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Haaretz Disavows Publisher for Calling Palestinians “Freedom Fighters”

Haaretz Disavows Publisher for Calling Palestinians “Freedom Fighters”

News November 5, 2024
Haaretz Disavows Publisher for Calling Palestinians “Freedom Fighters”
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israeli newspaper Haaretz disavowed on Monday its own publisher after he referred to Palestinians as "freedom fighters". Amos Schocken was speaking at a conference in London in October when he made the remarks, which provoked an outcry and calls from Israeli government ministers to impose restrictions on the Israeli outlet's activities. "The Netanyahu government doesn't care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population," he told attendees. "It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters, that Israel calls terrorists." Schocken further remarked, "In a sense, what is taking place now in the occupied territories and in parts of Gaza is a second Nakba ... A Palestinian state must be established and the only way to achieve this, I think, is to apply sanctions against Israel, against the leaders who oppose it and against the settlers." Following outcry, Schocken clarified his remarks to indicate he did not consider Hamas to be "freedom fighters" and emphasized he supported freedom fighters who did not use "terrorism". On Monday, in an editorial titled "Terrorists Are Not Freedom Fighters," Haaretz said that Schocken's clarification did not go far enough as it failed to condemn attacks by other Palestinian resistance groups. "Deliberately harming civilians is illegitimate. Using violence against civilians and sowing terror among them to achieve political or ideological goals is terrorism," claimed the editorial. "Any organization that advocates the murder of women, children and the elderly is a terrorist organization, and its members are terrorists. They certainly aren't 'freedom fighters.'" “But even in his clarification, Schocken erred. The fact that he didn't mean to include Hamas terrorists doesn't mean that other terrorist acts are legitimate, even if their perpetrators' goal is to free themselves from occupation.” Last week, Israel's Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi submitted a proposal calling for a number of government restrictions on Haaretz as a result of Schocken's remarks. Amongst the new proposals issued by Karhi's office are that the government: "Shall not enter into new contracts with Haaretz, including individual subscriptions for state employees, nor renew any existing contracts; all current agreements with Haaretz, including personal subscriptions, will be canceled as legally feasible." It also said that the Government Advertising Bureau shall: "Direct Haaretz to cease all advertisements, including statutory notices, regardless of payment status, and seek refunds for any existing payments. No further ads shall be placed in the publication." The proposal is similar to one issued by Karhi in November 2023, when he accused the outlet of undermining Israel's war efforts in Gaza.

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