Geneva – A U.N. human rights expert has criticized restrictions on free speech in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
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The global body’s independent investigator on freedom of expression says the practice of military censorship and some Israeli laws on funding of non-governmental group can have a chilling effect on the work of journalists and peaceful activists.
Frank La Rue in a report presented Tuesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva also criticized the Palestinian Authority for exerting “excessive government control over the media” in the West Bank and reportedly harassing Facebook users for making unfavorable comments about President Mahmoud Abbas.
La Rue says new rules imposed by Hamas requiring foreign journalists to name a local contact when visiting Gaza may result in self-censorship.
What a joke. Let the UN look at Communist Red China and Russia’s censorship of the press, then go on to Cuba, North Korea, etc……
This report is ridiclous. Every country in the world that has a military has “military censorship”.
At least they criticized the Arabs as well.
Isn’t it interesting that the Special Rapporteur effectively equated Arab – both PA and Hamas – intimidation and harassment – and worse – of reporters with Israeli requirements that politically active organizations disclose their funding sources – something required by the “advanced European democracies” as well.
This is in line with the general equation of Arab terror murder with Israeli home construction.
I stopped reading when I saw the words “UN Expert”.
The UN is a major waste of money. They can’t stop people from being killed in countries such as syria so they ty to keep them selves busy by making stupid reports such as these.