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Boycotting the Beeb

Sharon Sadeh 1 July 2003


Israel joined Zimbabwe last weekend as one of two countries boycotting the BBC. The move was taken in protest of the “biased and hostile coverage policy,” as Danny Seaman, the head of the Government Press Office in Jerusalem put it. Although Israel has not gone so far as to expel journalists, as did Zimbabwe, “A decision to expel all BBC correspondents has not been ruled out,” Seaman says. At this stage, Israel is making do with measures designed to make life more difficult for the BBC. Sharon Sadeh reports in Ha’aretz. 

An open letter to the survivors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre

Ellen Siegel 29 June 2003

Ellen Siegel is a registered nurse. She volunteered her services at the Gaza Hospital in Sabra Camp in Beirut in 1982, and was there during the massacre. She testified, as a witness, before the Kahan Commission of Inquiry in Jerusalem. This is a letter she wrote to her friends and fellow massacre survivors and witnesses in Beirut in the wake of Belgium’s decision to weaken its universal jurisdiction (anti-atrocity) legislation in response to pressure from the US Government. 

BBC Transcript of "Israel's Secret Weapon" (part 1)

29 June 2003

Israel declared over the weekend that it is cutting off ties with the BBC to protest a repeat broadcast of a documentary about non-conventional weapons said to be in Israel. The program was broadcast for the first time in March in Britain, and was rerun Saturday on a BBC channel that is aired all over the world. The boycott decision was made by Israel’s public relations forum, made up of representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Government Press Office. It was decided that government offices won’t assist BBC producers and reporters, that Israeli officials will not give interviews to the British network, and that the Government Press Office will make it difficult for BBC employees to get press cards and work visas in Israel. Before the broadcast Saturday, Israeli officials tried to pressure the BBC to cancel the broadcast, saying that the program was biased and presented Israel as an evil dictatorship. Here is a complete transcript of the program. 

Nablus: Ras al Ain

6 May 2002


On Thursday 4 April, the Israeli forces bombarded the Al Khadra Mosque during the invasion of the West Bank town of Nablus. They were trying to enter the Old Town through the mosque and destroyed most of it. Al Khadra Mosque is one of the oldest building in Nablus, established in 1187 during the Mamluk era. 

My way to Ras al-Ain

Arjan El Fassed Nablus, Palestine 14 January 2000

While I sat there I was remembering “A Million Suns in my blood”, a poem by Tawfiq Zeyad. “They stripped me of water and oil / And the salt of bread, the shining sun
the warm sea, the taste of knowledge / And a loved one who - twenty years ago - went off / Whom I wish (if only for an instant) to embrace”. 

A sharp increase in torture, ill treatment and violence in GSS interrogations

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel 25 June 2003

On the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture tomorrow, June 26, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) published some of its finding on torture in Israel. These findings are part of a report that will be published by PCATI in the coming weeks. 

Nablus bakery

6 May 2002


During its April invasion of Nablus between 3 April and 21 April 2002, Israeli forces shelled a bakery in the old city of Nablus. Nablus was especially hard hit, especially in its old city, which contained many buildings of cultural, religious and historic significance. Much of the destruction appears to have occurred in the fighting as a result of the use by Israeli tanks, helicopter gunships and bulldozers. 

Confronting Impunity for War Crimes: The Choice before Belgium -- and All of Us

Laurie King 27 June 2003

“Seasoned and objective analysts have been surprised and alarmed at American officials’ extreme reactions to Belgium’s recently modified universal jurisdiction law. US threats seem excessive and hysterical, especially since the new law successfully filtered out two cases lodged in the Belgian courts against US officials for alleged war crimes committed in Iraq in 1991 and 2003. Could there be any unspoken reasons for the unprecedented and impolitic arm-twisting of the Belgian government by US officials in recent weeks?” Laurie King-Irani examines the political context of recent attempts to gut Belgium’s admirable universal jurisdiction law. 

Destruction of Jenin refugee camp

24 April 2002


In the early hours of 3 April 2002, Israeli forces invaded Jenin refugee camp. By the time the Israeli forces partly withdrew and the lifting of the curfew on 18 April, 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed. More than 150 homes were destroyed and more rendered homeless. On April 25, 2002, Charity Crouse visited Jenin refugee camp and witnessed the destruction.