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Revoked journalists Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_journalists_9http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_journalists_9
Israel Warns Journalists of Action
Tue Apr 2, 8:18 PM ET
By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - 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 (news - web sites) 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.
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