Israelis renounce membership in world journalist federation

[Ruth]

This article appears to indicate that the International Federation of Journalists values media buildings over and above the lives of its own members, or those of innocent civilians, let alone how they treat the truth. Maybe this was just an excuse for the Israeli journalists. One has to wonder at what is really important to these people, both the Federation and the Israeli journalists who resigned. It appears that Israelis neither like critisism, nor the truth and the Intenational Federation of Journalists can only critisise Israeli aggression for bombing media buildings, not for being war criminals. Such lack of courage is trully outstanding.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741068.html

Last update - 19:14 20/07/2006


Israelis renounce membership in world journalist federation

By Assaf Carmel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

A group of Israeli journalists on Thursday renounced their membership in the International Federation of Journalists, after the organization's General Secretary refused to retract his condemnation of the Israel Defense Forces' bombing of the Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station in Beirut.

IFJ General Secretary Aiden White proposed coming to Israel to settle the dispute, but Israeli journalist and IFJ member Yaron Anosh told him that as long as the censure remained in effect, White would be unwelcome in Israel.

The IDF attacked the Hezbollah's TV station shortly after it began its offensive in Lebanon last week. The IFJ said in a statement last weekend that the strike is "a clear demonstration that Israel has a policy of using violence to silence media it does not agree with."

IFJ members in Israel demanded that the censure be lifted immediately and asked why the IFJ did not condemn Hezbollah for firing rockets at Israeli journalists.

After the IFJ refused to nullify its condemnation, the six Israeli members announced their immediate resignation.

"I have no intention of being a being a card-carrying member of an organization that would give a similar card to Hezbollah member, whether he is firing Katyusha or serving as the group's propaganda man at its TV station," Anosh said. "A terrorist is not a journalist, and if an international organization prefers to have terrorists as members then count us out."

The IFJ on has also called on the IDF to explain an incident Wednesday in which troops opened fire on an Al-Jazeera TV news crew, injuring a technician.

"First reports suggest that here was an unarmed media crew suddenly subject to an unprovoked attack by Israeli soldiers," IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said in a statement. "If true, it is an astonishing and terrifying example of targeting and the Israeli authorities must give an explanation as to how this happened."