Israeli journalists are getting death threats for publishing this cartoon // Paris march: Political divide exposed as politicians who repress freedom of speech join rally
Journalists at Haaretz, the liberal Israeli newspaper,
have received death threats after they published a cartoon juxtaposing the
number of reporters killed while covering the Gaza war with those killed in the
Charlie Hebdo attack. The cartoon is by Noa Olchowski and was one of
many drawings
published by the newspaper in response to the Paris killings, in which 10
journalists and two police officers died. It says in Hebrew “10
journalists killed in attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, 13 journalists killed
last summer in attack on Gaza”.
Haaretz reports the threatening comments were posted on the
Facebook page of right-leaning politician Ronen
Shoval. One Facebook user said: “We must do what the terrorists did to them
in France, but at Haaretz.” Another wrote: “Let the terrorists eliminate them.”
One added: “With God’s help, the journalists at Haaretz will be murdered just
like in France.” All the comments were translated from Hebrew into English by
Haaretz in an article published
online.
In response to the threats, a Haaretz spokesperson said: “It
is astonishing that in the framework of the global debate over freedom of
expression and freedom of the press, and at a time when journalists have been
killed over the existence of this right, internet users are demanding that
Haaretz completely censor a cartoon whose content they do not like.”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) identified
13 media workers who were killed in the Gaza region during Israel’s
military offensive in summer 2014. According to health officials in Gaza, 2,100 Palestinians,
mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict with Israel while 67 Israeli
soldiers and six civilians also lost their lives.
