"'Voluntary deportation' is an oxymoron." - Jared Malsin

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.

My second book preview - "Surfing around" the Blue Line

(By Yanick Juin)

Above is a caricature of a pagan Greek god and the route I took "surfing around" the Blue Line, or Israeli-Lebanese border. This is a feature of artistic expressions I am drafting for my book. (What? —haven't read my first book preview yet? Then Click Here.)

Like the drawing? Is the pagan god blowing in the surf a bit too much?

What sayith thy Casbah readership?

The Malsin case will come back to haunt Israel

Jared Malsin. The poor Jewish bastard. For all he did was hold an editorial line of objective West Bank journalism. Trained in liberal arts at Yale, this young man is one of the best and brightest of his generation of Americans to hit the international stage. But now he is in Israeli jail for "exploiting his Jewishness" and deemed a traitor by his Semitic tribe. "Why?" you may ask. Because the internal minister of Israel does not take kindly to anything that questions the actions of the Zionist regime. I've personally heard Malsin give his blessing, support and good will for the state of Israel. "Nobody wants the Jews in the sea," he once said to me over a falafel. And so on Martin Luther King Day, Malsin still sits in a lightless cell of seclusion at the Tel Aviv airport. What a shame.

A personal friend and master in the fine art of description put it best regarding the attrition on Malsin's sanity,

As Jared has now been in the airport detention center for six days, longer than his vacation to Prague, we believe he is out of clean clothing. As we understand he has been unable to go outside and get real air for the length of his stay in the facility. We have been asking how long Jared can legally be kept in the room, and are concerned that above an arbitrary detention and violation of press freedoms case, there may be humanitarian concerns as well. Its obviously too early to make accusations, but we are closely monitoring his treatment and consulting folks to make sure we know what the law is around this.

It is the opinion of this blogger that the only democracy in the Middle East will harm its image for such treatment of Malsin. And it doesn't matter how many Israeli doctors are seen helping in Haiti, the Malsin case will come back to haunt Israel, like the ghosts of martyred Palestinians from Operation Cast Led a year ago.


Update: Malsin braces for second week of jail.

Update II: www.RadioChicagoland.com with Ray Hanania will moderate discussions live on radio and on the internet with George Hale, editor of the Maan News Agency in Bethlehem Palestine. They shall discusses the arrest and detention of fellow journalist Jared Malsin.