Israel seizes Associated Press equipment, shuts down Gaza video feed | Hacker News Reader

Israel seizes Associated Press equipment, shuts down Gaza video feed

washingtonpost.com

83 pointscroes56 comments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press

The last time this subject came up, when Israel forcefully removed Aj Jazeera[1], there were many HN comments openly supporting such hostility and censorship. I just ask that before people openly advocate for positions of ignorance, even when well intended, they take a brief moment to consider what liberty[2][3] is first and why it might be important.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/israel-aljazeera-hamas-gaza-war-e...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty

[3] https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/liber...

You linked some trivial materials, is there anything in there that pertains to the specific claims that Al-jazeera cooperates with terrorist and passed the information from Israel, or that some aljazeera journalists sre actually Hamas memebers?

There's no reason to waste time addressing those claims because now that they're also going after western journalists, even Israel isn't bothering with those pretexts anymore.

It's very clearly an attempt to control the information that comes out and limit it to their own narrative only, same as any other dictatorship taking control of the media.

"There's no reason to waste time addressing those claims..."

that's convenient.

Well yes, besides the fact that there's absolutely zero proof for it they're also not bothering with that basis anymore.

If a news agency is anything other than a stenographer for their propaganda, they must be banned. Same thing any other fascist government does.

Is there any evidence to substantiate the claims?

They also bombed and leveled the AP building in 2021.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-middle-east-business-israe...

They had the misfortune of sharing the building with hamas terrorists. When I say misfortune, I mean AP knew but turned a blind eye.

"Israel provides U.S. with info showing Hamas operated in the building from which AP operated" https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hy008WIZFu

"Blinken:I Saw No Evidence Hamas Operated in Gaza Media Building Downed by Israel" > https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2021-05-17/ty-article/blinke...

> When I say misfortune, I mean AP knew but turned a blind eye.

That link shows no such thing.

> Senior defense establishment officials provided classified intelligence to Pentagon officials

It was classified intelligence. It wasn't that there was a sign in the lobby that said "3rd Floor: Associated Press, 4th Floor: Hamas".

sorry - hope this link helps. If you want to know more there's this website called google.com , where you can look for more information.

"AP Hamas claim panned, Blinken’s ‘seen no evidence’ of presence in their HQ" (May 2021) https://nypost.com/2021/05/17/ap-slammed-for-claiming-it-was...

lmao is this a joke? This contradicts what you said.

There's "secret evidence" but Blinken denied seeing it.

The evidence is a secret, and even the people who have seen it are a secret! But we should totally just take Israels word for it, everyone except them will lie pathologically.

LOL, what? I quoted the article YOU posted. Maybe you should have posted this one, then...

which also doesn't say what you say and is basically a hit piece.

Commentators on a website say it's laughable?

It literally has the US Secretary of State, forget AP, saying they had no evidence of it either, nor had they been shown it.

But AP MUST have known, right? Right?

"absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

in any case, I doubt there is any proof that I could offer that would be enough to change your mind. you already know what you want to believe, so this is just online pugilism.

be well !

> "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

lmao good you admit that there's no evidence. I guess you just believe this on faith due to your religious beliefs.

Going to have to do better than that if you want to use it as justification for blowing up billions.

They were never even clear about what the allegations were, but people involved that it was (at most) a media office, so even then it still wouldn't be a media office under any reasonable standard. (Meanwhile, check out where the IDF headquarters is located).

I get that in polar arguments, people tend to minimize and accentuate arguments.

The link doesnt back the claim in the 1st sentence.

Human shields irrespective of the case here are victims IMHO not deserving of the same treatment as those using them.

There are other articles claiming, the 2nd phase continued after journalists reached out for a delay

Wow that's crazy how literally every single person except IDF intelligence was willing to lie about it.

it's crazy indeed, the lengths hamas will go to protect their image.

"Hamas threatening journalists in Gaza who expose abuse of civilians" (2014)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-threatening-journalists-...

Wow journalists and media being shut down? That's crazy. Anyway what's this post about.

> lawmakers voted 71-10

That’s pretty wild you can just to shut down the operations of two news organizations that don’t tow the official line. Democracy though I suppose. Would it be legally possible in the US?

> Would it be legally possible in the US?

If 88% of all federal and state lawmakers in the US were on board, it could be done, but it would take more time and a few more steps to amend the constitution first.

Unrelated, "tow the line" is a misspelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line

Thanks for the "tow the line" note. I would've picked "toe the line" as the eggcorn; even after reading the Wikipedia entry, it still looks less natural to me.

In the US it would require a constitutional amendment that survives judicial review. You have better odds of winning the lottery twice in a row.

What review can any part of the judiciary do of a constitutional amendment? Even if the amendment authors explicitly say "we're doing this to enrich ourselves and screw over everyone else", once it's part of the Constitution...isn't it a done deal?

There is one restriction on what amendments are valid, but nothing related to this discussion. No amendment can remove a state’s equal suffrage in the Senate without its consent. Otherwise, anything goes.

The judiciary can, of course, still review whether an amendment was validly proposed and ratified, and therefore whether or not it is in fact part of the constitution.

Thanks, that's an interesting restriction. Where does it come from?

  "The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer."

-- Henry Kissinger

Even under Marshal Law?

The US doesn't need to shut down journalistic operations. The success of Operation Mockingbird makes that unnecessary.

The headline has since been updated to: "Israel returns seized AP equipment after stopping Gaza video feed"

Yeah, the West, US and the only democracy in the galaxy shares a set of democratic values.

Similar to "CRTC bans Russian state-controlled TV channels RT, RT France from Canadian airwaves", but with the addition of Al Jazeera (funded by Qatar) leaking sensitive information to enemies of Israel, during a war.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/crtc-russia-today-broadcast...

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