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By Will
Israel, showing its respect for freedom of the press and the free flow of information, closed down the Palestinian media center in Jerusalem. No wonder its freedom of the press ranking was recently demoted by Freedom House.
The center was set up by the Palestinians to offer media access to Palestinian officialdom during the Pope's highly publicized visit. It held its first event at the Ambassador Hotel on Sunday, distributing background material for the papal visit and hosting a news conference whose speakers included Mr. Husseini and the Palestinian Authority’s tourism minister, Khouloud Daibes.
Israel of course is doing all it can do to enhance control over Jerusalem, the contested city it annexed and still claims, despite the world's refusal to recognize it (the annexation violated international law and is a key, sensitive issue).
Israel has ingeniously been designing seemingly innocuous projects, such as railways, hiking trails, parks, and tourist attracts with the intent of reducing Palestinian access, and therefore, claim to, Jerusalem. It's part of an eight-year plan and has been carried out without consulting those to be victimized, the Palestinians of Jerusalem.
The closure inspired, at least, one priestly slam dunk about Israel's lack of respect for fairness:
Father Peter Madros, an adviser to the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, told reporters that "East Jerusalem is not Israel."Nice.
Asked whether he condemned the closure of the media center, he said the Vatican "does not have to condemn every single Israeli action," otherwise it would have to issue condemnations "every other day."
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