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Journalists { April 2 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53742-2002Apr2.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53742-2002Apr2.html
Israel Warns Journalists of Action
By Steve Weizman
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, April 2, 2002; 8:11 PM
JERUSALEM –– Israel revoked the credentials of two Abu
Dhabi TV journalists on Tuesday and threatened legal action
against CNN and NBC for ignoring military orders and
broadcasting from the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of
Ramallah.
A statement from the Government Press Office said the press
cards of journalists Leileh Odeh and Bassam Azawi were
canceled after Abu Dhabi Television broadcast a story on March
31 alleging that Israeli troops executed a group of young men in
Ramallah.
The satellite channel's staff "have for some time operated crude
anti-Israel propaganda and have been taking a hostile and
combative attitude, creating uproar in the Arab world," the
statement said, adding that the station showed "utter disregard"
for Israeli military censorship rules.
Abu Dhabi Television staff could not be reached for comment
Tuesday evening.
Israel and the Palestinians have offered contradictory accounts of
how the men in Ramallah died Saturday.
The Palestinians say a group of 22 Palestinian policemen, seeking
to surrender during intense gunbattles in the city, followed Israeli
orders to strip to their underwear and lay down their weapons.
As they walked out of the building where they had taken refuge,
soldiers opened fire, killing five men, Palestinians said.
The military says troops entered the building in search of
Palestinian militants and immediately came under fire. The
soldiers shot back, killing some of the five outright and fatally
wounding others. Four soldiers were wounded in the exchange,
the army said.
The Government Press Office also said it had sent written
complaints to CNN and NBC, whose correspondents continued
broadcasting from Ramallah after Israel declared the city a
closed military zone, off limits to journalists.
"If they do not stop violating Israeli law, the State of Israel will be
compelled to take the steps to which it is obliged by law," the
statement said, without elaborating.
NBC did not immediately return phone calls asking for its
response, and CNN's Jerusalem bureau declined comment.
In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a
protest letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying Israel had an
obligation to allow journalists to work freely in the West Bank.
"Attempting to prevent journalists from witnessing events on the
ground is a flagrant act of censorship," the letter said. The group
also expressed alarm at "several incidents in which Israeli troops
have fired on working journalists."
The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists on
Tuesday criticized Israel for closing areas to the media. "We
oppose this strategy, for it amounts to censorship and will be
self-defeating," the group said in a statement. "Censorship will not
bring peace but will only lead to more ignorance, rumor and
fear."
The group also urged Palestinian media to avoid inflammatory
reporting.
On Monday, Israeli forces expelled a CBS News television crew
from Ramallah, a move that prompted a strong protest from the
Foreign Press Association in Israel.
CBS veteran Dan Rather narrowly missed a suicide bomb attack
on Monday when he and two producers drove past a checkpoint
on the edge of Jerusalem where moments later a car bomb
exploded, killing the attacker and a policeman. Hearing the
explosion the CBS team doubled back to gather footage, a CBS
spokesman said.
A few hours later he anchored the CBS evening news from
Jerusalem. Rather will be in Israel for a few days, depending on
the news, the network said.
© 2002 The Associated Press
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