This decision affected just three journalists in Gaza, one of whom is 25-year-old Abeer Ayyoub. Abeer went from working as a fixer for visiting foreign journalists to writing stories herself, and in the process landing a job with Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Starting at the beginning of the last attack on Gaza in November 2012, she quickly made a name for herself by breaking stories that most journalists operating in the Strip had never realised existed.

I spoke to Abeer about what the ban means for her work, and for the state of press freedom in Gaza today

Ruth Michaelson: When we spoke the other day, you described working for Ha’aretz as “your dream”. Why did you want to work with Israeli media?

Abeer Ayyoub: Because I wanted to be the Palestinian voice in Israeli media, to send a message and cover these events from Palestinian eyes — I didn’t want Israeli journalists to be talking about something they’ve never seen [Israeli citizens are banned from entering Gaza]. So I wanted to be the one talking to Israelis, to communicate exactly what is going on here. Most Israelis are misled about what life is like here — they think that we’re all terrorists, which is not the case: Gaza has many civilians who have nothing to do with resistance. Sure, they have their own affiliations, but people have lives here, and they want to live in peace.

RM: Did you feel under threat while you were working for Ha’aretz?

AA: No, never. People showed understanding about my reasons for doing this; my family, my colleagues, even the Gaza authorities were supportive when I asked them before starting at Ha’aretz. They told me that they were in favour of having Palestinians writing for the Israeli media. The criticisms I heard or felt came from people who aren’t involved with the media, so I didn’t take them seriously.

RM: Why did you decide to talk to the Hamas government before going to work for Israeli media?

AA: I hate to do things in secret: I want to do everything under the light. I wasn’t asking for permission, I was just informing them of what was going on. They told me “go ahead, we never banned anyone from working with Israeli media, and it’s the same for you.” It was the head of media relations in Gaza who told me that, the same person who later told me I was banned.

RM: What reason did Hamas give for the ban?

AA: There were several different reasons given — that Israeli media is hostile to us, and that Israel doesn’t allow Palestinians to go inside and cover what’s going on, so we’re not going to allow them to do the same here. But the third and most depressing reason is that they expressed concern that journalists who work with Israeli media will ultimately become spies.

RM: Why do you think they changed their minds like this?

AA: It’s been very difficult to figure this out, as the reasons kept changing — especially as they banned their officials from talking with Israeli media in the same ruling. They certainly have their reasons, but it’s none of the reasons they’ve made public.

RM: So how were you informed about the ban?

AA: Just like everyone around me, I read it in the papers. No one called me or contacted me to let me know. So after I read about it, I went to the media office and asked them if they were serious about this. They told me that they were, and that I had no other choice but to submit to this decision. Initially I thought that I wouldn’t submit to this, but then I reasoned that I have no wish to create extra problems for myself.

RM: What were the risks involved if you hadn’t complied?

AA: The statement said that anyone working for Israeli media will be “punished”: I didn’t want punishment or to be arrested, as I have work that I still want to do here nonetheless. The thing is that a lot of normal people on the ground are against working with Israeli media, so I didn’t think that I would find a lot of support. I decided to stop for a while until things change, and I’m sure that they will change, because Hamas tend to take decisions like this and then repeal them at a later date.

RM: What do you think is the reason behind such a sweeping ruling that only affects three people?

AA: This is the thing — there have been allegations that there are people who work for Israeli media in secret, with no bylines. But again, this was a ruling also designed to affect Hamas officials, and I believe this was aimed primarily at them. Once again, the reason for this will be anything except the reasons they gave.

RM: The timing of the decision seems political, in that it came after the ceasefire with Israel. Do you think that this has anything to do with the ruling?

AA: This was one of Hamas’s claims, that Israel had targeted journalists during the war, and so if Israel doesn’t respect our journalists then we don’t want them to work with Israel. How these two things are related is something that I don’t personally understand.

 RM: How comfortable do you feel working as a journalist in Gaza now, following this ban?

AA: I feel comfortable at the moment, my relationship with the government is good. I work a lot with other forms of international media, and things seem to be okay. Sometimes [the Hamas government] remind me, with provocations or questions about whether I’m still working with Ha’aretz, that they are still focused on this, even if they say it as a joke. But this to me is nothing too serious.

RM: Many elements of both Israeli and Palestinian life are hidden from view given the restrictions on freedom of movement, do you feel like the decision contributes to this?

AA: Exactly. Now there is a real problem — things are disjointed. I can’t express myself within Israeli media: this is permitting any potential media bias, or at the very least reports lacking in sufficient information.

RM: What will be missing from Israeli media discourse as a result of this decision?

AA: Basically I think the gap between civilians on both sides will be widened. We only know about their government, and they only know about ours. The things that I wanted to write about were what normal, everyday people are doing — people like me or my family and friends: we hate the on-going conflict. We believe in resistance, but things are not like the normal depiction of Palestinians in the media, which is likely to portray us as inherently violent.

RM: What would you say is the state of press freedom in Gaza?

AA: I would say it’s changing from time to time, sometimes we have enough space to write, but other times we are denied our simplest rights. It’s the case wherever; governments always try to control journalism when it comes to writing about them.

Ruth Michaelson is a freelance journalist. She tweets at @_Ms_R

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In a scam targeting one of Israel’s most popular radio stations, a right-wing Zionist group this week sent out messages from Palestinian figures pledging support for the radio’s promotion of free speech.

My Israel, a grouping of activists who describe themselves as Israel’s “online ambassadors”, were campaigning against Galei Tzahal, Israel Army Radio, for its practice of interviewing Hamas officials on air.

On 21 June, hundreds of members of the Knesset and journalists received a text message purporting to be from Ribhi Rantisi, a Hamas member from Gaza who often speaks to the Israeli media in Hebrew.

“This is Ribhi Rantisi from Hamas. I will soon call you about the Knesset debate on Galatz,” the message read.

It was followed minutes later by a recorded message emanating from a Palestinian number which said, “I am calling upon the members of the finance committee to give Galei Tzahal freedom of expression. I am interviewed on Galei Tzahal and am allowed total freedom of expression.”

In an apparent play on words referring to the station’s catchphrase, “Galei Tzahal, the home of the soldiers”, Rantisi added, “Galei Tzahal is the home of all of us.”

Afterwards, Rantisi told the Walla news website that he had been called up by someone claiming to work for Galei Tzahal who asked him to say something about the importance of freedom of expression.

“I didn’t send a message or call anyone, they just scammed me and forged my phone number to send a message in my name,” he added.

The following day, My Israel sent out another text pretending to be from Ashraf Ajrami, a Fatah member and Palestinian activist who spent 12 years in Israeli detention.

It read, “This is Ashraf Ajrami, [former] prisoner’s minister of Fatah. I will soon call you to let you know of our joining the campaign for Galatz against the public protest in Israel; this is not an imitation, a fake or a prank.”

Although it is operated by the army, Galei Tzahal, also known as Galatz, is a well-respected radio station which — like other state media outlets — has been criticised by many on Israel’s political right for having an allegedly left-wing agenda.

Declining to clarify whether this campaign — titled “Galatz — a knife in the soldier’s back” — would continue, My Israel director Ayelet Shaked said, “The problem with Galei Tzahal is that in recent years it has become detached from the people and from the soldiers, and all its journalists are left-wing. We want more balance and diversity there.

“It doesn’t make sense that a station which belongs to an army which is in the middle of a war against Hamas — a terrorist organisation — interviews Hamas members in a very nice and polite way while our soldiers are fighting them.”

My Israel, founded in June 2010, whose funding comes from the Yesha council of settlers, is campaigning against a bill underway in the Knesset which would allow Galei Tzahal to continue to run messages from its sponsors. This is a lucrative option which increases their budget and allows them to hire civilian broadcasters alongside army journalists.

There have been some suggestions that these civilian reporters have been the ones to create most of the controversy among the right wing, leading to efforts to have the Knesset reduce their budget and effectively muzzle them as a news organisation.

“Freedom of speech is very important,” said Shaked, “and we have no problem with, for instance, interviewing [veteran Palestinian negotiator] Saeb Erekat. But Hamas is a terrorist organisation by definition, and don’t accept Israel’s right to exist, so there is a difference between them and the Palestinian Authority.”

Asked why, in that case, My Israel sent out a message purporting to be from Ajrami in an effort to discredit the radio station, Shaked added, “This a very aggressive campaign to get attention and wake up Israeli public opinion, so we are showing that even in the PA everyone supports Galei Tzahal.”

In a statement put out after the Rantisi episode, the radio station said, “It seems that the radicals in our society are so desperate in their attempt to take over the public discourse that using a Hamas member is legitimate in their eyes. Galei Tzahal is a leading radio station and whoever is worried by its success should examine themselves.”

Uzi Benziman, the founding editor of Israeli media watch website Seventh Eye, which is affiliated to the Israeli Democracy Institute, said that the campaign was a troubling development.

“This is part of a trend to terrorise public broadcasters in Israel, not using violence but intimidation, to shift their emphasis to right-wing views,” said Benziman, who himself was one of those targeted with the Rantissi message. “Part of the Israeli public may agree that Hamas should not be interviewed, seeing them as enemies — and rightly so.

“But at the same time they are potential partners for negotiations, and in this era of the internet and mass communication, how can you put limits on people trying to put their message across?”

Daniella Peled is an editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting

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