Dear Friends,
We made history this week when a bill calling for the cancellation of the controversial Press Ordinance passed in its first reading! This milestone came after ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court and following 20 years of litigation.
The Press Ordinance, which Israel inherited from the British Mandate period, grants the Interior Minister far-reaching authority to restrict freedom of the press. The minister can halt the publication of a newspaper for any period of time he or she deems necessary. Examples include: if the newspaper publishes something that the minister believes can endanger the public, or if it publishes false reports that the minister believes intend to provoke panic or despair. This ordinance required newspaper editors be over the age of 25, have a matriculation certificate, and have no criminal background. Publishers were required to obtain a license from the Interior Ministry and final decisions on all license applications were neither explained nor justified.
In democratic countries around the world, the State does not have the authority to close a newspaper, nor does the government have the right to interfere in the media and restrict it.
The threats to freedom of the press posed by the Press Ordinance are far from theoretical. According to an article published last year in Haaretz newspaper, in the past decade the Interior Ministry prevented the publication of at least 62 newspapers, rejecting more than 10 percent of all applications. In one instance an applicant was disqualified because he had been charged for building infractions.
Attorney Anat Scolnicov, at the time an attorney with ACRI and now a Constitutional Law Professor in Britain, filed the first petition to repeal the Press Ordinance in 1996. ACRI’s Chief Legal Counsel, Dan Yakir, filed the subsequent petitions. In 2014, we petitioned with I’lam Media Center and today persistence bore fruit when this anti-democratic Press Ordinance was finally annulled.
We at ACRI, and with your kind help, have taken one more step in ensuring freedom of expression for all. Help us do more.
Yours,
Sharon
Adv. Sharon Abraham-Weiss
Executive Director
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
