The issue has been raised on the Tayyar.org website two days ago. As you can see in the snapshot below taken from the regulations page, Samir Kassir’s contest is open to journalists in several countries including Israel!
I have no idea what journalists from Israel have to do with this contest, and I am surprised that until today those who are responsible of it still have not fixed it or even provided an explanation. Oh and please don’t blame it on a copy paste mistake!
So what ? Israeli journalits like Amira Haas and Gideon Levy are doing a terrific job denouncing Israeli crimes. They are our best allies. Why should we exclude thm only on the basis of nationality ?
Are you serious? No matter how good they are, they’re still Israelis, and it’s illegal to have any kind of contact with them.
Hey Rami,
I have to agree with Salim, i know it’s a very touchy subject, but if you were to truley believe in objectivity, and freedom of speach you just can’t limit access according to nationality. it’s the whole idea about journalism doesn’t have a nationality (bla bla bla…)
But the real reason why it’s still there and hasn’t been fixed is simply because this award is awarded by the EUROPEAN UNION. The EUROPEAN UNION is the body that launched this award anyways. basically, it’ll never be removed.
If it was any other kind of competition I would understand excluding Israel, but if you think about it, Samir Kassir Award is all about writing with freedom and criticize the “unjust” regime or system so why not give the chance to any journalist out there, even Israelis… Maybe actually this would help shed the light on many Israeli journalists who criticize Israel.
@Simon & @Liliane
You really cannot call for objectivity when you deal with Israel, they do not differentiate between the resistance and those who are neutral in Lebanon (recall how they bombarded us in each war) so why should we objective with them?
And let’s assume we wanted to objective and all, and an Israeli journalist won the award, how are you going to hand it to him/her?
If I were in Giselle Khoury, I personally would have rejected the European Uniion to sponsor the contest.
dear rami
i understand your frustration, however, this issue was raised after 5 years of the award in a very political context..this is why we should learn more about the things before throwing all the “dealing” , “illegal” stuff..
now of course the EU has the right to put whomever they want since they are doing this award , the only difference here, and since the Samir Kassir foundation is in the jury, they have put one veto, no israelis in the jury or the nominees or else they will pull out from the jury..and by israelis they mean isrealis
however
here’s the thing, in israel, the journalists that suffer from lack of freedom and that are harrassed by the israeli government are the arabs of 48 who are gaianst israel(who are israeli citizens) this is why the website do not mention israelis, but citizens of israel..
those people, like 3azmeh bechara and ahmad el tibi if u know them, have the right to enter lebanon, contact us etc..since they are arabs and legally u have no right of including them in any award otherwise..
maybe instead of always talking about agents and stuff, we should try convince the biggest number of people including israelis about our cause and be more productive in working for it, as the SK award is doing by helping all journalists in the MEDA region that suffer from censorship, violence, etc..
@shana
Hi Shana,
What you are saying is like asking a girl who has been raped by a bunch of 10 men, while 2 of them were just watching the action, to be nice to those two men for what they did!
I honestly don’t care how good are some Israelis (Azmi Bechara and the alikes are special cases), I just don’t want to be open to them.
They invaded our country, and killed our people, it is illogical for me that we should do such moves towards them.
Being a “free” country in the region, it is our duty to promote freedom of speech and such in some countries like Egypt, Syria, Yemen, etc, for the well being of their societies. Enhancing the Israeli society is a NO to me.
Please let’s stop hiding behind “freedom” and “free speech” … The Israelis are murderers and terrorists … They not just killed humans but polluted/poisoned nature and sea. They will not be accepted in this part of the world and their days as an entity are numbered…Too bad for all “local” sympathizers..but your so called civilized allies are going down…
@Rami
they’re not israelis my friend..they’re arabs from palestine, and israel took their land in 48 (this is why they have israel on their passport).they didn’t look at the girl being raped, they were raped too,they decided to stay in their houses, it’s their form of resistance and u should respect it..they are citizens treated by the harshest ways by israelis..they are the ones doing most of the resistance inside israel (and not only by writing articles, also by taking arms)..and no one is doing any move towards israelis, on the contrary, by helping the arabs there, u are fighting the israeli governement..again, i think u should know more about the topic..
peace
@shana
Seems I explained myself wrong, I DO RESPECT the Arabs of 1948, my comments here are about the “real” Israeli journalists.
i already answered u in my first post,
the “real” ones cannot be nominees candidates or in the jury or in anthing, because of the veto of lebanese members of the jury, and it was their only condition for the EU..they have already explained that during the first year, this is why u don’t have any nominees or winners or members of the jury that’s israeli..
on the contrary, two of the winning pieces during 4 years were against israel or pro-palestine..
those are the 7 members of the jury:
Representative of an Arab Media
Representative of an Arab Media
Representative of a European Media
Representative of a European Media
Representative of an Arab University
Representative of a European University
Representative of the Samir Kassir Foundation
If so, let them come pick up their prize from Lebanon 😛
نحن كمواطنون لبنانيون تابعين للدولة اللبنانية. والدولة تعتبر إسرائيل عدوة في الدستور اللبناني، ما يعني أن الأفراد وحتى الجمعيات والمؤسسات وإن كانت ثقافية لا يبرر لها القيام بأي علاقات لها بصلة مع إسرائيل. إذا كانت جائزة سمير قصير تعتبر منبراً حراً للإسرائيليين للتعبير عن الرأي حتى ضد إسرائيل ليس بالضرورة أن يكون على هذا المنبر فهذا لن يغير شيئاً في الواقع فاليعبروا عن ارائهم بكل حرية على الصفحات ووسائل اعلانهم اوحتى على الانترنت فهناك ألف طريقة كي تنتشر الأفكار ما لا يبرر وجود هذا المنبر كحل وحيد للإسرائيليين المعارضين للتعبير عنهم. أما بنسبة لعرب ال-٤٨ فهم ليسوا اسرائيلين بل هم مواطنين اصليين فرضت عليهم الجنسية الإسرائيلية. وهم أقلية وحتى لو تكلموا ضد إسرائيل ولكن أغلبية الشعب هو عنصري وبذلك نحن خاسرين أكثر من رابحين بهذه المشاركة.
سوف نتهم بالقبول لوجود دولة صهيونية عنصرية قمعية إلى جانب وطننا لبنان.
إن الإنفتاح لا يعني تقديم المنابر لمعارضين في كيان عدو.