
Israeli parliament continues to assault its own citizens' civil rights
Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance: 'Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger, even though it might be justified and moral.'
Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel: 'It's an entire nation out there [in Gaza] that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it's absolutely not true.'
Yoav Galant, the minister of defence: 'There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.'
But it is the following social media post by Ayman Odeh, leader of the left-wing and predominantly Arab, Hadash party, that earned the wrath and censure of his fellow Knesset (Israeli parliament) members and, with it, possible expulsion from the Knesset itself.
'I'm happy to see the [Israeli] hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners released … next we must free both peoples from the burden of the occupation. We were all born free … Gaza will win.'
Equating hostages and prisoners and the cryptic 'Gaza will win' seemingly sealed Odeh's fate.
Ayman Odeh is an Israeli-Palestinian parliamentarian. There was no threatened expulsion of Jewish Ayre Deri, the leader of a Religious-Orthodox party, following his controversial and frankly bizarre statement that the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2003, 'saved the nation of Israel' — implying somehow the murder of 1,200 Israelis indirectly saved Israel from Iranian nuclear Armageddon.
Odeh is lionised in Israeli leftist political circles and was once likened to the Martin Luther King of Israeli politics in a long interview with The New Yorker magazine. His status and threatened expulsion explains why the left-leaning Haaretz led on the story with the following headline: 'Outrageous Abuse: Ousting Ayman Odeh From Knesset Is a Declaration of War on Arabs in Israel.'
The vote in the Knesset to initiate Odeh's expulsion, and in particular the support of the main opposition centrist party, represents a dark moment for Israeli democracy. A full vote of the Knesset is required to uphold the recommendation.
Israeli democracy. The combination of those two short words has, of course, long been bitterly contested.
This is a country with free and fair elections, but where more than two million Palestinians live under occupation in the West Bank in a de facto one-state without the right to vote in the state that controls their lives.
This is a country with a robust and free press, where mainstream television channels refuse to show the reality of the war crimes committed in Gaza.
This is a country of all its citizens, whose parliament passed the 2018 Nation-State Law codifying the long-standing privileges of its Jewish citizens. It is easy, of course, to find quotes to demonise right-wing Israeli politicians, in part because there is no shortage of goons, loons, cartoonish villains, and downright nasty political characters in Israeli politics.
The Likud parliamentarian Tally Gotliv ticks many boxes. The far-right Likud ministers Maya Golan and Amichai Chikli recently gave unsettling and frankly bizarre interviews to English television presenter Piers Morgan. The famed documentarist Louis Theroux's film on far-right settlers gave oxygen to the infamous and chilling Daniella Weiss.
All the above make 'great' television — performative, purposely provocative. They all personify the Israeli political characters; arguably caricatures we all love to hate. Notwithstanding the fact they are all widely detested and ridiculed in Israel itself, they all arguably bolster non-Israeli prejudices of Israelis.
It is the views of ordinary Israelis, middle-of-the-road voters, centrists, secular-suburban, however one wishes to define or label them, that perhaps better reveal the soul of Israel. They are, by definition, everywhere, but also by inclination less willing to talk or perform.
Their views on occasion can be hopeful, inspiring even, at other times bleak, too often revealing a chilling indifference to the horror in Gaza.
With this in mind, the Irish Examiner took to the streets of Tel Aviv to ask residents their views on the expulsion of Odeh, the most well-known and most well-respected Israeli-Palestinian member of parliament.
All those I spoke to identified as leftist voters, all were critics of Netanyahu and the far-right government.
All, however, expressed either indifference or claimed not to know anything about the latest assault on Palestinian rights.
Yehonatan, 38, simply shrugged before admitting: 'I didn't even know about it.'
Udi, 34, was also non-committal: 'Wow, I'm not that up to speed on that whole Ayman Odeh thing, so I really don't have an opinion.'
Yael, 44, was equally phlegmatic in her response: 'Well, honestly, I didn't hear about it. So, I don't know what to say'.
Maya, 52, confessed she didn't 'know the details well, but it feels like another step towards the elimination of Israeli democracy'.
It seems not too many Tel Avivians are either informed or much bothered by the threatened expulsion, on spurious grounds, from the Knesset of Israel's most prominent Israeli-Arab parliamentarian.
But perhaps, Tel Avivians are simply exhausted by the government's year-long assault on Israeli civil rights. This includes repeated attempts to dismantle the independence of the Supreme Court, advancing legislation designed to silence human rights groups, and threats to abolish the public broadcasting authority.
The Irish Examiner spoke with Odeh over the weekend. I specifically asked him if he was concerned about the apparent indifference of centre-left voters on the streets of Tel Aviv, on this latest assault on Israeli democracy and freedom of speech?
'I don't think the entire public is indifferent,' he said.
'If you looked at my phone, you'd find thousands of messages — from friends, supporters, many of them Jewish — expressing solidarity and support, fighting alongside us for the same values: Peace, equality, democracy.'
I asked him if had he a specific message for Irish readers?
'Of course. I want to address the Irish people — a people with a history of struggle for independence, equality, and justice.
'We, the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the Palestinian people as a whole, are not fighting just for ourselves — we are fighting for a shared future, for peace, for equality, and for an end to this war and the occupation.
Today they're trying to expel me — tomorrow they'll try to silence anyone who dares to resist.
With those words in mind and the seeming indifference I found on the streets of Tel Aviv to the disintegration of Israeli democracy, it is neither hyperbole nor inappropriate to paraphrase the well-known quote from German pastor Martin Niemöller.
'First, they came for the Arabs, and I did not speak out — because I was not an Arab. Then they came for the leftists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a leftist. Then they came for the journalists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a journalist, Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.'
Paul Kearns is a freelance journalist living in Tel Aviv
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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Gaza documentary breached BBC editorial guidelines of accuracy, review finds
A Gaza documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas official breached one of the BBC's editorial guidelines on accuracy, the corporation said. The programme, Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture. The review, conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, said the programme was in breach of accuracy for 'failing to disclose information about the child narrator's father's position within the Hamas-run government'. We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated But the review found no other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. The report said that 'careful consideration of the requirements of due impartiality was undertaken in this project given the highly contested nature of the subject matter'. Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, which also aired on BBC Two, was made for the BBC by independent production company Hoyo Films. The detail of the background information regarding the narrator's father is deemed as 'critical information', which the report says was not shared with the BBC before broadcast. The report finds that Hoyo Films did not 'intentionally' mislead the BBC about the position of the narrator's father, but says the independent production company 'bears most responsibility for this failure'. Nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. We welcome the actions the executive are taking to avoid this failing being repeated in the future However, it further adds that the BBC also 'bears some responsibility'. The report detailed that at the time the programme first aired the information regarding the position of the narrator's father was known only by three members of the production company, 'but not anyone within the BBC'. It said: 'In light of this inequality of information and the opportunities that the production company had to bring this information to the BBC's attention, which it did not take, the production company is the party with most responsibility for this failure.' 'However, I do not consider that the production company intentionally misled the BBC about the narrator's father's position: the production company has been consistently transparent that, notwithstanding their belief that the father's position was a civilian or technocratic one, as opposed to a political or military position in Hamas, they made a mistake and should have informed the BBC about it.' The narrator's scripted contribution to the programme also did not breach BBC standards on due impartiality, the report said, adding: 'I have also not seen or heard any evidence to support a suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way.' But the use of a child narrator for this programme was 'wrong', the report added. BBC director-general Tim Davie (Jacob King/PA) It explained that in this instance, the narrator 'was put in a position where his narration had to be highly scripted (meaning there was a limited portrayal of his background, story and life) and where he had to carry the rights-of-reply of others, in particular the IDF. 'In light of what the production company knew about the narrator's family and background, putting him forward as the voice of the programme as it was scripted was wrong in my view.' The BBC's director-general Tim Davie said: 'Peter Johnston's report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary. I thank him for his thorough work and I am sorry for this failing. 'We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated.' The BBC board said: 'We thank Peter Johnston for his work. His report is a comprehensive examination of a complex programme, the production of which spanned many months from concept through to broadcast – and is critical in laying bare the facts of what happened. 'Nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. We welcome the actions the executive are taking to avoid this failing being repeated in the future.' Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors - who have no say in the conflict - deserve to have their voices heard Hoyo Films said in a statement that they take the report findings 'extremely seriously' and 'apologise for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the (BBC) editorial guidelines'. They added: 'We are pleased that the report found that there was no evidence of inappropriate influence on the content of the documentary from any third party. 'We appreciate the rigorous nature of this investigation, and its findings that Hoyo Films did not intentionally mislead the BBC, that there were no other breaches of the editorial guidelines in the programme, and that there was no evidence to suggest that the programme funds were spent other than for reasonable, production-related purposes. 'Hoyo Films welcomes the report's recommendations and hope they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future. 'We are working closely with the BBC to see if we can find an appropriate way to bring back to iPlayer the stories of those featured in the programme. 'Our team in Gaza risked their lives to document the devastating impact of war on children. 'Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors – who have no say in the conflict – deserve to have their voices heard.'


RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Gaza documentary breached BBC editorial guidelines, review finds
A Gaza documentary featuring narration by the son of an official in Gaza's Hamas government breached one of the BBC's editorial guidelines on accuracy, the corporation has said. The programme, Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Gaza's deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas administration. The review, conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, said the programme was in breach of accuracy for "failing to disclose information about the child narrator's father's position within the Hamas-run government". But the review found no other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' "inappropriately impacted on the programme". The report said that "careful consideration of the requirements of due impartiality was undertaken in this project given the highly contested nature of the subject matter". Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, which also aired on BBC Two, was made for the BBC by independent production company Hoyo Films. The detail of the background information regarding the narrator's father is deemed as "critical information", which the report says was not shared with the BBC before broadcast. The report finds that Hoyo Films did not "intentionally" mislead the BBC about the position of the narrator's father, but says the independent production company "bears most responsibility for this failure". However, it further adds that the BBC also "bears some responsibility". The report detailed that at the time the programme first aired the information regarding the position of the narrator's father was known only by three members of the production company, "but not anyone within the BBC". It said: "In light of this inequality of information and the opportunities that the production company had to bring this information to the BBC's attention, which it did not take, the production company is the party with most responsibility for this failure. "However, I do not consider that the production company intentionally misled the BBC about the narrator's father's position: the production company has been consistently transparent that, notwithstanding their belief that the father's position was a civilian or technocratic one, as opposed to a political or military position in Hamas, they made a mistake and should have informed the BBC about it." The narrator's scripted contribution to the programme also did not breach BBC standards on due impartiality, the report said, adding: "I have also not seen or heard any evidence to support a suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way." But the use of a child narrator for this programme was "wrong", the report added. It explained that in this instance, the narrator "was put in a position where his narration had to be highly scripted (meaning there was a limited portrayal of his background, story and life) and where he had to carry the rights-of-reply of others, in particular the IDF". "In light of what the production company knew about the narrator's family and background, putting him forward as the voice of the programme as it was scripted was wrong in my view." The BBC's director-general Tim Davie said: "Peter Johnston's report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary. I thank him for his thorough work and I am sorry for this failing. "We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated." The BBC board said: "We thank Peter Johnston for his work. His report is a comprehensive examination of a complex programme, the production of which spanned many months from concept through to broadcast – and is critical in laying bare the facts of what happened. "Nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. We welcome the actions the executive are taking to avoid this failing being repeated in the future." Hoyo Films said in a statement that they take the report findings "extremely seriously" and "apologise for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the (BBC) editorial guidelines". They added: "We are pleased that the report found that there was no evidence of inappropriate influence on the content of the documentary from any third party. "We appreciate the rigorous nature of this investigation, and its findings that Hoyo Films did not intentionally mislead the BBC, that there were no other breaches of the editorial guidelines in the programme, and that there was no evidence to suggest that the programme funds were spent other than for reasonable, production-related purposes. "Hoyo Films welcomes the report's recommendations and hope they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future. "We are working closely with the BBC to see if we can find an appropriate way to bring back to iPlayer the stories of those featured in the programme. "Our team in Gaza risked their lives to document the devastating impact of war on children. "Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors – who have no say in the conflict – deserve to have their voices heard."


Sunday World
2 hours ago
- Sunday World
Future of Unifil mission in Lebanon in doubt ahead of UN decision
An Irish soldier at Camp Shamrock near the border with Lebanon and Israel where Irish Defence Forces troops are serving with the Unifil peacekeeping mission amid escalating clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. Picture date: Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Pho The future of Irish troops in Lebanon will be dependent on a decision by the UN Security Council, Simon Harris will inform the Cabinet today as he confirms national support for the mission. The Tánaiste will explain the mission going ahead is down to the UN Security Council mandate on August 31. However, this decision is understood to be viewed as challenging and complex. Last month, concern was expressed within the Government the UN's peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon may not have its mission renewed. The Irish Defence Forces currently has around 340 personnel deployed at Camp Shamrock in Lebanon. The Tánaiste visited the camp in March, where he paid tribute to the personnel deployed with the 125th infantry battalion. Mr Harris, who is also the Defence Minister, will confirm Ireland's support for Unifil's mandate remaining firmly within Chapter VI of the UN charter. The Government also remains fully supportive of the Defence Forces' continued participation in the mission. The Government also remains fully supportive of the Defence Forces' continued participation However, Mr Harris will also acknowledge factors presenting particular challenges in the negotiations ahead of any decision on the renewal of the mandate. In May this year, Irish soldiers of the 126th Infantry Battalion, patrolling with the Lebanese Armed Forces near the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon were fired on by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The incident lasted for around half an hour, with 30 shots reportedly fired. The Irish soldiers didn't return fire. They followed protocol and returned to their base. Tánaiste Simon Harris in his Government Buildings office. Photo: Steve Humphreys Mr Harris, at the time, paid tribute to the troops and described the environment as 'increasingly volatile and tense'. Last October, Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon where Irish peacekeepers operate. In a government memo, Mr Harris will identify a number of different scenarios facing Unifil and Ireland's role in the mission itself. The Tánaiste will stress the Defence Forces has the longest unbroken UN peacekeeping record in the world and that it is key to maintaining security and stability in the region. Mr Harris will set out his intention to engage with counterparts from the US, France, Lebanon and the UK and to reinforce the Irish position that the mandate should be renewed. There is concern the US could withdraw financial support for the operation while Israel has also been critical.