Haaretz reporter Amira Hass arrested by Israeli authorities

Last update - 19:37 12/05/2009 Haaretz reporter Amira Hass arrested upon leaving Gaza By Haaretz Service Israel Police on Tuesday detained Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass upon her exit from the Gaza Strip, where she had been living and reporting over the last few months. Hass was arrested and taken in for questioning immediately after crossing the border, for violating a law which forbids residence in an enemy state. She was released on bail after promising not to enter the Gaza Strip over the next 30 days. Hass is the first Israeli journalist to enter the Gaza Strip in more than two years, since the Israel Defense Forces issued an entry ban following the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in a 2006 cross-border raid by Palestinian militants. Last December, Hass was arrested by soldiers at the Erez Checkpoint as she tried to cross into Israel after having entered the Gaza Strip aboard a ship run by peace activists from Europe. Upon discovering that she had no permit to be in Gaza, the soldiers transferred her to the Sderot police. When questioned, Hass pointed out that no one had stopped her from entering the Strip, which she did for work purposes. Hass was released then under restriction, and Nahmani said her case would be sent to court. Israel Press Council chairwoman Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court justice, commented then that even journalists are subject to the law and the council cannot defend a reporter who breaks the law. Instead, she said, local journalists ought to petition the High Court of Justice against the army’s order.

Turkish Weekly claims Haaretz fabricated news story that a synagogue was set ablaze on Sunday

Israeli Media Fabricates Anti-Turkey Stories to Tame PM Erdogan

 

 

When Turkish premier Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage in the World Economic Forum summit after the unusual behavior of the moderator and emotional accuses of Israeli President Shimon Peres the crisis between Turkey and Israel on Gaza War deepened.

 

The anti-Turkey reports have significantly increased in Israeli media after the Davos Scandal. Turkish experts argue that Israel plays dirty to punish and to tame Mr. Erdogan and Turkey. Recently it is reported that one of the Israel newspapers, Haaretz, fabricated a story that a synagogue in northwestern Turkey was set ablaze on Sunday. However based on interviews with Turkish Jewish community leaders in Bursa, Turkey’s Cihan news agency refuted a story that appeared in Haaretz, an English language daily in Israel.

 

A statement by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, Rav Izak Haleva, said no such incident took place in the city and no synagogue had been torched by vandals as was claimed by an article in Haaretz written by Yoav Stern.