Despite being hailed models of democracy countries like the United States and Israel rank lower than most Arab countries in terms of press freedom, a media report said Wednesday.In the post 9/11 world of fear-mongering and insecurity the world's top democracies are slowly but surely doing away with press freedoms, Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) press freedom index of 2008 said.
| Really? Write an article in the U.S. criticizing George Bush. See what happens. Now write in article in Egypt criticizing His Enormity. See what happens. Which do you prefer? |
The Paris-based group ranked the U.S. at 119 outside its own territory while Israel, whose armed forces killed a Palestinian journalist this year, was 149th on the list for press freedoms beyond its frontiers.
| How does either the U.S. or Israel control press freedoms beyond their own frontiers? |
| The U.S., within its own borders, is ranked 36th at the press release, behind such free press stalwarts as Ghana, Namibia, Jamaica, and Bosnia. Sure, we can see that ... |
The Palestinian Territories ranked penultimate in terms of Middle Eastern countries where authorities find "any excuse will do to get rid of trouble-makers and spies," the report said.
Syria, which ranked 159th, was labeled the Middle-East champion in cyber-repression where Internet surveillance is so thorough that the least criticism is followed by arrest. Egypt's government, which faced a string of online protests this year, now labels every Internet user a potential danger, the report said ranking the biggest Middle-Eastern nation at 146.
RSF labeled Tunisia, Libya and Iran--the lowest ranked Middle Eastern country--as dictatorships where journalists face an "unchanging hell" of a suffocating lack of press freedom. Saudi Arabia ranked 161 and the report said nothing is allowed to be published if it does not accord with government policy.