“This legal battle exposes the various tactics used by Israel to smear human rights defenders and is a testament to our collective will and efforts to challenge the suppression of Palestinian voices.”
A prominent Italian newspaper has been ordered to pay €15,000 in damages to Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, for falsely accusing him in 2021 of being a terrorist and murderer.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, Al-Haq and the European Legan Support Center (ELSC) said the Il Corriere Della Sera had published the claims days after Jabarin was invited to join a hearing at the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian Parliament on December 20, 2021, following Israel’s designation of Palestinian NGOs as ‘terrorist organizations’.
Two days after the hearing, Il Corriere della Sera published an article “containing false and defamatory statements” about the Addameer organization, Al-Haq, and Jabarin, labeling him a “terrorist”.
Joint statement by Al-Haq and ELSC
Il Corriere Della Sera, one of Italy's most prominent newspapers, has paid around €15,000 damages to Shawan Jabarin, the General Director of Al-Haq, for falsely accusing him in 2021 of being a terrorist and murderer, an unfounded allegation…
— JewishVoiceForLabour (@JVoiceLabour) August 7, 2024
Additionally, “the newspapers omitted essential contextual information around Israel’s targeted designation of six Palestinian civil society organizations as ‘terror organizations’, thereby infringing on the readers’ right to access free and impartial information.”
The statement said, “We believe that the newspaper based its information on unreliable sources and existing smear tactics frequently used by Israel to criminalize, silence, and control Palestinian rights voices, including the circulation of false accusations by Israeli officials.”
Responsible Journalism Needed
After being summoned to court, the paper accepted a settlement agreement” which included compensating Jabarin for “reputational” damage suffered and publishing an article retracting the defamatory claims.
However, it failed to admit, in its article, that it was among those who had defamed the Palestinian rights advocate.
“This case highlights the critical need for responsible journalism, not only on the situation in Palestine and the violations the Palestinian people are subjected to, but also concerning racist discourse and misinformation,” the statement said.
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It added that “This legal battle exposes the various tactics used by Israel to smear human rights defenders and is a testament to our collective will and efforts to challenge the suppression of Palestinian voices.”
The organizations emphasized that the case “highlights the complicity of Italian media outlets, which should respect the Italian public’s right to access accurate and credible information about the atrocities committed in Palestine.”
Jabarin will donate the compensation to Al-Haq and UNRWA.
(PC, MEMO)
‘the complicity of Italian media outlets’.
Of course. Chosenites have hoovered up all outlets there by the looks of it. During the outrageous scamdemic, one of these bastions of Italian literary free speech made derogatory and offensive claims that Russian supplied ventilators/ aid was outdated suggesting some offence was felt receiving the freebies.
Better than nothing. That’s what the situation was.
Offended by everything, ashamed of nothing.