The New York Times · New York, New York · 16 September 1982

CP-1982-059

Israeli Censors Crack Down on the Arab Press

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Transcribed from the clipping

JERUSALEM, Sept. 15 — Israeli security officials have closed down a Palestinian press service here at a time of heavy Israeli censorship of the Arab press. Since Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Arab editors have complained that Israeli censorship has virtually forced them to fill their papers by translating Hebrew reports and commentaries from the Israeli press.

In recent weeks, however, the Arab press has been barred from publishing many of these features even though they have already appeared in Israeli papers, according to the Arab editors. “The war has made the Israeli censors very sensitive,” said Radwan Abu Ayash, a commentator for the left-wing daily Al Shaab.

He said his paper had been prohibited from publishing articles that had appeared in the Hebrew dailies Haaretz and Al Hamishmar. The Jerusalem Office for Translations and Newspaper Services, which was ordered closed Tuesday for six months, furnished many of the Hebrew articles in translation used by the Arab press since the invasion.

The press service, which began operations only a week before the outbreak of the conflict in Lebanon, said it would try to get a court order to reopen operations. “It will ruin us to close us for six months,” said Saman Khoury, head of the service.

The Israeli authorities ordered the press service closed under emergency regulations dating from the days of British rule in Palestine. The order said the press service was being closed “for the sake of public safety and order.” There were no arrests.

Reporters from Al Shaab and Al Fajr said that at the height of Israeli invasion of Lebanon almost no local news from the West Bank was allowed in Palestinian papers. The reporters said, however, that with the winding down of the fighting and the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut Israeli censors had relaxed their standards somewhat.

Out of 37 articles submitted for last week’s English digest version of Al Fajr, 15 were banned, 3 were censored so heavily that they could not be printed, 6 were partly altered, 1 was “returned for revision” and 12 were approved as written, according to the reporters.

Several Palestinian journalists said they understood the reason for the heightened sensitivity of the Israeli censors during the fighting in Lebanon. “We know in advance that we’re living under extraordinary circumstances,” Mr. Abu Ayash said.

But the Al Shaab commentator and other Arab journalists accused Israel of discrimination in permitting Hebrew papers to publish reports barred from the Arab press. “They allow Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz to publish local news about the West Bank, but at the same time they don’t allow us,” Mr. Abu Ayash said.

He conceded that part of the reason was that “we write the news with a different slant,” which the Israeli authorities contend could lead to “incitement.” Despite Israeli miitary rule and censorship, Mr. Abu Ayash said, “there is democracy in allowing us to have papers, and we know that the Israelis are occupiers and we don’t expect more.” “Occupation is occupation,” he added.

“Even if an Arab country came and occupied us we would protest its occupation and censorship.”

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