Hamas orders closure of newspaper over caricature
Court orders Fatah-linked newspaper al-Ayyam to halt distribution,
publication in Gaza after cartoon on its back page mocked legislators loyal
to Hamas
Associated Press Published: 02.10.08, 17:22 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3505042,00.html

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A Hamas-dominated court ordered a Palestinian
newspaper on Sunday to halt distribution and publication in the Gaza Strip
after a cartoon on its back page mocked legislators loyal to the militant
group, officials said.

The cartoon was published last November and poked fun at the Hamas-led Gaza
government, and its leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

The newspaper al-Ayyam is published privately but has close ties to the
rival Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Al-Ayyam is printed in the West Bank, making it unlikely to halt work, but
it will now be unable to distribute some 3,500 copies of newspapers in Gaza.
The newspaper employs 32 people in the Gaza Strip, said deputy manager Mahdi
Masri.

"Their safety will be our utmost priority," Masri said in a telephone
interview from the West Bank. In the cartoon, a caricature by artist Baha
Bukhari showed a parliamentary session where Haniyeh is speaking to a row of
legislators who all look like him and carry photos of him. In the bottom
right corner, it is written, "The illegitimate."

Hamas policemen briefly halted distribution of al-Ayyam last year, but this
was the first formal action the group has taken to halt publication of a
rival newspaper. Hamas policemen have also harassed and beaten reporters it
considers hostile to the group.

Bukhari, who has worked for al-Ayyam for more than a decade, said he stood
by the drawing. "I have a position. (Hamas) harmed the Palestinian cause,"
he said in a telephone interview from the West Bank. Abbas has also cracked
down on reporters and newspapers considered loyal to Hamas in the West Bank.