The region’s only “democracy”

Gideon Levy, Haaretz, October 14:

The last time, we traveled together to the Indira Gandhi Park. Nearly a year has passed since then. We traveled to this playground, on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya, with our dedicated Gazan taxi drivers, Munir and Sa’id, to document the killing of kindergarten teacher Najweh Khalif in front of her children by an errant tank shell that missed the kindergarten’s minibus by only several meters. We have not been able to return to Gaza since.

The Gaza Strip has been completely closed to Israeli journalists for nearly a year. The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service decided this because it is dangerous in Gaza. An Israeli journalist can travel to Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, but not to Gaza. An Israeli can travel to Sinai, where it is also said to be dangerous. The West Bank is still open to journalists, where it is dangerous. But a complete blackout has been imposed on Gaza. Only Roni Daniel can still join the invading forces and expose their itchy trigger fingers – as he did in his report on Channel 2 on Thursday – and sing their praises. The place so present in the public consciousness, which dictates the security and diplomatic agenda, has been closed by the Israeli authorities to the Israeli media. Long before it was declared a “hostile entity,” Gaza had become a closed territory, without any media coverage or documentation. Such is Israeli freedom of the press.

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