Head of Ma’an news agency attacks PMW findings
Ma’an Youtube channel, interview with Director-General of the Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency Raed Othman
Othman is asked whether the Dutch and Danish donors set any conditions regarding the agency’s editorial policy and he responded that the agency set its own conditions and acts according to international law and criteria and world media standards. He noted that during the more than three years the agency has been funded by the Dutch and Danish, they have never received any complaint from them, not even when they wrote about the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Denmark.
Director-General of Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency Raed Othman: “What happened afterward, and in truth it occurred two or three years after the funding [by the Dutch and Danish] ended, there was an Israeli organization called “Media Watch” (sic., i.e., Palestinian Media Watch) that accused the Ma’an agency of inciting against Jews, and acts to deny the Holocaust, etc.”
Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency interviewer: “In other words, five years after the establishment of the agency.”
Director-General of Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency Raed Othman: “Yes, after five years, They relied on a report published by us… It was as a result of a press release that the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades (i.e., (Hamas' military wing) released at the time, and in the same period we used quotation marks to indicate a quote from the release… and of course the topic was raised, the international Zionist organization publicized it in the Dutch and Danish parliaments. We sent a clarification that this is what we published on our website. This matter repeated itself two years ago, the same organization, called “Media Watch,” which attacks all of the media organizations and sometimes attacks other organizations such as Badil (a Palestinian organization for refugees’ rights –Ed.) and others, [accused Ma’an] of acting [to spread] Antisemitism in quotation marks, Antisemitism in the sense that it attacks the Jews because they are Jews and not to publicize the occupation’s crimes and what it is doing in Palestine. At that time it was also about op-eds, and we adhered to the fact that they are op-eds. It is the right of their writers to state their opinions and these are not editorial material of Ma’an, or Ma’an’s perspective… We have added this remark to the website, as there was a sort of international incitement against Ma’an at the time. This matter reached a point where inquiries were sent to the [PA] Foreign Ministry and the [PA] Ministry of Information. We informed all of the organizations that this organization is Zionist and its owners are two settlers who live in Efrat (i.e., Jewish town near Hebron). Therefore, these people do not represent the view of the real press and the real media.”
Othman is asked whether the Dutch and Danish donors set any conditions regarding the agency’s editorial policy and he responded that the agency set its own conditions and acts according to international law and criteria and world media standards. He noted that during the more than three years the agency has been funded by the Dutch and Danish, they have never received any complaint from them, not even when they wrote about the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Denmark.
Director-General of Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency Raed Othman: “What happened afterward, and in truth it occurred two or three years after the funding [by the Dutch and Danish] ended, there was an Israeli organization called “Media Watch” (sic., i.e., Palestinian Media Watch) that accused the Ma’an agency of inciting against Jews, and acts to deny the Holocaust, etc.”
Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency interviewer: “In other words, five years after the establishment of the agency.”
Director-General of Ma’an independent Palestinian news agency Raed Othman: “Yes, after five years, They relied on a report published by us… It was as a result of a press release that the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades (i.e., (Hamas' military wing) released at the time, and in the same period we used quotation marks to indicate a quote from the release… and of course the topic was raised, the international Zionist organization publicized it in the Dutch and Danish parliaments. We sent a clarification that this is what we published on our website. This matter repeated itself two years ago, the same organization, called “Media Watch,” which attacks all of the media organizations and sometimes attacks other organizations such as Badil (a Palestinian organization for refugees’ rights –Ed.) and others, [accused Ma’an] of acting [to spread] Antisemitism in quotation marks, Antisemitism in the sense that it attacks the Jews because they are Jews and not to publicize the occupation’s crimes and what it is doing in Palestine. At that time it was also about op-eds, and we adhered to the fact that they are op-eds. It is the right of their writers to state their opinions and these are not editorial material of Ma’an, or Ma’an’s perspective… We have added this remark to the website, as there was a sort of international incitement against Ma’an at the time. This matter reached a point where inquiries were sent to the [PA] Foreign Ministry and the [PA] Ministry of Information. We informed all of the organizations that this organization is Zionist and its owners are two settlers who live in Efrat (i.e., Jewish town near Hebron). Therefore, these people do not represent the view of the real press and the real media.”