Freedom of Expression? Not for Palestinians

by Khaled Abu Toameh
February 13, 2013 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3588/palestinians-freedom-of-expression

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This most recent assault on freedom of expression does not seem to bother the Western countries that fund the Palestinian Authority. The crackdown on Palestinian journalists in the West Bank is also fine as long as Israel is not involved.

In another story the Western media apparently refuses to cover, any Palestinian who dares to criticize Hamas or the Palestinian Authority risks being arrested or summoned for interrogation.
Palestinian journalists are now hoping to bring this to the attention of President Barack Obama when he meets with President Mahmoud Abbas next month.
The journalists say they want United States and the rest of the world to know that the crackdown on freedom of expression in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip is designed to hide the fact that Palestinians are governed by two repressive regimes that have no respect for human rights and democracy.
Over the past few weeks, several Palestinian journalists have been arrested in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for reportedly criticizing the policies and leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
But this most recent assault on freedom of expression does not seem to bother the Western countries that fund the Palestinian Authority or Hamas supporters from all around the world.
As far as many Western governments and journalists are concerned, physical assaults on Palestinian reporters in the Gaza Strip are fine as long as they are not perpetrated by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority crackdown on Palestinian journalists in the West Bank is also fine as long as Israel is not involved.
Most of the assaults against journalists took place in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas continues to display zero tolerance towards critics or anyone who dares to say something "controversial."
In the past few weeks, at least 16 journalists from the Gaza Strip were arrested or summoned for interrogation by Hamas authorities in the context of a campaign aimed at intimidating the local media.
Some of the journalists were released only after Hamas forced them to sign a document stating that they would refrain from attending press conferences or covering various activities unless they obtained permission in advance.
The Hamas authorities have also raided the homes of several journalists, confiscating their computers and notebooks.
In some instances, Hamas's security forces have forced journalists to provide them with their passwords and usernames in order to check their emails.
Following is a list of the names of journalists from the Gaza Strip who have been arrested or interrogated by Hamas in recent weeks: Ashraf Abu Khwaisan, Ala Dawaheed, Amru Dawaheed, Munir al-Munairawi, Mustafa Migdad, Majdi Islim, Juma'ah Abu Shomar, Hisham al-Ju'ub, Muayad Assali, Shadi Shaheen, Muhanad al-Kahlout, Esam Madi, Hussein Abdel Jawwad, Abdel Karim Hijji and Yusef Hammad.
Three other journalists, Khaled Thabet, Mohamed Za'anin and Muthana al-Najjar, were beaten by Hamas policemen and thugs while covering various activities in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, the situation has not been any better for Palestinian journalists and political activists.
Just last week, a Palestinian Authority court sentenced 26-year-old Anas Said Awwad to one year in prison for "insulting" President Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook.
Awwad was found guilty of depicting Abbas as a member of the Real Madrid soccer team.
The man was convicted on the basis of a 50-year-old Jordanian law that bans "extending one's tongue" against the Jordanian monarch.
The Palestinian Authority often uses this law to punish anyone who posts comments against Abbas or other leaders in Ramallah.
This was not the first time that the Palestinian Authority goes after Palestinians who use Facebook to express their views.
At least three other Palestinians, Nizar Banat, Mamdouh Hamamreh and Jihad Harb have been targeted by Abbas's security forces for posting critical comments on Facebook.
Over the past week, Palestinian Authority security forces also arrested two journalists, Ala al-Titi and Mohamed Awad.
Safad Nazzal, a Palestinian female activist who criticized the Palestinian Authority for failing to pay more attention to the case of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, has also been arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank.
It now remains to be seen whether Obama and other Western leaders and government officials, as well as human rights groups, will pay attention to the ongoing attempt to silence Palestinian journalists and political activists. Failure to do so will only encourage Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to continue their assaults on freedom of expression.

Related Topics: Khaled Abu Toameh

Iran to Buy North Korea's Nuclear Plans on the Cheap?

by Taylor Dinerman
February 13, 2013 at 4:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3587/iran-north-korea-nuclear-plans

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If the Mullahs can simply buy a useable and tested bomb design from North Korea, they could transform their status into a nuclear weapons state overnight... and at bargain prices. And states such as Saudi Arabia could, as well.

Before the North Koreans successfully launched a (non-functioning) satellite into orbit on December 12, 2012 there were reports, notably by space expert and NBC News consultant, James Oberg, that Iranian missile experts had been spotted in North Korea. If true, this would be perfectly consistent with the longstanding and close relationship that North Korea has had with the Islamic Republic of Iran. On February 11, the Pyongyang government exploded what it describes as a 'miniaturized' nuclear weapon. This test has dramatically raised tension levels in Northeast Asia. This underground test also raises difficult questions about Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The nuclear explosion seems to have been more powerful than the previous two, the first of which in 2006 looked like a "fizzle." No matter what the US intelligence community eventually determines about the exact nature of the February 11th explosion, it is obvious that the North Koreans are getting better at building these weapons. What should also be obvious is that the the information and expertise that the North Koreans are gaining is, in all probability, going to be shared with the Mullah's regime in Iran.
It was evident back in 1999 that Iran and North Korea were cooperating on both long range missiles and nuclear weapons. Back then, Bill Gertz, writing in the Washington Times, reported that "Iranian officials recently traveled to North Korea to discuss missile cooperation."
Before that, in 1998, "The Commission to Assess The Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States" chaired by Donald Rumsfeld with members such as Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey and Richard Garwin, described how, "we traced the development histories of the related programs of North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan and the relationships among them."
Since 1998, intelligence assessments of these types of programs, especially after the mistakes made in Iraq, have become even more politicized than they were in 1998. Any ambiguities in the information are seized on by intelligence analysts to downplay any danger that these rogue states may "break out" in unexpected ways. The highly controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of Iran's nuclear program is an example of this problem: the claim that Iran had given up its nuclear weapons program was derided as an apparent effort by the intelligence community to prevent the Bush administration from taking active measures against Iran.
However, the detailed language of the NIE indicates that the intelligence community was hedging its bets. They wrote, "We assess with moderate confidence Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons." We certainly do know that in February 2013, Iran's drive to build up a stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which can be fashioned into a bomb, has accelerated.
In this context, the 2007 NIE makes a point that is all too relevant today: "We judge with moderate confidence Iran probably would be technically capable of producing enough HEU for a weapon sometime during the 2010-2015 timeframe. (INR[1] judges Iran is unlikely to achieve this capability before 2013 because of foreseeable technical and programmatic problems.) All agencies recognize that this capability may not be achieved until after 2015."
Thus, according to the NEI, we are today right in the middle of the time period that the careful and reputedly dovish analysts of the US intelligence community identified as the moment when Iran would have enough material for a nuclear bomb. We have been told that there is no evidence that Iran is working on a bomb design, but if the Mullahs can simply buy a useable, and tested bomb design from North Korea, they could transform their status into a nuclear weapons state overnight.
The North Korean government is even more impoverished now than it was in 1999. It is likely that its bomb designs will be for sale at bargain prices. Thanks to the availability of a cheap and tested design, nuclear weapons programs could begin to emerge in previously non-nuclear nations. For example, Arab states that are losing confidence in America's will to defend them against Tehran, could buy the North Korean warhead plans as easily as their Iranian adversaries.
Nuclear weapons technology is now 68 years old. The people of this planet are lucky indeed that no one has used "The Bomb" as it was once called, but with states such as North Korea and Iran on the verge of having real nuclear weapons capability, it may be time to recognize that our luck may not last much longer.
[1] Intelligence and Research : The State Department's in-house intelligence agency

Related Topics: Iran | Taylor Dinerman

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