Jul 18 2009
Israeli journalists out
Israeli Journalist Association, Tel Aviv (photo: Zeev Zamir)
Here’s a story you probably didn’t hear too much about.
On June 7th, the International Federation of Journalists decided to remove the Israeli Federation from membership. The reason? According to the international federation, the Israelis didn’t pay their dues for the last 4 years. On the Israeli side there’s much anger about the one-sidedness of the international organization, regarding Israel’s conduct in Lebanon and Gaza. They say that as long as the international federation continues to treat Israel as its punch-bag, they don’t want to take part in it.
The ridiculous outcome, however, is that Israeli journalists are out, and the beacons of free press, such as Libyan and Iranian journalists, are in.
For those of you who read Italian, here’s an interview with Aidan White, General Secretary of the international federation, that I did for Il Foglio , in which he explains how this whole matter unfolded from his point of view.