The Egyptian Journalists’ Union is formally investigating Hala Mustafa, an Al-Ahram editor who met with Israeli ambassador Shalom Cohen a few weeks ago.
Today’s AP, which explains the witch-hunt as a simmering backlash against Israel’s war in Gaza and Farouk Hosni’s failed UNESCO bid, politely dances around the issue of Egyptian media’s anti-Semitism, by writing:
Egyptian media often act as the standard bearers for anti-Israeli sentiment in the country . . .
That’s an understatement. Mustafa’s getting no backing from her higher-ups at Al-Ahram. The board already reacted by clamping down on interactions with Israel:
In response, Al-Ahram’s board decided not only to investigate Mustafa’s actions but announced on Saturday that its journalists were banned from meeting with and interviewing Israelis, could not attend events or conferences at which Israelis were participating or undertake research in collaboration with Israeli academics and journalists. The board also issued a blanket ban on Israeli citizens being admitted to Al-Ahram premises.
Oh yeah, Al-Ahram is state-controlled.
