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Monday, July 02, 2007

Freedom of the press, PalArab style

From Ma'an:
A Palestinian reporter for the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper in the West Bank has confirmed that he has been receiving threats via his Palestinian 'Jawwal' mobile phone.

In a phone call to Ma'an, the journalist, Sami Said, confirmed that he has received threats, ordering him to stop writing and to keep silent. He said that the threats came after he published news reports on internal Palestinian issues in Al Akhbar newspaper. He refused to name his intimidators.

Sami Said, a journalist from the West Bank city of Ramallah, is married with one child. He has worked as a reporter for many international agencies.

Once again, Palestinian Arab thug tactics have worked to silence criticism. (If they hadn't worked, Mr. Said would have named who he was threatened by.)

One would think that journalists would notice that the people whose cause they champion unabashedly are the same people who continuously threaten their lives. As much as the PalArabs try to paint Alan Johnston as a singular case, the fact is that many journalists in the territories have been threatened, kidnapped and killed over the years.

Yet another indication of what a Palestinian Arab state would look like.