UN-Truth

One of the oddest aspects of the extremely odd story that has been breaking for over a week about an Israeli airstrike on Syria is the role played by Israeli censorship.

Here is one interesting note from Dion Nissenbaum’s Checkpoint Jerusalem blog :

“The Israeli action followed months of rumors in the Israeli press, generated largely by Israeli intelligence officials, that Syria was preparing for war. Even though there is scant evidence to support that idea, the stories generated plenty of public anxiety in Israel.

Hours before the Israeli strike, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly sent word to Syria that it had no hostile intentions. Syrian leaders complained bitterly this week that Olmert’s message was a diversion meant to get Syria to drop its guard before the strike.

Today, after plenty of public protest, Syria’s deputy foreign minister said that his country has no plans to stage a military counter-strike. Syria has yet to offer any significant details about the strike, but government officials claim that the Israeli attack caused no significant damage.

As for the censorship order, it is meant to apply to all journalists working in Israel, including the international media. It’s not clear if this order is a renewed attempt by the military censors to flex their muscles. In reality, existing censorship rules cover coverage of the incident. But the censors apparently felt a need to issue the temporary new order to emphasize the point.

Nissenbaum’s post continues: “Reporters working here are required to sign a document from the Military Censor that outlines what can be reported about the Israeli military and when stories are supposed to be submitted to the censor for approval. At various times, the censor has tried, with limited success, to extend its power.

In reality, few, if any, international reporters submit stories to the censor. In my two years here, which has included coverage of last summer’s war with Hezbollah, I have never submitted a story to the Israeli censorship office.

Below is a translation of the latest order for Israel’s Military Censor:

‘1. From the moment of the publication of this order, the publication of the following type of information is forbidden without written approval of the main censor prior to publication: publication in direct or indirect manner of all information, description or details — be it in allusive or direct manner — on the activities of the IDF that have happened or are in the process of happening in enemy territory. This includes any link between the state of Israel and events that occur in enemy territory.

2. The information banned above includes any information that may have been published on radio, television, Internet, either by journalists or by officials.

3. This order concerns all information communicated officially or off-record by political and military officials.

4. This order is valid until 30 September 2007.”

This post can be found on Dion Nissenbaum’s blog here.

Nissenbaum is Jerusalem bureau chief for McClatchy Newspaper Group.

What’s odd about this new temporary order is that it appears to ban journalists from picking up and re-diffusing material that has already been published — apparently, even outside of Israel, though that previously gave automatic exemption from being censored.

However, perhaps this is too restrictive an interpretation, because almost all languages of Kol Israel’s broadcasts this evening gave coverage to the Sunday Times article on the Israeli airstrike, “Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ ” which can be found here.

The Sunday Times article came a day after the Washington Post reported, according to the Sunday Times, that “The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates”.

Phosphates are a main ingredient in fertilizer. Jordan and Morocco have major phosphate deposits, but I never heard before that Syria did as well. What I would really like to know, however, is whether or not uranium can be extracted from phosphates? I was under the assumption that uranium came from extracting uranium from the earth…

The Sunday Times concludes: “By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.  As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.”

Filed under: Iran, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Middle East Peace Process, North Korea, Syria