‘Freedom Fighters’ – Haaretz Publisher ‘Reconsiders’ Statements After Backlash 

November 1, 2024 News, Videos
Haaretz owner Amos Schocken (Photo: By Ido Kenan - עמוס שוקן, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40624727)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

In his original remarks, Schocken referred to the Israeli onslaught on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as a “second Nakba”.

Multiple Israeli state ministries have announced the suspension of ties with Haaretz after the newspaper’s publisher criticized the government and described Palestinians as “freedom fighters.”

This decision late on Thursday came after Haaretz owner Amos Schocken made the comments in London last Sunday, which sparked controversy within Israeli political circles, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli government “doesn’t care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population,” Schocken said. “It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the (illegal West Bank) settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists.”

Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom reported that an Interior Ministry directive includes halting cooperation with Haaretz due to Schocken’s remarks, said Anadolu. The ministry has demanded an apology from Schocken for his description of Palestinians.

‘I was Wrong Not to Say That’

Following the backlash, Schocken issued a statement saying: “For the avoidance of doubt, Hamas are not freedom fighters. The seventh of October was a shocking event and in an article in the newspaper I wrote that the initiators and the perpetrators should be severely punished.”

Shocken said he “reconsidered the things I said in London,” adding that “Many freedom fighters in the world and throughout history, perhaps also on the way to the establishment of the State of Israel, committed terrible acts of terrorism and harmed innocent people in order to achieve their goal.

“I should have said: using terrorism is illegitimate. I was wrong not to say that.”

‘Second Nakba’

In his original remarks, Schocken also referred to current onslaught on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as a “second Nakba”.

“Not only did they continue building settlements, but the present government also supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from parts of the occupied territories. In a sense, what is taking place now in the occupied territories and in part of Gaza is a second Nakba,” Shocken said.

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He also pointed out that in December 2016 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2334 “which states that territory cannot be acquired by force and opposes settlement building.”

Subsequent Israeli government, he added, “completely ignored this resolution and acted as though it didn’t exist. The only recourse with such disastrous government is to ask other countries to bring pressure to bear as they did in order to end apartheid in South Africa.”

Following Schocken’s remarks, the Israeli Culture Ministry announced it would immediately cease all advertising and collaborations with Haaretz.

‘If It Looks Like Ethnic Cleansing’

The controversy intensified after Haaretz published an editorial on Wednesday suggesting it was not surprising that serious doubts arose about Israel’s practice of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, part of a recent forceful effort to force Palestinians out of the area, said Anadolu. “If it looks like ethnic cleansing, it probably is,” said the editorial.

Haaretz’s commentary highlighted the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, noting that Israeli forces have besieged northern Gaza for over three weeks, resulting in significant restrictions on humanitarian aid.

The editorial warned that continued aggression could lead to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of entire communities, leaving a lasting moral and legal stain on Israeli society, said Anadolu.

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,259 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 101,827 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

Famine and Displacement

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, Anadolu)

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