The Israel Broadcasting Authority decided to stop airing TV advertisements calling on the State to recognize the Bedouin villages in the Negev and invest in them, claiming they did not meet IBA regulations.
The TV ad, produced by Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights organization, the council of unrecognized villages in the Negev, and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, urges Israel to push for an appropriate solution for the 36 villages and some 50,000 people living in them, and provide them with appropriate infrastructure and services.
According to the groups, the IBA did not provide an explanation for removing the ads, and decided to ban them after receiving complaints from an extreme rightist organization.
"The decision to censor the ad constitutes a grave violation of freedom of expression," said Dr. Amir Paz-Fox, an attorney and member of Bimkom's executive committee. "Moreover, this is a violation of the Freedom of Information Law. The fact that the Broadcasting Authority is reluctant to reveal the reasons for the censorship is questionable and prompts the suspicion it has succumbed to political pressure."
According to Paz-Fox, the organization was mulling filing suit in a bid to resume the campaign and receive compensation for the damages it sustained.
The IBA said in response that, "The broadcasting Authority's ombudsman Elisha Spiegelman received a complaint regarding the ad, and found it to be accurate, as the ad does not fall in line with the regulations obligating the Broadcasting Authority."
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