You won't find anyone bold enough to do this, but if you actually asked Palestinians on the West Bank who their most respected public figure is, most would probably say Nasser Lahham, the chief agency editor at the Ma'an news agency.
The simple answer is that when every other Tom, Dick and Hussein was thinking Intifada or rippin' international aid money, Nasser Lahham earned an honest reputation for himself as a TV newsman, simply sitting in front of a handful of papers, reading them to the watchers of the West Bank. Along with being a smart, honest and shrewd man, Lahham is also a great journalist--which is why you are about to read his comment on the Jared Malsin case:
"The Israelis don't care what is written about them in Arabic or in Hebrew, they only care about publications in English, and Israel, especially after the war in Gaza, doesn't want certain things to be published and conveyed to English-speaking people in the world".
Indeed, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of today is a media war. This is one reason why Malsin was not allowed to stay in Israel for his trial. (And of course he would have had more ammo for his upcoming article on this experience.) But rest at ease folks, for Malsin is now safely back at his parents home in New Hampshire.
So to finish the flurry of Malsin posts, let us end with his first public quote. This should be remembered for all who dare to report on the West Bank in English:
"'voluntary deportation' is an oxymoron."And just between Casbahites, I'm a bit jealous of Jared. For he not only had a great run at the Ma'an news agency, but getting this kind of Israeli imprisonment would have been a great way to end my book! (haha, sorry Jared... Too soon? )
Update: Ma'an has just published a summery of this whole Malsin event.
Update II: This is a great write up on how Jared was dooped into thinking he was signing a letter from his lawyer, not his deportation letter.
5 comments:
As a sovereign country, Israel has the right to determine who can and who cannot enter the country.
Many other countries refuse entry to certain people for various reasons, as is their right. When, say, the United States refuses entry to somebody, we never hear complaints.
Let this creep go into Gaza through one of the tunnels!
James,
You left the same comment on my friends blog, notes from medinah.
Why are you posting the same rant here?
James is nuts.
A free press makes for a liberated life.
That's a straw man argument. The problem isn't a country's right to refuse a visitor. That's sovereignty, and no one is arguing against sovereignty.
The problem here is that Jared was deported based on his employer and based on articles he had written. As a country that calls itself "the only democracy in the region," this policy is clearly contradictory.
In addition, the only reason Mr. Malsin was in the airport in the first place is because he, like hundreds of NGO and humanitarian workers in occupied Palestine, are not given work visas by the occupation forces. Thus they need to leave every three months to renew.
International workers are routinely denied visas. As you said, sovereignty means the right to determine who can and who cannot enter the country. Number one, Palestine is not Israel's country. Number two, as the occupying power and an "open democracy," Israel has an obligation to nurture freedom of the press.
Word. I agree with Wasta. Freedom of the Press is critical to a healthy democracy.
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