Israel Broadcast Authority refuses to broadcast names of dead Palestinian children

By Ray Hanania

Reminiscent of the vicious racist policies of the Apartheid Government of South Africa, the Israeli Broadcast Authority rejected an advertisement that would have read aloud over Israeli radio the names of Palestinian children murdered by Israeli soldiers in their brutal assault of the Gaza Strip.

The decision is reminiscent of a similar move by the Apartheid Government of South Africa which in the 1980s rejected efforts by anti-Apartheid activists to broadcast names of Black Africans killed by the South African regime. South Africa’s Apartheid government was established in 1948, coincidentally with the founding of Israel, and the two countries remained close allies until Apartheid was abolished in 1994.

The radio spots rejected by Israel were proposed and developed by B’Tselem, (“In the Name of God” in English) the renown Israeli civil rights organization founded in 1989 in Israel by prominent Israeli lawyers, civil rights activists, academics and journalists to highlight civl rights violations in the Occupied Territories and to try to give Israelis a conscience.

Although the names of Israeli soldiers and two civilians killed during the Israeli initiated war have been broadcast in Israel throughout the Israeli media, Israel has censored broadcasts that expose Israeli military and governmental warcrimes as their American-funded and equipped military rampages through the Gaza Strip killing more than 600 Palestinians, mostly civilians and including 123 121 Palestinian teenagers, children and babies.

The murdered children were among civilian women and elderly who were in buildings targeted by Israeli soldiers who in most cases knewthat the buildings they are attacking and destroying are filled with civilians. The Israeli soldiers would give the inhabitants to many buildings minutes notice of their impending assault and if the civilians did not leave, the buildings were assaulted with missiles.

Officials at B’Tselem said they learned from the media yesterday that” the Israel Broadcast Authority (IBA) had rejected an appeal against IBA Radio’s refusal to air a spot in which the names of Gazan children killed during Operation Protective Edge were read out.”

In response, B’Tselem posted the censored spot on Facebook. Within hours, almost 300,000 people had been exposed to the names and the post was shared more than 900 times.

The Facebook post (which is in Hebrew) can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.

More than 600 Palestinians have been killed during the fighting in Gaza so far, including more than 150 children. The list of Children B’Tselem released includes only thenames of 123 children who could be identified. More than 27 other children, as of Thursday July 24, were also killed but their identities were not yet known.

B’Tselem charged that Israel’s media, which asserts to be professional and thorough, has “barely covering the story, other than mentioning the number of casualties.”

B’Tselem said in their statement, “To encourage public debate in Israel on the issue, B’Tselem asked to purchase a spot on IBA Radio in order to have the names of some of the children killed read out. The radio refused, on the grounds that reading out the names of Palestinian children killed in Gaza is politically ‘controversial.’ Yet the refusal is, in itself, far from neutral: it is a powerful statement in favor of silencing public debate over the massive price that Gazan civilians are paying for this operation.”

One reason given for refusing to play the spot was that reporting the names of the dead “belongs in newscasts”. In a letter to the IBA, B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad responded: “The newscasts in Israel, which – so you yourself claim – should broadcast the names of the Palestinian dead, are not doing so. To bring these facts to the public’s attention, we had to resort to buying radio spots ourselves. Yet our request was denied based on the hypothetical claim that the newscasts should broadcast the names. The result of this circular reasoning is that a human issue of utmost, urgent public importance has been effectively silenced and erased from the public sphere, both in newscasts and in radio advertising.”

The most recent Gaza War began after Israeli soldiers and settler terrorists began firing missiles into the Gaza Strip in January 2014 continuing through June 10 when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered. Prior to the kidnapping-murders, Israeli soldiers and settlers had murdered six Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and destroyed dozens of homes. Hundreds of Palestinians were kidnapped by Israeli soldiers and some were tortured, Palestinian human rights groups allege.

Although the Israeli and Western news media ignored the Israeli missile attacks against Gaza during the beginning of the year, the Israeli and American media sensationalized the story by providing one-sided coverage of the kidnappings, framing the conflict as falsely being started by Hamas.

As is demonstrated by the IBT rejection of truth and fairness, most Israelis live in a delusional world of denial in which their country has been responsible for some of the most reprehensible mass murders in Middle East history. The carnage is so great that the only explanation is that many Israelis don’t want to admit that their government engages in terrorism and war crimes.

Below is a list of Palestinian children up to age 15 killed from the beginning of the operation until 21 July 2014 as distributed by B’Tselem:

Umamah Ousamah Khalil al-Hayah, 8
Osamah Mahmoud al-Astal, 6
Ahmad Ayman Siyam, 15
Ahmad Nael Mahdi, 15
Ahmad Na’Im Muhammad Musalam, 11
Ahmad Sufian a-Jamal, 9
Ahmad Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 8
Ibrahim Jamal Kamal Naser, 13
Ibrahim Khalil ‘Abd ‘Amar, 12
Ibrahim Ramadan Abu Daqah, 10
Aya Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 12
Ayub Ahmad Abu Jame’, 10
Iman Khalil ‘Abd ‘Amar, 9
Islam al-Qasas, 15
Isma’il Muhammad Subhi Baker, 9
Israa al-Qasas, 7
Elyas Ibrahim Dib al-Kulani, 4
Amal Bahaa al-Batsh, 2
Amjad Salem Khamis Sha’t, 15
Amir Iyad Salem ‘Arif, 11
Anas ‘Alaa Subhi al-Batsh, 10
Asil al-Masri, 15
Asil Wisam Marzuq Sheheibar, 7
Arwa al-Qasas, 4
Basem Salem Kaware’, 10
Bader Siyam, 4
“Bisan Basem Ahmad Abu Jame’, 6 months”, 6 month
Bitul Basam Ahmad Abu Jame’, 4
Jawdat Ahmad Abu Jame’, 13
Jihad ‘Isam Marzuq Sheheibar, 10
Dima ‘Abdallah Salim, 3
Dina ‘Abdallah ‘Aziz, 5
“Dalal Siyam, 9 months”, 0
Hiba Akram Saleh a-Sha’er, 15
Hiba Hamed a-Sheikh Khalil, 14
Haifaa Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 9
Haniyah ‘Abd a-Rahman Abu Jarad, 3
Wisam ‘Isam Marzuq Sheheibar, 8
Walaa Na’im Muhammad Musalam, 14
Wasim Mustafa Salhiyah, 15
Zakariyah ‘Ahed Subhi Baker, 10
Khalil Ousamah Khalil al-Hayah, 5
Husam Ibrahim a-Najar, 14
Husam Husam Abu Qainas, 7
Hussein Yusef Kaware’, 13
Hamzah Ousamah Khalil ak-Hayah, 4
Yamen Riyad al-Hmeideh, 4
Yasin Ibrahim Dib al-Kilani, 9
Yasmin Muhammad al-Mutawaq, 4
Yasmin Mahmoud al-Astal, 4
Yaser Ibrahim Dib al-Kilani, 8
Kinan Hasan Akram al-Halaq, 6
Lamyaa Iyad al-Qasas, 11
Muhammad Iyad al-Qasas, 4
Muhammad Iyad Salem ‘Arif, 10
Muhmmad Ibrahim Antiz, 13
Muhammad Ibrahim Faek al-Masri, 14
Muhammad Ayman a-Sha’er, 5
Muhammad Ashraf Rafiq ‘Ayad, 3
Muhammad Hani Muhammad al-Halaq, 2
Muhammad Ziad Saleh a-Rahal, 5
Muhammad Khalaf Nawasrah, 2
Muhammad Mustafa Malakeh, 2
Muhammad Na’im Muhammad Musalam, 15
Muhammad Salem Antiz, 3
Muhammad ‘Ali Kaware’, 13
Muhammad Ramez ‘Izat Baker, 11
Muhammad Rami Fathi ‘Ayad, 3
Musa Muhammad Taher al-Astal, 15
“Musa ‘Abd a-Rahman Abu Jarad, 8 months”, 8 month
Mustafa Siyam, 9
Maisaa Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 7
Manar Majed al-Batsh, 13
Marwah Suliman Ahmad a-Sarsawi, 12
Marah Shaker a-Jamal, 10
Miriam ‘Atiyeh al-‘Arja, 10
“Nujud Taysir Ahmad Abu Jame’, 4 months”, 4 month
Nur Yaser Ahmad Abu Jame’, 2
Nidal Khalaf ‘Awad Nawasrah, 4
Nasmah Iyad al-Qasas, 10
Nagham Mahmoud ‘Abd al-Hamid a-Zweidi, 2
Sajidah Yaser Ahmad Abu Jame’, 7
Saji Hasan Akram al-Halaq, 4
Saher Abu Namus, 4
Sarah ‘Omar Sheikh al-‘Eid, 9
Suhelah Basam Ahmad Abu Jame’, 3
Sawsan Ibrahim Dib al-Kilani, 11
Suliman Ahmad Abu Jame’, 14
Siham Muhammad Ibrahim Zu’rub, 11
Siraj Iyad ‘Abd al-‘Al, 8
Siraj Yaser Ahmad Abu Jame’, 4
Samih Na’im Abu Jarad, 1
Samar al-Qasas, 3
Samar Musa Abu Jarad, 15
Safaa Malakeh, 6
Ahed ‘Attaf ‘Ahed Baker, 9
Asem Khalil ‘Abd ‘Amar, 4
Abd a-Rahman Akram a-Skafi, 12
Abd a-Rahman Basam Khatab, 5
Abdallah Yusef Daraji, 2
Abdallah Muhammad Kaware’, 12
Abdallah Ramadan Abu Ghazal, 5
Omar Jamil Subhi Hamudah, 10
Fadi Diab Hassan Islim, 10
Fatmeh Mahmoud al-Haj, 14
Fatmeh Taysir Ahmad Abu Jame’, 12
“Fares Jum’ah a-Tarabin? 3 months”, 3 month
Qasem Jaber ‘Adwan Kaware’, 12
Qusai ‘Isam al-Batsh, 12
Ghadah Subhi Sa’idi ‘Ayad, 13
Ghaidaa Siyam, 7
Raed Muhammad Thari, 4
Rahaf Isma’il Abu Jam’ah, 4
Rahaf Khalil Hamadah a-Jabur, 4
Ru’ya Mhamhmoud ‘Abd al-Hamid a-Zweidi, 5
Razan Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 14
Rizeq Ahmad al-Hayek, 2
Rayan Taysir Ahmad Abu Jame’, 5
Rim Ibrahim Dib al-Kilani, 12
Rinat Taysir Ahmad Abu Jame’, 2
Sha’ban Jamil Ziyadah, 12
Tala Akram al-‘Atawi, 10
Tawfiq Tawfiq Ahmad Abu Jame’, 4

END

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Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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