Gaza, July 2014.
Israel plans to shut down Palestinian TV station
Israel plans to shut down a new Arabic-language television station that services Palestinian citizens of Israel, .
The station鈥檚 name 鈥 Palestine 48 鈥 refers to the parts of the country occupied by Israel during the Nakba (鈥淐atastrophe鈥), the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland. It began programming on June 25.
Yet Israel鈥檚 hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already asked the ministry of communications to shut the station down.
鈥淭he prime minister ordered the ministry to take any and all action within its purview, both criminal and bureaucratic, to stop the broadcasts,鈥 Israeli news outlet Ynet said. 鈥淥ne of the main elements of the ministry鈥檚 investigation will be the legality of the Palestinian Authority鈥檚 funding of the station.鈥
Israeli efforts to close down the television station, which receives funding from the Palestinian Authority, are only the latest in a lengthy history of cracking down on Palestinian media in present-day Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli authorities have made 鈥減ersecuting Palestinian cultural and media institutions a daily routine,鈥 said Majd Kayyal, the media coordinator at Adalah, a Haifa-based legal centre that represents Palestinians in Israel.
Israeli official threatens to strip Palestinian MPs citizenships
Israeli Deputy Interior Minister Yaron Mazuz threatened Palestinian Arab members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on June 25. Mazuz said Israel could strip them of their citizenship, .
The threat came after the MPs criticised a plan to block Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from acquiring Israeli citizenship.
鈥淲e are doing you people a favour by even allowing you to be seated here,鈥 Mazuz, who is also a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 Likud party, said during a debate on the 鈥渇amily reunification鈥 law in the Israeli Knesset.
Mazuz directed his comments to the Arab Joint List coalition, which entered the Knesset as part of Israeli general elections in March. The government official reportedly added that 鈥渢errorists cannot sit here,鈥 referring to Palestinian Arab lawmakers.
Arab lawmakers responded to Mazuz鈥檚 comments by reminding him that they had the right to be in this land, where their ancestors had lived for centuries. Around 2 million of Israel鈥檚 8.5 million population are Palestinian Arabs, who remained in the country after Israel was established in 1948.
Palestinians hand ICC evidence of Israeli crimes
Palestinians handed evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court on June 25 as part of a preliminary investigation into last year's invasion of Gaza, .
鈥淭he files to be presented to the court refer to war crimes and crimes committed by individuals of the Israeli leadership,鈥 the Palestinian Liberation Organisation said in a statement.
Prominent peace activist Mustafa Barghouthi, head of the Palestine National Initiative, said the files include hundreds of pages of evidence against Israeli forces.
鈥淥ur aim is to establish war crimes in order that an investigation by the chief prosecutor鈥檚 office is carried out and to remove immunity from Israel and its leaders, achieve justice, apply human rights conventions, protect Palestinians and hold criminals accountable for their crimes.鈥
The ICC case is still in its early stages, but could potentially lead to indictments against Israeli officials if the court finds evidence of human rights abuses.
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