The Candy Bar that Blew Barghouti's Cover

Palestinian Incitement against the Media

By Bassam Tawil 

• Tellingly, although Nasser Abu Bakr's conflict of interest has been reported several times, his spectacular breach of journalistic ethics does not seem to bother his employers at Agence France-Presse (AFP). Worse, it calls into serious question AFP's professional ethics.
• Let us be clear on this: Abu Bakr and his PA friends are demanding that the Israeli and international media refrain from reporting anything offensive about the Palestinians. That is censorship -- not to mention shock-troop thuggery.
• Since his appointment as chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Abu Bakr has spearheaded a campaign to boycott Israeli journalists and media organizations. He has repeatedly accused Israeli journalists of serving as an "arm" of the Israeli military authorities and government. Ironically, it is Abu Bakr and his PJS who serve as part of the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership establishment and do not conceal their role as officials.

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  A screenshot from a video showing imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is leading a "hunger strike," secretly eating a candy bar in the bathroom of his prison cell. (Image source: Israel Prisons Service)
  The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), a body dominated by loyalists to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, has resumed its incitement against Israeli media outlets and journalists.
  On May 7, Israeli authorities released a video showing imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is leading a "hunger strike" of more than 1,000 inmates held in Israeli prisons, secretly eating a candy bar in the bathroom of his prison cell. Israeli media outlets and journalists, like many of their Western colleagues, reported on the video, which has seriously embarrassed Barghouti and many other Palestinians.
  The prisoners' "hunger strike" is not about torture or denial of medical treatment. The prisoners seek expanded visitation rights, better access to public phones and more access to higher education.
  But Barghouti, who began leading the "hunger strike" on April 17, has more on his mind than incarceration privileges.
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