The people of Fez, like those around the country are united in condemnation of the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets. Now concern is growing that the media is being targetted.
As Israel is escalating its military operations in Lebanon and Palestine, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, media workers in the area have not been spared. Last week, Suleiman Chidiac, a technician working for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) was killed when Israeli air raid hit transmission stations used by several Lebanese television channels.
Only one day later, Layal Najib, 23, a freelance photographer for the Lebanese magazine Al-Jaras and Agence France-Presse, was killed in an Israeli missile attack.
”Najib was in a taxi trying to meet up with a convoy of villagers fleeing the Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon when she was hit by shrapnel from a missile on the road between the villages of Sadiqeen and Qana, local media reported. She died at the scene,” said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its latest report about journalists killed during 2006.
These killings came after the July 13 strike by Israeli helicopters on the Al-Manar headquarters. Seven people, including one TV worker, were wounded in the attack.
Israeli attacks are also targeting media workers in Palestine. A crew working for Al Jazeera channel in Nablus was recently hit. Technician Wael Tantous was wounded. On July 8, photographer Mohammad Az Zanoun was shot by Israeli forces as he took photographs in Gaza.
Two weeks ago, Israeli police arrested Walid Al Omari, the chief of Al Jazeera's bureau in Jerusalem.
Al Omari, who was arrested two times in two days, along with his cameraman and an assistant, were questioned about footage they had taken after Hezbollah missiles hit Haifa.
The Al Jazeera crew was accused of filming sensitive security locations that can be targeted by Hezbollah.
The International federation of Journalists condemned earlier this week an Israeli army attack on a team working for the Palestinian TV, in which a cameraman was wounded.
“Israel needs to investigate all of the recent attacks on media and it must eliminate this pattern of targeting,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White had said.
“The appalling perception is of soldiers opening fire on unarmed journalists and of intimidation of Arab journalists to keep them from covering the news in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon.” He added.
But White's voice remains unheard as Israel's continuing attacks do not even spare unarmed civilians, including women and children.
GOOD NEWS FROM IRELAND
In one positive development, The View From Fez has uncovered a report that says government of the Republic of Ireland will ban all American planes from taking on fuel at Shannon airfield. This has been a regular stopover for American warplanes on the way to Iraq. The move is in response to nationwide anger at the American backing of Israel and the fact that misiles are being sent from America to Israel via Ireland. Hopefully this move will do something to slow down the carnage until a ceasefire can be implemented
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
5 comments:
You never, ever, ever in your posts exhibit an understanding of why Israel is attacking Lebanon. I also think that you don't have proof that the Israeli army is targeting journalists. Journalists being killed in a warzone does not mean the journalists are being targeted. Thanks for all your posts supporting Israel when Hezbollah and Hamas send suicide bombers. Notice that suicide bombing in Israel seems to have slowed to a trickle recently? Wonder why?
Anonymous... nice try! They are posting about reaction in Morocco. It is the same here in Ireland and in New Zealand and Australia and most countries of Europe. Thanks for the great blog, team!
Mordacai
Hebron
I agree with Samuel. Reporting Moroccan reaction is important. The conflict is so one-sided in favor of Israel, it is good to hear the other side. Anonymous is following the "party line".
God bless the Irish!
What party line? 90% of people I know will side with the Arabs in any conflict whatsoever, as they see Arabs as the "underdogs" in this conflict. They have a kneejerk reaction to criticize anything the Israelis do. And of course, after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Lebanon, and much of the West Bank, jeapordizing their country's security in order to ensure peace, we must now criticize their actions to protect their citizens from rockets. Also, I think calling this particular war "one-sided" is misguided, and is using casualties to make judgements on the "fairness" of the war. Should Israel swap its citizens one for one with Hezbollah and the Lebanese? No, their mission is to protect their citizens from rockets, kidnappings, etc. It is not their mission to engage in a "fair" war, their military action is geared towards eliminating the threat towards their populace. ALL THAT SAID, Israel needs to be even more careful in its military operations, to avoid civilian deaths as much as possible. I feel they lashed out in this bombing campaign, and innocent people suffered when perhaps a more measured or at least more tactical response could have saved civilian lives. However, I do tire of the constant Israel-bashing, as I feel they have a right to exist in their current borders free of attacks. I don't think this fact is accepted among protesters ready to jump on any Israeli war action.
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