(Gatestone Institute) - Khaled Abu Toameh Western journalists regularly focus on the "plight" of Palestinians, but often turn a blind eye to the daily killings of Palestinians in Syria and the fact that Palestinians living in Lebanon and other Arab countries are subjected to apartheid and discriminatory laws. A report said that 83 Palestinians died of torture in Syrian prisons during March this year. Similarly, the international media ignores the "plight" of Palestinians living under Palestinian Authority (PA) rule in the West Bank and Hamas rule in Gaza. Last week, the Palestinian General Intelligence Service arrested Khalil Afaneh for "slandering" Yasser Arafat on his Facebook page. On April 25, the PA arrested journalist Ahmed Abu Elhaija of Jenin as he was on his way to attend a conference in Jordan involving Palestinian journalists and bloggers. Jihad Salim was arrested by Palestinian security officers shortly after the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc, of which he is a member, won the student council election at Bir Zeit University. The situation in Gaza is not much different. The continued obsession of the media with Israel allows the Arab countries, as well as the PA and Hamas, to proceed with their systematic violations of human rights and freedom of speech.
2015-05-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive