Israel has revoked the press permit of one of its citizens, Elias Karram. Karram, who works for Al Jazeera and once described himself as a member of the “resistance,” is accused of being a partisan agent of Palestinian terrorist groups.
At first glance, I have some sympathy for Israel here. As a democracy bound to the independent rule of law, Israel grants its enemies vastly more rights than its foes do in return. Indeed, for a taste of how one of Israel’s paramount enemies, the Lebanese Hezbollah, treats its adversaries, consider CIA Beirut station chief, William Buckley. Kidnapped by the Lebanese Hezbollah (“the Party of God”) in 1984, Buckley was then tortured for a year. His friend, Gordon Thomas, describes one of the videos sent by Hezbollah to CIA headquarters.
“Buckley was close to a gibbering wretch. His words were often incoherent; he slobbered and drooled and, most unnerving of all, he would suddenly scream in terror, his eyes rolling helplessly and his body shaking. From time to time he held up documents, which had been in his burn-bag, to the camera. Then delivered a pathetic defense of his captor’s right to self-determination in Lebanon.”
Buckley was murdered, and his remains eventually thrown onto the sidewalk of a Beirut street. His end was liberation, Party of God style. So, there’s no question that Israel treats its enemies better than most. It’s also true that Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel is laughably biased. I’ve seen this first hand.
During the December 2008 operation to destroy Hamas rocket cells in Gaza, I was studying at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. It’s a great college, but one populated by many anti-Israel types. And during the Israeli operation, the student social room had Al Jazeera coverage blaring out onto a massive projector screen. The coverage was anything but independent. Showing apartment blocks being rocked by Israeli air strikes, Al Jazeera left unmentioned the fact that most of the ordnance used was low-weight and targeting Hamas/Islamic Jihad spotter and command cells.
Driven by Qatar’s ideological agenda, this biased reporting trend continues to the present day. Hamas is shown as a well-meaning servant of the people, and Israel as almost psychopathic.
Still, this permit revocation is a mistake. First off, it shows weakness on Israel’s part. Israel has a highly advanced society, economy, and democracy that was forged from the ashes of the Holocaust and on the sands of barren desert plains. This remarkable achievement is stronger than any Al Jazeera bias, and it will endure that bias.
By allowing the bias to continue, Israel shows another reason why it is so much better than its enemies. Moreover, for some at Al Jazeera, the fact that Israel tolerates the network’s presence raises a question mark in the mind. If Israel is so bad, why does it allow its enemies to report freely from its soil?
This press ban is also the path to a slippery slope. The reflex of any democratic government should be to permit more speech, not less.
Ultimately, while the anger and frustration of Israeli officials is understandable, they should think very carefully before continuing down this course.
