ABSURD: Israeli Arab News Broadcaster On Govt. Channel Calls IDF Soldiers Murderers And Nazis

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In order for democracies to defend themselves against terrorist elements, they need first and foremost to prevent incitement to terror from being broadcast and disseminated on social media and in the media. Such incitement can have a pernicious effect on those who are exposed to it and can encourage individuals to perpetrate acts of terror and others to emulate them.

As a democracy threatened by various terrorist groups on all of its borders, Israel cannot afford to be complacent about incitement. The last few weeks of unrest and the wave of terror attacks prior to Pesach were the result of social media incitement regarding Jewish prayer on Temple Mount, despite police strictly enforcing the prohibition on such prayer. The incitement even led moderate Arab countries like the UAE and Jordan to condemn Israel for its policies on Temple Mount.

However no democracy can allow the scourge of incitement to be broadcast on its official government-funded channels. Yet Israel continually maintains and employs Arab broadcasters who, far from identifying with Israel and supporting its existence, incite and fulminate over Israel’s behavior and policies towards Palestinians. The shrill anti-Israel rhetoric of Arab Israeli politicians could be explained as a means to garner support, but the noxious villification of Israel by broadcasters on government channels is unconscionable.

An absurd example of this is Rami Younis, a broadcaster from Lod who describes himself as a “Palestinian activist”. Younis has in the past compared IDF soldiers to Nazis but this did not prevent the government-sponsored Kan broadcasting group from employing him, claiming that this statement was made “before he was employed.” This week however, despite drawing a paycheck from the Israeli government, Younis had the temerity to write that “The Israeli army has murdered tens of Palestinians”. Outraged viewers  complained to the ethics committee of the state broadcasting agency but Younis has yet to be terminated.

Younis is not alone. Another broadcaster on the state channel, Amal Ourabi, made similar statements about the IDF and during the unrest on Temple Mount which included stonethrowing and fireworks on security forces, he wrote on his Twitter account that “the mere thought that there are Arab police/soldiers participating in the invasion of Al-aqsa and attacking worshipers, causes me a sense of revulsion and nausea. ‘Throw the weapons in their faces,’ [implying that they should resign their commissions.]”

The absurdity is even more acute, since when BBC broadcaster Tala Halawa tweeted in 2014 that “Israel is more Nazi than Hitler”, she was immediately sacked. Yet the Israeli broadcasting company is willing to maintain and fund from taxpayers money a terror inciter who calls IDF soldiers “murderers”.

Let us hope that the directors of the broadcasting company will come to their senses and remove the hateful and inciteful elements from our screens.