Hamas Defends Ban on Cooperation With Israeli Media
Hamas' decision to ban Gaza-based Palestinian journalists from working with the Israeli media has caused controversy, Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza.
Hamas, after six years in power in Gaza, decided on Tuesday to ban Gaza-based Palestinian journalists from working for Israeli media outlets.
Only a few Gaza journalists are said to be working for Israeli media, including Channel 10 and Haaretz. Many of these journalists declined to speak to Al-Monitor about the ban out of fear for their safety, but Al-Monitor contributor Abeer Ayoub spoke out against the move.
Ayoub has had her work published in Israel’s Haaretz over the past few months, and has expressed resentment over the ban that she believes is “counterproductive” to spreading the Palestinian perspective.
"I can definitely say that Haaretz, for which I have been recently working, is an objective Israeli media outlet. If not, I wouldn't have worked for it at all. I have always focused on human-interest stories from Gaza and the newspaper would accept and publish them. I do not see that such a decision by the government is helpful."
