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PRESS RELEASES 2000
October
10, 2000:
The Israel
Broadcasting Authority (IBA)
and the coverage of the clashes in
the Palestinian territories
Democracy and freedom of expression
seem to have different meanings in Israel when it comes to
Palestinians. The PHRMG is startled to notice that since the
start of the “al-Aqsa Uprising”, the Israel Broadcasting
Authority (IBA) has not contacted Palestinians to interview
them about the events occurring in the Palestinian areas. In
contrast, interviews with Israeli government officials are
widely broadcasted, who support the actions of the Israeli
security forces – that are only defending themselves and
protecting “their” people – and blame the Palestinians for
stirring violence.
In the view of the PHRMG, the IBA is
one-sided in its coverage of the clashes and the human
rights violations that are being committed, and ignores the
voices of Israeli and Palestinian human rights
organizations. The IBA used to focus on human rights
violations committed by the Palestinian Authority, but
overlooked the matter when Israel was involved. Furthermore,
the PHRMG also raises some doubts as to the vocabulary used
in the context of the confrontations. For example,
Palestinian citizens of Israel are referred to as “Arab
residents”, a statement which obscures the fact that they
are full-right citizens of the State of Israel. The
vocabulary used to describe the clashes also seems to
minimize their importance.
The PHRMG is very concerned by the
bias of the IBA, and calls upon the Israeli media to give a
voice to both parties to the confrontations. At this very
critical time, it is the moral obligation of the independent
media to give Palestinians a chance to express their demands
other than just by throwing stones.
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