Israel public radio bans Gaza ad

By · August 28, 2008

Israel’s public radio station has banned advertisements criticizing the government for its blockade of Gaza.

Israel’s national broadcast authority on Wednesday rejected ads submitted by an Israeli human rights organization, Gisha, that take the government to task for not allowing hundreds of Palestinians who want to study abroad to leave the Gaza Strip. The broadcast authority said the ads contain a “controversial political message,” The Associated Press reported.

An ad condemning the 2005 evacuation of Jews living in Gaza was rejected for the same reason earlier this month.

Also on Wednesday, activists announced they plan to smuggle 14 Palestinians out of Gaza by boat.

The Free Gaza Movement held a news conference in Gaza City on Wednesday to announce that the two boats that arrived in Gaza on Saturday carrying several dozen mostly Western activists will leave on Thursday with Palestinian students with valid foreign visas or dual citizenship who have been accepted to study abroad. These include a Palestinian professor returning to teach in Europe and a young woman who will meet her husband abroad, the Jerusalem Post reported.

It was unclear whether Israeli authorities would order the boats stopped and searched or refrain from doing so to avoid negative media attention.