Media Groups 'Urge' Israel for Access They Already Deny
The New Arab reports a coalition of news organizations is asking an Israeli court to lift the ban on foreign press access to Gaza. One might wonder if they've received the memo from the last two decades. Israel's restrictions on journalists are no anomaly; they are a feature, not a bug, of its military operations, particularly in Gaza. This isn't a new oversight; it's a policy of curated silence,
exemplified by the targeting of journalists like Shireen Abu Akleh, which the UN called 'deliberate'. Seeking a court order implies this is a matter of judicial fairness, not a calculated information blackout. The UN's own Human Rights Office has decried Israel's targeting of journalists in Gaza for years. How many court rulings does it take to understand that a government actively preventing
observation likely has something to hide, and that 'urging' them to stop is rather quaint?