Chairman of the Israeli Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice committee, MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor), slammed the Prime Minister's Office for its condemnation of Channel One Television's airing Friday night of an interview with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Army Radio reported Saturday, cited by Haaretz daily.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office condemned the state run channel for giving a stage to what they termed "a man responsible for the killing of innocents."
AFP also quoted an unnamed Israeli official, close to PM Ariel Sharon, as blasting the public television for airing the interview.
"It was an unfortunate decision. Public television should not have offered a platform to Arafat who has imposed on us a war and is responsible for the murder of Israelis," said the official.
"We respect the independence of the public media but (even) in the United States, television networks, who broadcast interviews with Osama bin Laden at the start of the Afghan war, later refused to give him air time," he said.
However, the MK said, "The attempt to prevent the Israeli public from hearing Arafat is suspicious and raises serious questions...it indicates a lack of self confidence."
He added that it was important for the media to show the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, not only from the Israeli perspective.
In response, Likud MK Ze'ev Boim said Saturday that the interview was inapproptiate to show on television at a time "when the flowers on the graves [of those killed in last week's suicide bombings] have not yet dried."
"They compare me to bin Laden and my Palestinian Authority to the Taliban," the former ruling militia in Afghanistan, Arafat told the TV.
"Am I bin Laden? Am I bin Laden," he said in a rage – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
