Hamassholes prosecute journalist for her honesty

A Palestinian journalist was prosecuted Monday by Hamas after she exposed corruption in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh.

In June of last year, Hajer Harb reported that Hamas and the PA (Palestinian Authority, not Parents Association) extorted Palestinians who sought medical care in Israel, Europe and other countries in the Arab World.

The Hamassholes and PA, along with doctors who went along with the extortion, demanded bribes from Palestinian patients seeking permits for better medical treatment because the camel urine tasted horrible and wasn't curing anything--Mohammad was wrong about that, like he was wrong about the wings of flies. (He said one wing of a fly causes disease and the other wing cures it. Mohammad was clearly no physician.)

Anyway, Harb's report charged that those who didn't pay the bribes were "left to die in understaffed and under-equipped Palestinian hospitals.

Which calls to mind the notion that Israeli hospitals treat Muslim Palestinians, even from the other side of the wall. But Palestinian Muslims don't treat Israeli Jews and believe it's their religious duty to kill them wherever they find them.

So who are the barbarians?

The PA and Hamasshole leaders were terribly pissed with the investigative report exposing what some Palestinians called the "mafia of destruction," and those in the Italian mafia are pissed at having their name ripped off.

After Harb's piece was published, an official Hamasshole called her for an interrogation whereby she refused to reveal her sources without a court order.

Harb recalled:

The prosecution told me that I was facing the following charges: impersonation of another person (they claim I did not reveal my real identity during the investigative report); slandering the Ministry of Health, publishing inaccurate and incorrect information and working with 'foreign parties' (by preparing a report for a London-based television station under the pretext that the media organization is not registered with the Press Office in the Gaza Strip).

Harb herself required a permit to seek medical treatment for cancer in Jordan, but human rights groups intervened on her behalf and she didn't need to bribe anyone for a permit, said Toameh.

While abroad, she was sentenced by a Hamas "court" to six months in prison and fined 1,000 shekels ($250). If she returns to Gaza, she will be arrested and incarcerated.

Some critics have condemned Hamassholes for trying to silence a journalist, but Antifa isn't one of them.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) denounced Harb's verdict and called it a "very serious precedent against media freedoms." They wrote: "MADA, wishing a speedy recovery for our colleague [Harb], strongly condemns this decision, which lacks fair trial procedures."

Gee, big surprise--a Palestinian decision that's unfair.

Palestinian political analyst Jihad Harb (no relation) said the verdict was an effort to both silence journalists and protect the corrupt practices of Hamas government in Gaza. He noted that Hamas targets those who expose corruption, not those involved in perpetrating it.

Abu Toameh wrote: 

"The court verdict passed on Hajer Harb, and the ongoing punitive measures against Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, serve as yet another reminder that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have no respect for freedom of expression and media freedoms. Hamas and the PA may be at war with each other, but they both agree that the media is an enemy that needs to be defeated, to prevent the world from learning about corruption and repression."

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a nonprofit organization, condemned the treatment of journalists by Hamas and the PA. They said their tactics led to a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression in the Palestinian territories.

"Both Palestinian governments, operating independently, have apparently arrived at similar methods of harassment, intimidation and physical abuse of anyone who dares criticize them," said Sari Bashi, HRW's Israel/Palestinian director.

So next time you hear anti-Zionist, Palestinian news, take it with a grain of Kosher salt.


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Hamas holds AP journalist at gunpoint, beats AFP photographer

[Photo credit: Mohammed Othman/Flash90]

The darlings of the UN and the left, Hamas, has blocked journalists from filming a major protest against power cuts in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday. They detained and held an Associated Press journalist at gunpoint and brutally beat up an Agence France-Presse photographer who refused to hand over his camera.

The AP journalist was trying to cover a demonstration against frequent electricity shortages in Gaza, described by that press outlet as "one of the largest unauthorized protests in the territory since the Islamic militant group took power a decade ago."

The AP reported that: "Hamas forces blocked journalists from filming the gathering, and an Associated Press journalist was briefly detained at gunpoint until he handed over his mobile phones to plainclothes security men."

The Foreign Press Association said the Hamassholes "stuck a pistol in his chest and verbally threatened the reporter until he agreed to give them the phones." In the same statement, they said "an AFP photographer was badly beaten to the head by uniformed policemen [and] required medical care after he had refused to give up his camera. The memory card of his camera was confiscated and he was placed under arrest. He was subsequently released and the memory card was returned."

One day prior to the protest, Hamassholes arrested a local comedian who wasn't being funny when he made a video that went viral about the power outages.

In spite of all the love Hamas gets from the UN and our leftists here, they often are criticized for limiting press freedoms such as warning journalists against sharing negative incriminating details in their reports from Gaza and forcing them to delete such details if included in their coverage.

But at least they aren't Israel, John Kerry says to himself when shampooing his hair.

Palestinian affairs journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, in a 2009 report for the Gatestone Institute wrote:

Foreign journalists who manage to cross into the Gaza Strip face many restrictions imposed by the Hamas government. Local facilitators hired by foreign journalists are also under scrutiny by the Hamas government. That is why they are careful not to bring the dirty laundry out by telling the foreign media about things that could reflect negatively on Hamas.

During Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, it was clear how the latter restricted the reporting. Foreign reporters admitted after they left the Middle East that they had waited to report news that put Hamas in a bad light, such as their use of human shields, and their decision to fire rockets next door to their hotel. The reporters were afraid of Hamas' retaliation, so they waited until they were safely home or at least out of the area. 

In fact, a Hamas spokeswoman admitted in August of 2014 that Hamas had intimidated journalists into providing more favorable coverage of them.

Mark Lavie, a former AP journalist wrote that the intimidation of reporters was the main reason news from Gaza is skewed.

Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization, condemned the treatment of journalists by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, saying that their tactics led to a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression in the Palestinian territories.

"Both Palestinian governments, operating independently, have apparently arrived at similar methods of harassing, intimidating and physical abuse of anyone who dares criticize them," said Sari Bashi, the HRW's Israel-Palestine director.

Freedom House's press freedom score  of 84 (with 100 being the worst) was given to the Palestinian territories in 2015. And a survey in 2014 found "80% of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza practice self-censorship of their writing." The same year, a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 70% of Palestinians didn't believe they could criticize the PA.

But these are simply facts and not feelings so what and who are you going to believe?




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