Dan Rather’s Crew Says It Was ‘Humiliated By Israeli Security’

18
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

dan-ratherA crew for Dan Rather was harassed and humiliated by Israeli security officials, a producer for his show has said, accusing them of forcing the staffers to drop their pants for a strip search before seeing a Cabinet minister.

The allegations, made in a letter to Israeli officials that was obtained by The Associated Press, add to growing complaints about how Israeli security officials treat foreign media.  

Andrew Glazer, an Emmy-award winning producer at Dan Rather Reports, wrote that the legendary anchorman came to do a story about improving Israeli-Palestinian relations pitched by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Glazer said problems mounted after they arrived. He said they were held up for hours at security checks. Israeli soldiers barred the crew’s veteran Palestinian cameramen – a Jerusalem resident – from accompanying Rather to a West Bank neighborhood. And then came the strip search before an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor.

“Mr. Rather said that in his career, he had never seen a crew forced to strip prior to an interview – including the one he conducted with Saddam Hussein,” Glazer wrote.

Reached in New York, Glazer acknowledged sending a letter to several people in the Israeli government, but he would not discuss its contents or say when the events took place.

Glazer said in the Jan. 25 letter that the team held advance consultations with government and military officials and had a good experience with Palestinian security officials.

Israel’s relationship with the foreign media is often testy, with some Israeli officials accusing journalists of sympathizing with the Palestinians and disregarding Israel’s legitimate security concerns.

Journalists’ recurring problems with chaotic and intrusive security, at Israel’s international airport and entering government offices, have strained relations even further.

The new director of Israel’s Government Press Office, Oren Helman, has vowed to usher in a new era of cordial relations with the hundreds of foreign journalists based in Israel. His pledges have not filtered down to the security agents who inspect journalists before entering official events with top officials.

{The Associated Press/Matzav.com Newscenter}


18 COMMENTS

  1. Well, what does this rabid Jew hater expect. Over the years he and his shows have portrayed Israel in the worst possible light. Does he expect Israel to roll out a red carpet for him? Throw him a parade perhaps? The same holds true for the other “journalists” with their carefully placed quotation marks around the word terrorists, and calling legitimate Jewish land occupied territories, etc. No matter how good they are treated they will still ultimately bash Israel. So good for Israel security that they felt “humiliated”.

    BTW, this itself is ridiculous. When I fly I have to take off my shoes, be x-rayed on a full body scan, my wife has had to take off her sheitel and be subjected to searches, along with millions of others who fly. Do you hear any of them complaining like that RASHA Rather. For security, everyone must sacrifice some personal comfort. That includes “journalists”.

  2. Reply to #1: I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that in israel you do not have to take of your shoes or belt. They also do not subject you to full body scanners. They only do extra screening on certain individuals. For all those people who don’t like TSA security, the other more efficient option is racial profiling. Going through security in israel is usually hassle free. In all other airports it is a nightmare. It’s ironic that israel has the best safety ratings in the world, even with their uninvasive screening methods.

  3. TOO BAD, Body Scans, strips at the airport is OK, yet the holy Dan Rather wants to be let through without security. HUH

  4. Rather has become a worthless piece of meat! He’s an old washed up prune! Who cares what happened or didn’t happen to him! I think him & Helen Thomas, would make a great shidduch!

  5. Its an insult that any western media detail be treated as described in this article. Any Jew who supports this no matter what Mr. Rathers reporting has been like is like a placer of a stepping stone before the blind. To say that the western media is not welcomed in Israel or will be indignified in such a manner is the substance that brings Torahs to fall from the Ark.

  6. The way to show that we do not approve of another person’s actions (reporting) is not to cause him or her embarrassing disability. We must just discuss it on a forum or in the newspapers and make it clear that he is not exactly the reporter that we believe carries western ideals. To defame and forcibly undress the man is an affront to Torah and makes the entire nation appear vengeful. Torah does not seek revenge. It seeks to restore harmony to the universe. So on this account, such an indecency is an indecency upon those of us who made Mr. Rather suffer. Thanks!

  7. I wish #15 were more of Yiden’s friend than beethoven’s friend. Why is it that acquiring much foreign culture makes one join with his nation’s enemies? Sometimes they go as far as even converting as Mendelsohn Bartholdy’s zeidi did?

Leave a Reply to avf Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here