunity to share the things and shows they see with the Spanish children&#8217;, Mr Gutierrez explained.</p>
<p>The theatre depends on the techniques of sound and movement. It is a concert of small histories concerning the animal world. Objects, elements and diverse materials are transformed into animals, animated beings whose forms, colours, sounds, rhythms and movements draw varied scenic scores that captivate and amaze both children and adults.</p>
<p>El-Retablo Muppet Theatre was founded in 1987. The company has held more than 100 performances in Spain and abroad, showing diverse spectacles. The theatre will continue its shows across the West Bank to include UNRWA schools in Shu’fat and Balata refugee camps, Jerusalem and Bethlehem&#8221;.</ul>
<p>This UNRWA PIO press release is posted <a><strong>here</strong></a></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>

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