Press freedom index: Israel performing bad, Iran worse, Lebanon better

[freakofmeds]

Originally Posted by ius

The facts about HA:
Reporting Hezbollah: At your own risk? | Menassat

BEIRUT, August 26, 2008 (MENASSAT) – Buns & Guns, a hamburger restaurant in the Dahiye, Hezbollah-controlled South Beirut, has recently shot to international fame. Dozens of local and foreign journalists have flocked to the war-themed restaurant, where the waiters wear flack jackets and the muzak is gunfire. For the owner, it is a fun way to sell hamburgers; for the journalists, it is a fun way to talk about Hezbollah.

So why is it that several foreign journalists have been picked up by Hezbollah militiamen and interrogated for hours after they had visited Buns & Guns?

David Hury, a French journalist, was detained on August 12, taken to different locations and questioned for six hours about his professional and private life before being released.

On August 15, two visiting Brazilian journalists, Marcos Losekan and Paulo Pimentel of Globo TV, and a Beirut-based Brazilian journalist, Tariq Saleh, who works for the Brazilian service of the BBC, went through almost the exact same experience.

The Brazilian journalists went home and produced a sensationalist segment, using footage of their own detention, in which they claimed to have been "kidnapped" by the "terrorist organization Hezbollah."

Reporters without Borders, the Paris-based press freedom organization, put out an alert saying they had been "arrested."

For journalists working in Lebanon, being detained by Hezbollah is nothing new. Some consider it to be a "rite of passage" for newly arrived correspondents.

And we all know that these detentions often don't amount to much more than being fed tiny cups of tea while the wheels of Hezbollah's administration slowly grind.

Similarly, Beirut-based journalists are well aware that visiting journalists often like to make a big deal about being detained by Hezbollah.

But there is something new about these recent detentions.

– the interrogations were much longer than usual;
– the nature of the questioning appears to have been very invasive, including demanding the passwords to journalists' email accounts, and questions about their personal lives.

--------------------

You can read HAs response by following the link above.

From the same article:

"Tariq Saleh, the Brazilian journalist who accompanied the Globo TV journalists, admits that the Brazilian journalists made "unnecessary big noise" about their detention.

"They exaggerated when they used words like 'kidnapping' and 'terrorists,'" Saleh told MENASSAT. "I told them so. But apparently it was the editor back in Brazil who decided that from now on Hezbollah would be considered a terrorist group."

Saleh said that he fully understands Hezbollah's need for security. "I don't blame them. But it is the way it was done that was unfair. This is not how Hezbollah should be dealing with the press.""

According to the article, they were taking photos in security sensitive areas, they were then interrogated and released. There is nothing abnormal in interrogating fishy behavior.

That is nothing compared to what Journalists have to tolerate in Israel and even worse, in the occupied territories:

Reporters Sans Frontières

Reporters Without Borders today called for the immediate release of Walid Al-Omari, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Israel, who was detained today in northern Israel shortly after reporting live on the Qatar-based satellite TV news station about the cross-border clashes with Lebanon. It was the second time Omari had been arrested by the police in two days.

“We condemn the methods being used by the Israeli authorities against Al-Jazeera,” the organisation said. “We do not understand why the army harasses this TV station’s journalists and we appeal to the Israeli government to take measures to ensure that all journalists in Israel can work with complete freedom.”


freemedia.at: Israel

While the authorities generally allow the Israeli media to operate free from state interference, the Israeli army does not extend the same level of tolerance to journalists or media outlets operating in other areas of this troubled region.

Israeli army operations in the Palestinian Authority and in Lebanon placed severe limitations on reporting in those areas and greatly jeopardized the safety of journalists. Dozens of journalists were wounded in Israeli attacks and in Lebanon two media workers were killed in air strikes initiated during the Israeli conflict with the Lebanese-based political and militant group Hezbollah.

[PFC]

Originally Posted by ius

So one year out of 60 Lebanon is ranked higher than Israel. In the previous years you dismissed the reports, now you embrace it. When next year Israel is back on top what will you say? We will hear the same lame excuses.

I repeat, there is ZERO freedom of press in areas controlled by Hizballah and the Lebanon number is misleading for that reason. You know that very well.

there is ZERO veracity and knowledge in what you right
HAphobia WILL destroy you

[ius]

Originally Posted by freakofmeds

I never dismissed the reports. Another ridiculous baseless assumption. And I repeat, provide evidence for your baseless claims about "HA controlled" areas with no freedom of press, preferably from an independent source. Otherwise you can ramble on and on about "facts" that you just made up from thin air.

Israel's freedom of press is very misleading. When it comes to Israelis criticizing the government for general policies, it is all fine and dandy. But the moment when Israel starts a new slaughter / massacre of Palestinians, the military suddenly takes very strong control of all the media outlets in order to keep the Israeli public opinion in line.

Israeli press is very free, until it starts massacring Palestinians, where it becomes worse than Iran. Case in point the fact that it dropped nearly 50 places in the same year it massacred Palestinians in Gaza.

Here is another testimony of how HA treats the press:
Michael J. Totten: Hanging With Hezbollah

Yes, not letting the press enter Gaza during operation Cast Lead hurt Israel's freedom ranking. But most people in Israel know that it was a smart and correct move. What you don't understand is that the IDF is an army of the people. Everyone has a son, a brother, a father, a cousin or a friend that was fighting in Gaza. We know exactly what happened there and we are proud of what we were able to do with so little casualties on our side. The closing of Gaza to the international press was a right move that helped Israel's security without restricting too much the right of the Israeli public to know. It is not ideal, but it was one of the lessons of 2006.

[ius]

Originally Posted by freakofmeds

From the same article:

"Tariq Saleh, the Brazilian journalist who accompanied the Globo TV journalists, admits that the Brazilian journalists made "unnecessary big noise" about their detention.

"They exaggerated when they used words like 'kidnapping' and 'terrorists,'" Saleh told MENASSAT. "I told them so. But apparently it was the editor back in Brazil who decided that from now on Hezbollah would be considered a terrorist group."

Saleh said that he fully understands Hezbollah's need for security. "I don't blame them. But it is the way it was done that was unfair. This is not how Hezbollah should be dealing with the press.""

According to the article, they were taking photos in security sensitive areas, they were then interrogated and released. There is nothing abnormal in interrogating fishy behavior.

That is nothing compared to what Journalists have to tolerate in Israel and even worse, in the occupied territories:

Reporters Sans Frontières

Reporters Without Borders today called for the immediate release of Walid Al-Omari, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Israel, who was detained today in northern Israel shortly after reporting live on the Qatar-based satellite TV news station about the cross-border clashes with Lebanon. It was the second time Omari had been arrested by the police in two days.

“We condemn the methods being used by the Israeli authorities against Al-Jazeera,” the organisation said. “We do not understand why the army harasses this TV station’s journalists and we appeal to the Israeli government to take measures to ensure that all journalists in Israel can work with complete freedom.”


freemedia.at: Israel

While the authorities generally allow the Israeli media to operate free from state interference, the Israeli army does not extend the same level of tolerance to journalists or media outlets operating in other areas of this troubled region.

Israeli army operations in the Palestinian Authority and in Lebanon placed severe limitations on reporting in those areas and greatly jeopardized the safety of journalists. Dozens of journalists were wounded in Israeli attacks and in Lebanon two media workers were killed in air strikes initiated during the Israeli conflict with the Lebanese-based political and militant group Hezbollah.

The facts are simple. An Israeli reporter can report freely from all of Israel. A Lebanese reporter cannot freely report from the south of Lebanon. Israel has let in Arab reporters. Lebanon does not allow Israeli reporters at all. You call that freedom of the press?

[freakofmeds]

Originally Posted by ius

The facts are simple. An Israeli reporter can report freely from all of Israel. A Lebanese reporter cannot freely report from the south of Lebanon. Israel has let in Arab reporters. Lebanon does not allow Israeli reporters at all. You call that freedom of the press?

Why do you keep twisting and running away from the facts? The facts are simply:

Walid Al-Omari was not "let in". He is an Israeli Arab. He is NATURALLY in. The other fact is summarized by this article:

While the authorities generally allow the Israeli media to operate free from state interference, the Israeli army does not extend the same level of tolerance to journalists or media outlets operating in other areas of this troubled region.

Israeli army operations in the Palestinian Authority and in Lebanon placed severe limitations on reporting in those areas and greatly jeopardized the safety of journalists. Dozens of journalists were wounded in Israeli attacks and in Lebanon two media workers were killed in air strikes initiated during the Israeli conflict with the Lebanese-based political and militant group Hezbollah.

freemedia.at: Israel

You can run, but you can't hide.

[PFC]

Originally Posted by ius

The facts are simple. An Israeli reporter can report freely from all of Israel. A Lebanese reporter cannot freely report from the south of Lebanon. Israel has let in Arab reporters. Lebanon does not allow Israeli reporters at all. You call that freedom of the press?

a Lebanese reporter can not report from Israel and idem
a Jew can report from Lebanon
this is the picture do you get it now
arab is not a country same as european, latin american,jew,etc......
ooops i wrote all this but i am sure you will not get it

[IamBACK]

Well, we still have a long way to go to improve ourselves. Beating Iran, Israel, and Syria is nothing to be particuarly proud of.

[ius]

Originally Posted by freakofmeds

Why do you keep twisting and running away from the facts? The facts are simply:

Walid Al-Omari was not "let in". He is an Israeli Arab. He is NATURALLY in. The other fact is summarized by this article:

While the authorities generally allow the Israeli media to operate free from state interference, the Israeli army does not extend the same level of tolerance to journalists or media outlets operating in other areas of this troubled region.

Israeli army operations in the Palestinian Authority and in Lebanon placed severe limitations on reporting in those areas and greatly jeopardized the safety of journalists. Dozens of journalists were wounded in Israeli attacks and in Lebanon two media workers were killed in air strikes initiated during the Israeli conflict with the Lebanese-based political and militant group Hezbollah.

freemedia.at: Israel

You can run, but you can't hide.

Right, the facts are simple. The IDF restricts freedom of press in war areas outside Israel, but not in Israel. HA restricts freedom of press in large swaths of Lebanon. It is you who is ignoring the evidence.

[ius]

Originally Posted by PFC

a Lebanese reporter can not report from Israel and idem
a Jew can report from Lebanon
this is the picture do you get it now
arab is not a country same as european, latin american,jew,etc......
ooops i wrote all this but i am sure you will not get it

You are wrong. If a Lebanese works for Al-Arabiya or previously Al-Jazeera he can work in Israel. An Israeli, even one employed by Al-Jazeera, cannot work in Lebanon.

[PFC]

Originally Posted by ius

You are wrong. If a Lebanese works for Al-Arabiya or previously Al-Jazeera he can work in Israel. An Israeli, even one employed by Al-Jazeera, cannot work in Lebanon.

no a Lebanese can not go to Israel
because we are in war (have you forgotten july 2006)
by the way how many israelis work for al arabiya and al jazeera?