Israel Ordered to Let International Media Into Gaza
http://www.truthout.org/123108C
Jerusalem - Israel's supreme court today ordered the government to
allow the international media into Gaza to report on the effect of
the
air strikes on Palestinians.
Over the past two months, foreign journalists and representatives
have increasingly been restricted from entering Gaza.
Israel has closed the border completely since it began bombing
the
besieged Palestinian territory on Saturday.
However, the supreme court told the government it must allow up
to
12 journalists to enter whenever it opens the Erez crossing, a
passenger gateway, for humanitarian reasons.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign
journalists and began a legal battle to open the crossing to the
media
last month, said it had been "left with no other choice" than to
accept what is a limited victory.
"The state's prohibition on journalists violates two fundamental
rights - the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press," the
FPA's lawyer, Gilead Sher, said.
"There are several countries in this world, such as North Korea,
Zimbabwe and Burma, that ban press coverage in conflict zones. Israel
is a democracy with a free liberal press and it should stay so, even
in times of crisis and danger."
The government has until 10am tomorrow to respond to the court
ruling as it faces growing pressure to open the crossing with
increasing numbers of journalists flying in to cover the conflict.
"We want to be able to see foreign correspondents enter Gaza to
report," Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Ehud
Olmert, said.
"It would facilitate better coverage of what's going on in Gaza.
Hamas, due to its control over civil society, is able to manipulate
and exploit the situation to its own benefit." For the past 18
months,
Israel has imposed an increasingly tough blockade on Gaza with the
stated aim of weakening Hamas's control on the territory.
In early November, it again tightened the closure, banning the
international media for several days at a time.
Israel began closing the Erez crossing - through which
journalists, foreign dignitaries and humanitarian aid workers walk
into Gaza - when its six-month ceasefire with Hamas began unravelling
after November 4.
For the first four months, each side turned a blind eye to the
other's transgressions, but on November 4 Israel destroyed a tunnel,
claiming Hamas was in the process of launching an attempt to kidnap a
soldier.
Hamas retaliated, firing 46 rockets at neighbouring Israeli towns
the following day and six more on November 6, the day Israel shut
Erez
to journalists, saying the rocket fire was too dangerous.
Nevertheless, it opened the crossing to journalists for several
hours last Friday, the day before it began bombing Gaza.
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