PA detains Gazan editor for 'libel'

A Palestinian editor from the Gaza Strip was detained on Monday by the Palestinian Authority for publishing a story about the theft of $400,000 from PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar while he was on a visit to Kuwait earlier this year.

The story implied that Zahar was carrying large amounts of cash while Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were deprived of financial aid.

This is the first time since the Hamas government took over that a Palestinian journalist has been detained for publishing a story that reflects negatively on one of its leaders. In the past, a number of Palestinian journalists who dared to criticize former PA chairman Yasser Arafat or his top aides were assassinated, imprisoned or beaten.

Good to see that the Palestinian Justice department has been unaffected during the transition between the PLO and Hamas governments and is still able to carry on with business as usual.

Issa is one of the few Palestinian journalists who have been openly reporting on rampant corruption in the PA. His writings in Donia al-Watan have angered both Fatah and Hamas leaders and activists. The offices of the newspaper have been attacked several times by masked gunmen, who also threatened to kill Issa and his staff.

So much for hopes that "at least Hamas is not corrupt like the PLO was".