Israel Matzav

Freedom of the press, 'Palestinian' style

Perhaps, this shouldn't be called 'freedom of the press' because other than the fact that the person being punished is a journalist, it has little or nothing to do with the media, and has more to do with freedom of expression generally.

Palestinian journalist Mamdouh Hamamreh was sentenced on Thursday to one year in prison for “insulting” 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen on Facebook, by publishing the photo above, which compares Abu Mazen to a known Syrian television villain.

Hamamreh, who works for the Palestinian Al-Quds TV station, was found guilty of sharing a photo on Facebook that compared Abbas with a villain who played the role of a French spy in a popular Syrian TV series.

A PA court in Bethlehem found the journalist guilty of publishing a photo “harming His Excellency the President, disseminating lies, libel and slander and publishing material that spreads seeds of hatred.”

In February, a PA court in Nablus sentenced 26-year-old Anas Said Awad to one year in prison for publishing a photo of Abbas on Facebook depicting the PA president as a player for Real Madrid.

Last year, the PA security forces in the West Bank detained a number of Palestinian journalists and activists for posting critical comments and jokes about the PA president and other leaders on Facebook.

I'm happy to post any picture you all want of Abu Bluff. But who would want to live in a 'state' in which you're arrested for sharing a picture on Facebook? For this Obama wants to create another state?

Labels: Abu Mazen, freedom of the press, Palestinian Authority

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:44 PM