Why is al-Alam journalist in jail?
Source: Press TV, 13-01-2009
By Hassan Beheshtipour
I made the acquaintance of a young Palestinian journalist Khader Shahin when I was working on a major project by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting (IRIB) to launch the Arabic language TV news network al-Alam.
At that particular time, it was deemed more appropriate to use international firms to recruit locals with journalistic backgrounds for the coverage of news in various countries instead of dispatching Iranian correspondents.
This was in order to overcome major challenges including obtaining valid international ID cards for our journalists and other problems resulting from being unfamiliar with other countries' languages.
Through hiring local professional journalists, we could omit training programs for novice reporters. In addition, if our correspondents worked in their own native countries, we could bypass some bureaucratic procedures for obtaining permissions for the satellite channel's activities.
After reaching an agreement on the payment arrangements, the newly recruited correspondents would only be obliged to work in line with the satellite channel's policies; therefore many problems would be resolved.
Khader Shahin's case, however, was quite different: he was a Palestinian who was required to work for al-Alam in Jerusalem (al-Quds). Working for an Iranian news network in the heart of occupied Palestine and under the watchful eyes of the security services of Iran's arch foe was not an easy task.
Shahin proved to be the best candidate for the job. While working in an honest and professional manner, he did his utmost to avoid providing the "Israelis" with the pretext for prosecuting him.
He was well versed in his work and as time went by, we increasingly came to realize the significance of Shain's work. The same was true about his other colleagues, Fares in Ramallah and Mustafa al-Hadi in Gaza who were fulfilling their duties through hard work and self-sacrifice.
There were difficult moments, as we could only pay their salaries through registered Palestinian companies but as Iran had no ties with any banks in occupied Palestine, sometimes they did not receive any payments. The al-Alam staff, however, continued their news coverage nonetheless.
Shahin's talents had been nurturing since he had began his career as al-Alam's correspondent. The peak of his career was in the summer of 2006, when he was tasked to provide the coverage of the 33-day "Israeli" war against Lebanon.
By that time, I had retired but I eagerly watched his reports. I remember a scene in which a rocket was launched in the background but he calmly went on with the live coverage of the war.
Khader Shain is now deprived of his freedom and indicted for breaching the "Israeli" military's censorship regulations.
What shall we, his colleagues, do? Should we just play the role of indifferent observers? Should not we protest his arrest which is a blatant violation of the freedom of expression?
What has he done wrong? Isn't his imprisonment a scenario to hinder his work as a reliable source of information who reveals facts about the Gaza onslaught as he was during the 33-day war?
"Israel" is most certainly aware today that crimes like the massacres in Deir Yassin, Kafr Qasim, Sabra and Shatila cannot be committed without bringing about uproar from world nations; therefore it adopted a new strategy. The regime denied entry permission to international correspondents who wanted to travel to Gaza. Only those journalists who were already stationed in the costal strip have been allowed to remain there. This is while they have to brave "Israeli" bullets or face imprisonment like Shahin.
Fortunately, there are still journalists in Gaza to make the world aware of the facts. Thanks to modern telecommunication technologies, today, it is virtually impossible to keep the public in darkness about what is happening in the world.
A media war is underway, a battle much fiercer than the military one.
Although pro-"Israeli" media outlets outnumber the pro-Palestinian ones, the humanitarian damnations of the Gaza war are far too grave to be ignored and Shahin's colleagues are following in his footsteps.
As any regime which practices media censorship and the suppression of journalists, "Israel" believes that it can stop the information flow and keep the public in total darkness. But every one knows that this policy is futile in the 21st century.
Resorting to such policies in an era in which the global network of information flow was not fully developed, might not have been considered as lunacy. However, these policies are doomed to failure in the age of information.
Shahin is only guilty of reflecting the facts which the "Israeli" officials, for many reasons, do not want to be publicized.
Measures should be taken to secure his release. I wrote this because I see it as part of my social responsibility to do something for all imprisoned journalists. I do not know what the others can do?
Note: Hassan Beheshtipour is a political analyst and the fromer director of al-Alam TV channel. The article is a translation of what he has written about Khader.
By Hassan Beheshtipour
I made the acquaintance of a young Palestinian journalist Khader Shahin when I was working on a major project by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting (IRIB) to launch the Arabic language TV news network al-Alam.
At that particular time, it was deemed more appropriate to use international firms to recruit locals with journalistic backgrounds for the coverage of news in various countries instead of dispatching Iranian correspondents.
This was in order to overcome major challenges including obtaining valid international ID cards for our journalists and other problems resulting from being unfamiliar with other countries' languages.
Through hiring local professional journalists, we could omit training programs for novice reporters. In addition, if our correspondents worked in their own native countries, we could bypass some bureaucratic procedures for obtaining permissions for the satellite channel's activities.
After reaching an agreement on the payment arrangements, the newly recruited correspondents would only be obliged to work in line with the satellite channel's policies; therefore many problems would be resolved.
Khader Shahin's case, however, was quite different: he was a Palestinian who was required to work for al-Alam in Jerusalem (al-Quds). Working for an Iranian news network in the heart of occupied Palestine and under the watchful eyes of the security services of Iran's arch foe was not an easy task.
Shahin proved to be the best candidate for the job. While working in an honest and professional manner, he did his utmost to avoid providing the "Israelis" with the pretext for prosecuting him.
He was well versed in his work and as time went by, we increasingly came to realize the significance of Shain's work. The same was true about his other colleagues, Fares in Ramallah and Mustafa al-Hadi in Gaza who were fulfilling their duties through hard work and self-sacrifice.
There were difficult moments, as we could only pay their salaries through registered Palestinian companies but as Iran had no ties with any banks in occupied Palestine, sometimes they did not receive any payments. The al-Alam staff, however, continued their news coverage nonetheless.
Shahin's talents had been nurturing since he had began his career as al-Alam's correspondent. The peak of his career was in the summer of 2006, when he was tasked to provide the coverage of the 33-day "Israeli" war against Lebanon.
By that time, I had retired but I eagerly watched his reports. I remember a scene in which a rocket was launched in the background but he calmly went on with the live coverage of the war.
Khader Shain is now deprived of his freedom and indicted for breaching the "Israeli" military's censorship regulations.
What shall we, his colleagues, do? Should we just play the role of indifferent observers? Should not we protest his arrest which is a blatant violation of the freedom of expression?
What has he done wrong? Isn't his imprisonment a scenario to hinder his work as a reliable source of information who reveals facts about the Gaza onslaught as he was during the 33-day war?
"Israel" is most certainly aware today that crimes like the massacres in Deir Yassin, Kafr Qasim, Sabra and Shatila cannot be committed without bringing about uproar from world nations; therefore it adopted a new strategy. The regime denied entry permission to international correspondents who wanted to travel to Gaza. Only those journalists who were already stationed in the costal strip have been allowed to remain there. This is while they have to brave "Israeli" bullets or face imprisonment like Shahin.
Fortunately, there are still journalists in Gaza to make the world aware of the facts. Thanks to modern telecommunication technologies, today, it is virtually impossible to keep the public in darkness about what is happening in the world.
A media war is underway, a battle much fiercer than the military one.
Although pro-"Israeli" media outlets outnumber the pro-Palestinian ones, the humanitarian damnations of the Gaza war are far too grave to be ignored and Shahin's colleagues are following in his footsteps.
As any regime which practices media censorship and the suppression of journalists, "Israel" believes that it can stop the information flow and keep the public in total darkness. But every one knows that this policy is futile in the 21st century.
Resorting to such policies in an era in which the global network of information flow was not fully developed, might not have been considered as lunacy. However, these policies are doomed to failure in the age of information.
Shahin is only guilty of reflecting the facts which the "Israeli" officials, for many reasons, do not want to be publicized.
Measures should be taken to secure his release. I wrote this because I see it as part of my social responsibility to do something for all imprisoned journalists. I do not know what the others can do?
Note: Hassan Beheshtipour is a political analyst and the fromer director of al-Alam TV channel. The article is a translation of what he has written about Khader.
