Israel Matzav

Al-Jazeera TV Throws a Birthday Party for Released Lebanese Terrorist Samir Al-Quntar

Following are excerpts from a birthday party organized by Al-Jazeera TV for released Lebanese terrorist Samir Al-Quntar. Al-Jazeera TV aired this segment on July 19, 2008

Let's go to the videotape. A transcript follows and another story follows that.

Interviewer: Brother Samir, we would like to celebrate your birthday with you. You deserve even more than this. I think that 11,000 prisoners – if they can see this program now – are celebrating your birthday with you. Happy birthday, brother Samir.

Samir Al-Quntar: Thank you.

Interviewer: Go ahead... There is a picture here... If the camera can show this... Let's cut it... Does the camera show this clearly or not? We have a picture here... This is the sword of the Arabs, Samir. Don't cut the picture, cut on the side.

Samir Al-Quntar: Here's Abu Qassam [Marwan Barghouti].

Interviewer: Marwan is here.

Samir Al-Quntar: Abu Qassam is here with Ahmad Sa'dat. That's our prison warden...

Interviewer: This one?

Samir Al-Quntar: Yes.

Interviewer: What is the warden's name?

Samir Al-Quntar: His name is... Never mind.

Interviewer: This is when you were released. Here you are with Wafiq Safa.

Samir Al-Quntar: Yes, this is Wafiq Safa. This is the most beautiful picture – with Hassan Nasrallah. This is the most beautiful picture. There cannot be anything more beautiful. Me and the secretary-general – the most beautiful picture of me ever taken.

Israel's government press office (GPO) announced on Tuesday night that it is going to 'sanction' al-Jazeera for throwing this little 'birthday party.' It's the second time this year that al-Jazeera has been sanctioned.

The Government Press Office said it would impose sanctions on Al-Jazeera and demand an explanation from the station.

Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Beirut, Ghassan bin Jeddo, has long been known for his close ties to Hizbullah.

Kuntar, for his part, thanked Jeddo and Al-Jazeera for supporting him and other prisoners in Israeli jails and for waging a campaign to bring about their release.

Daniel Seaman, director of the GPO, expressed outrage over the event.

On Tuesday, Seaman phoned Walid Omari, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Israel, and summoned him to an urgent meeting to inform him of the GPO's decision to suspend ties with the station.

Omari, who is currently abroad, is scheduled to report to the GPO on his return, a source at Al-Jazeera said, adding that the station had still not been informed of the new measures against it.

Seaman said he also planned to write to the Foreign Press Association in Israel to explain his decision.

"We will suspend all handling of Al-Jazeera requests," Seaman told the Post. "For now, we won't provide them with any of our services, which include issuing press credentials and assistance with bureaucracy and applications for visas."

Seaman said he would demand an explanation from Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, about the event.

"I want to know what they are going to do about this case," he said. "I want to know how they intend to handle this case. What they did was not professional.

No, it wasn't very professional. But is anyone really surprised?

And what happened the first time al-Jazeera was sanctioned and what were the results?

Earlier this year, Israel decided to boycott Al-Jazeera after accusing the station of supporting Hamas.

The boycott, initiated by the Foreign Ministry, included a ban on interviews by government officials and refusal to issue visas for the station's employees.

The move had come after Al-Jazeera correspondents allegedly staged a candlelight protest following a government decision to reduce electric and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip in response to continued rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

The ban was lifted after Al-Jazeera editors in Doha agreed to discuss its coverage of the Israeli-Arab conflict with Israeli government officials.

The government has decided that it's in its best interest to have al-Jazeera correspondents here to give the Israeli viewpoint to the Arab world. But for the most part, al-Jazeera broadcasts pure propaganda, especially on its Arabic side, and do not really give the Israeli viewpoint. There are exceptions. While arguably the 'birthday party,' while offensive, did not endanger Israel's security, Israel needs to make clear to al-Jazeera that if it does anything that does endanger our security, its personnel will be declared persona non grata and expelled.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:28 PM