Deported for backing Palestinians?
Photo: AP
Report: Israel deported US editor
Palestinian news agency says head of its English department refused entry by Israel
Israel's Immigration Authority has deported an American journalist, the Palestinian Maan news agency said Wednesday.
The reporter in question served as head of the agency's English department.
According to the news agency, Jared Malsin was deported after being held by authorities at Ben Gurion International Airport for eight days. He was refused entry, and according to the agency was only allowed to inform it of his fate on the day of his deportation.
Maan charged that Malsin was forced to leave Israel because he helped the Palestinian people on the global public relations front.
The agency's chief editor, Nasser Lahham, said that "The Israelis don't care what is written about them in Arabic or in Hebrew, they only care about publications in English, and Israel, especially after the war in Gaza, doesn't want certain things to be published and conveyed to English-speaking people in the world".
"The Israelis don't want the truth to come out to the world in a language it understands and this must be the new Israeli policy," he said.
Lahham said Maan had informed the American Consulate of their editor's state and that the consul had visited him in detention. Regional and European rights groups were also informed, as well as journalist organizations in Israel and abroad.
The Interior Ministry said Malsin was deported because he did not reply to questions put to him by security officers upon his return from a vacation in Prague.
Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said the editor had been detained at the airport pending a court hearing.
"I guess he didn't like it and chose to leave the country," she added.
Lahham said he had been surprised by the deportation because in his opinion Malsin is a law-abiding civilian.
"He has never committed a crime, not even a traffic violation," he said, adding that MKs such as Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) had called him to offer their support.
