Yediot Aharonot censored a death notice for Palestinian children killed by the army

Press Release, August 30, 2007

Following the killing of three children in the Gaza Strip, the third such case within one week of Palestinian children being shot to death by Israeli forces, the Gush Shalom movement decided to publish death notices with the following text:

Gush Shalom Mourns the twins

Sarah Gazal, 10 year old

Mahmud Gazal, 10 year old

And their cousin

Yihya Gazal, 12 years old

Whose young lives were cut short by IDF shooting at Beit Hanun, Gaza Strip.

We offer our condolences to the mourning Gazal Family.

The "Yediot Aharonot" newspaper refused, however, to place the ad. Employees with whom we spoke claimed that the paper's legal adviser has banned its publication, for apprehension that Yediot Aharonot might be exposed to a libel suit. Theupon, the Gush Shalom representatives offered to leave out the words "Their young life were cut short" and instead write simply "Killed by IDF shooting at Beit Hanun, Gaza Strip". However, we were told that this, too, had been vetoed by the legal adviser, who would only consent to an ad which made no mention whatsoever of how and by whom the children were killed.

Adv. Gabi Lasky, Gush Shalom's own legal representative, called Yediot Aharonot to find the reasons why the second version was rejected - since the army itself did not deny its responsibility for killing the children. The paper's employees thereupon shifted their ground and now stated that there no judicial problem, but rather that "The ad might offend the feelings of other people placing death notices on the same page". (This kind of consideration never prevented Yediot Aharonot from publishing death notices placed by extreme-right groups, where the name of the suicide bombing victim is followed by the formula "May God Avenge His Blood" which many Israelis find offensive.) Yediot Aharonot offered to publish the ad on a different page, not among death notices - but at an astronomical price, more than three times higher.

It should be noted that "Ha'aretz" as well as "Ma'ariv" (considered a right-wing paper) published Gush Shalom's death notice without demur.