Award-winning Palestinian reporter 'abused' by Israeli security officers
By Paul de Rooij
Paul de Rooij is a Dutch mathematician and economist. He lives in London.
MacIntyre reports on Mohammed Omer's ordeal at the Allenby Bridge crossing, and he should be commended for that. However, it is a rather confused explanation of what happened to Omer, and the final paragraph of the article reads: Reuters quoted an unnamed Israeli security official yesterday as denying that Mr Omer had been mistreated. But Aryeh Mekel, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said that while it was still awaiting a written complaint from the Netherlands it had already asked the security services for an explanation of what happened. He said that Israel had facilitated Mr Omer's transfer from Jericho to Gaza.
An unnamed official offering a denial of torture... So, there is a confusing story here. Either Omer was tortured (and thus his broken ribs and injured larynx) or... It is an either or situation, and MacIntyre refuses to utter a clarification. He stands in the middle not offering a coherent version of events. And then the spokesman stating that Omer's transfer was "facilitated"... another absurdity that wasn't clarified. It was a major ordeal for Omer to leave Gaza - most Gazans cannot leave the strip. And upon return his passage to Gaza was only possible because of Dutch diplomatic intervention. (Not that the diplomats offered any protection).
Notice the title of the article: "Award-winning Palestinian reporter 'abused' by Israeli security officers" The word "abused" appears in quotation marks - of course, the article gives credence to the denials by the Israeli spokesmen and the title reflects that. Furthermore, Mohammed Omer isn't a "reporter", he is a journalist who received the Martha Gerlhorn Prize. And "security" officers? When are these colonial thugs going to be called by their rightful name: torturers?
Compare MacIntyre’s article with John Pilger’s account in the Guardian
Independent.co.uk
Award-winning Palestinian reporter 'abused' by Israeli security officers
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
The Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen, has officially complained to Israel after accusations by an award-winning Palestinian journalist from Gaza that he was abused during almost four hours of detention at the border with Jordan.
Mohammed Omer, 24, says that he was manhandled and strip-searched and fainted during interrogation when he returned from a Dutch government-facilitated trip to London to collect a prestigious British journalism award, the Martha Gellhorn Prize.
--MORE--
Paul de Rooij is a Dutch mathematician and economist. He lives in London.
MacIntyre reports on Mohammed Omer's ordeal at the Allenby Bridge crossing, and he should be commended for that. However, it is a rather confused explanation of what happened to Omer, and the final paragraph of the article reads: Reuters quoted an unnamed Israeli security official yesterday as denying that Mr Omer had been mistreated. But Aryeh Mekel, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said that while it was still awaiting a written complaint from the Netherlands it had already asked the security services for an explanation of what happened. He said that Israel had facilitated Mr Omer's transfer from Jericho to Gaza.
An unnamed official offering a denial of torture... So, there is a confusing story here. Either Omer was tortured (and thus his broken ribs and injured larynx) or... It is an either or situation, and MacIntyre refuses to utter a clarification. He stands in the middle not offering a coherent version of events. And then the spokesman stating that Omer's transfer was "facilitated"... another absurdity that wasn't clarified. It was a major ordeal for Omer to leave Gaza - most Gazans cannot leave the strip. And upon return his passage to Gaza was only possible because of Dutch diplomatic intervention. (Not that the diplomats offered any protection).
Notice the title of the article: "Award-winning Palestinian reporter 'abused' by Israeli security officers" The word "abused" appears in quotation marks - of course, the article gives credence to the denials by the Israeli spokesmen and the title reflects that. Furthermore, Mohammed Omer isn't a "reporter", he is a journalist who received the Martha Gerlhorn Prize. And "security" officers? When are these colonial thugs going to be called by their rightful name: torturers?
Compare MacIntyre’s article with John Pilger’s account in the Guardian
Independent.co.uk
Award-winning Palestinian reporter 'abused' by Israeli security officers
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
The Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen, has officially complained to Israel after accusations by an award-winning Palestinian journalist from Gaza that he was abused during almost four hours of detention at the border with Jordan.
Mohammed Omer, 24, says that he was manhandled and strip-searched and fainted during interrogation when he returned from a Dutch government-facilitated trip to London to collect a prestigious British journalism award, the Martha Gellhorn Prize.
--MORE--