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Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

theguardian.com

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Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#841

Post by BurningFrog »

AlecSchueler wrote: post #725
guappa wrote: post #655

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit ironic how we are constantly reminded that china isn't a democracy because they have censorship, while we are free and democratic and don't have censorship (except we do). Italy is passing laws to be able to block websites within 30 minutes, without any oversight from any judge. (more details here, link in italian https://stop-piracy-shield.it/ )

In Germany they can't publicly gather to protest Israel's actions either, not legally anyway. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/26/complete-censo...

For some reason, Germany has very strict rules and traditions against any hint of anti-Jewish activities.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#842

Post by BurningFrog »

guappa wrote: post #655
mrtksn wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's correct and IMHO its the right thing to do when shooting begins because when people shoot each other this is no longer a discussion and the press is part of the warfare. Remember all the Russian media and social media accounts claiming that its American hysteria that they will invade Ukraine? They denied and mocked anyone who claimed that they will invade up until the tanks rolled in. Personally, I'm critical…

It's a bit ironic how we are constantly reminded that china isn't a democracy because they have censorship, while we are free and democratic and don't have censorship (except we do). Italy is passing laws to be able to block websites within 30 minutes, without any oversight from any judge. (more details here, link in italian https://stop-piracy-shield.it/ )

China agrees that it's not a democracy.

They don't even have sham elections on the national level.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#843

Post by blululu »

VelesDude wrote: post #485
tialaramex wrote: post #466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iannucci's Death of Stalin has the advantage that it's all history - it can't become more ridiculous after he made the movie because it's in the past. But of course the reality is more or less as absurd as the movie, although different in important ways. (Lots of the timing is completely wrong, events are re-arranged, people are shuffled about so that fewer actors play more important roles) but it does have the advan…

I really appreciate works like Death of Stalin that are more than happy to move things around in the name of entertainment. It isn't a documentary so it has the freedom to get creative and hit the key notes rather than pure accuracy. They also just said "No need to have Russian accents, the audience is smart enough to just go with what you have."

Honestly the accents were a really well done part of that movie. A lot of the diversity and variety of Russian culture does not come through to Anglophone ears with fake Russian accents which are often a monotonous stern and gruff voice but. The movie did a good job illustrating the diversity of Russian society through homologous variety of English accents.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#844

Post by locallost »

raxxorraxor wrote: post #796
locallost wrote: post #667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not agree. "In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". These five acts were: killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children o…

I would not agree this constitutes genocide. Israel withdrew from Gaza not too long ago. If the attacks hadn't happened, there would be a "ceasefire" today. It is completely contrary to what Israel tries to do, the accusation is ridiculous and lacking any form of sincere analysis and judgement.

[flagged]

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#845

Post by beltsazar »

farseer wrote: post #618

They can ban whatever they want, after all its a democracy only in name. I'd be far more concerned about Israel using its direct influence or its proxies to ban TikTok in the United States.

What do you mean? Israel ranks 30th in The Economist Democracy Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

It's not great, but it's also far from what you said "democracy only in name."

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#846

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

benja123 wrote: post #697
cies wrote: post #682

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After rt.com et al were blocked in the EU they also kept working for a few more week/months before I had to use a mirror/VPN to read the new paper of "the enemy". Side note: I though being able to read the news of the enemy was testimony to the moral high ground of a "modern free and democratic society". No more moral high ground if you are trying to shape the perception of the public with censorship.

I personally don't support blocking Al Jazeera. It's not that I'm a fan of them or any news station operated under a dictatorship without free press. It's clear that Al Jazeera acts as the propaganda wing of the Qatari government, and Qatar, being one of the main sponsors of Hamas, uses it to effectively spread Hamas propaganda. However, the real question is what does blocking them achieve. Does it stop their influen…

The Qatari government has been hosting Hamas at the request of the United States and Israel, which want to use Qatar as an intermediary (similarly to how Qatar facilitated talks between the US and the Taliban).

Al Jazeera has more journalists on the ground in Gaza than anyone else. They're some of the only independent media there (because Israel has blocked international media from entering, but Al Jazeera already has people there). If you want to know what's going on in Gaza, you watch Al Jazeera.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#847

Post by ethbr1 »

vixen99 wrote: post #800
vr46 wrote: post #761

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would likely be arrested if I wore my UK-created anti-fascist Football Fans Against Apartheid/Free Palestine pin, so it’s going into a drawer. Zionism has drowned all voices, my Jewish friends are being harassed for dissent too.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/ha... Really, objectively, I am wondering what on Earth any country X would do faced with a statement from an enemy Y as in :- The complete and utter destruction of X as an essential condition for the liberation of Y and the establishment of a religious state based on [ Y's religious theocratic laws ] Any form of coexistence is clearly not on the table. For th…

The issue is how culpable civilians are in Hamas' atrocities.

The Israeli government is currently at ~30 killed Palestinians for each 1 killed Israeli.

Presumably, whatever anyone's opinion, there's some ratio that is unjust. Or is killing every Palestinian in Gaza just?

Last I checked, Exodus' Covenant Code [0] was also pretty clear on this, and it didn't include any multiple.

>> Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.

[0] https://www.biblestudytools.com/exodus/21.html

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#848

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

angra_mainyu wrote: post #244
Animats wrote: post #150

"and block its websites." So this keeps Israelis from reading Al Jazeera. Now that's new. Israel started Internet censorship in 2017.[1] Initially it was limited to "terror group websites, online illegal gambling, prostitution services, hard drug sales". At the time, "due to warnings from rights groups that the law poses a slippery slope toward additional censorship, the final version of the legislation dictates that…

Europe has done the same with Russia. Also, I think a few other Arab countries like Egypt have blocked/banned Al Jazeera.

Egypt is a military dictatorship, so it's no surprise when it bans media organizations.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#849

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

aristofun wrote: post #834

What is exactly wrong with shutting down someone who not just lies (nothing unique there lol) but systematically supports information war against your country?

Al Jazeera is not engaged in an "information war" against Israel. Al Jazeera is the major independent media organization operating in Gaza, and one of the main sources of accurate information about the conflict. That's what angers the Israeli government.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#850

Post by Wolfenstein98k »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #607
brabel wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. The USA seems to not have followed through (as far as I know - as Russian news sites seem to be available).

Yes, and I'd say that was a dark day for the EU as well. Our democracies are now little more than a farce.

There's nothing undemocratic about banning foreign propaganda or news outlets.

Illiberal maybe, but not undemocratic.

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