Palestinian officials confiscated journalists' film of a West Bank mob lynching two Israeli soldiers last week. They failed to get all of it, and images of a battered body tossed from a window, and of a Palestinian waving bloodied hands in triumph, were beamed across the world. During retaliatory raids for the lynching, Israeli gunships targeted the Voice of Palestine radio transmitters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The missile attack took the radio off the air for about 30 minutes, but transmission resumed through local FM stations. The director of Israel Radio, Mr Amnon Nadav, instructed his program editors not to give a greater platform to the Arab perspective than to the Israeli position in news reports.
Israeli media enjoy far more freedom than Palestinian newspapers and broadcasting outlets.
Unlike the Palestinian press, Israeli columnists and newspapers routinely criticise the government. In normal times, they even cover the Palestinians' position. But Israel's media has closed ranks behind its Government at a time when the country feels under siege. After the lynchings last week several Israeli commentators referred to Palestinians as barbarians and animals. This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.