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RE: Yes it's off topic but who cares right now.

  • From: Greg Mirsky
  • Date: Fri Sep 14 13:51:55 2001

RE: celebrations 

BACKGROUND
----------

   According to the AP, the Palestinians have been
threatening news organizations and their workers in an
effort to stop the broadcast of video and the
publishing of photographs showing large crowds of
Palestinians in Nablus and Ramallah joyfully
celebrating the deadly terrorist attacks against
Americans.

   Photographers and stringers (mostly Palestinians
themselves) were forced by Palestinian gunmen to stop
filming the celebrations (see the Agence France Press
report below), and they were threatened with death if
their video were broadcast.

   The news organizations they work for were told that
everyone from their news organization would lose their
access to PA officials and be unable to cover events in
PA territory if they broadcast any video or photos of
the large celebrations. (See reports below for more
details).

   An AP photographer was specifically threatened with
death if his photos were published.

   Here is the real news: THE AP HAS PUBLISHED A REPORT
OF THE THREAT BUT HAS CAVED IN TO THE PA'S REQUEST not
to publish these photos.

   So far we have only seen videos and photos of small
crowds celebrating in eastern Jerusalem and Lebanon. At
this moment, it looks like the Palestinian intimidation
tactics are working to keep the most damning scenes
from Ramallah and Nablus off American (and worldwide)
television screens and out of the newspapers.

   Please urge AP and other news organizations to
broadcast any video and/or photos they have of
celebrations by Palestinian crowds in Nablus and
Ramallah. Only by exposing and standing up to
intimidation can it be stopped.

   Thank AP for publishing the story about the death
threat to their videographer, but urge them to publish
the photos. By appeasing those who threaten them, they
are only encouraging further censorship and violence
against their staff.

* PA NEWSPAPER PRAISES SUICIDE BOMBERS:

   On a similar note, it is odd indeed that when
Arafat's words of condolence were so widely broadcast
by many in the media, so few in the press made note
that on the very day of the attacks, the PA-controlled
daily newspaper published an article praising suicide
bombers as "the engines of history... the most
honorable among us."

   See below for articles from AP, Agence France Press,
IMRA, the Jerusalem Post, and PMW.