“Hirbet Hiza,” a TV drama telling the War of Independence story of Israeli soldiers banishing Arab settlers from their village was taken off the air last night, following the intervention of Education and Culture Minister Zevulun Hammer.
The show was cancelled despite a last minute decision by the Broadcasting Authority’s board of directors to screen the film. But Hammer followed options given to him in the Broadcasting Authority law which allows the Education Minister to postpone a show and refer it to the 31-member Broadcasting Authority Plenary for second consideration.
Hirbet Hiza is based on a novelette by Israeli veteran author Samech Izhar (Smilansky). It is written with a note of criticism on Israeli wartime brutality, but on the other hand stresses the doubts of the soldiers and depicts them as human beings rather than professional soldiers. The book has for years been required reading in Israeli high schools.
Several members of the board of directors argued that the film should not be screened at this delicate stage of the negotiations with Egypt. But when the issue was brought to vote, it was decided to go ahead and telecast it.
But a few hours before the film was to be shown, the matter was raised once again, and again approved by a 4-3 vote. Two of those who voted against it went to Hammer and asked him to use his prerogative and postpone the screening. Hammer accepted the appeal, and the matter will be discussed by the Broadcasting Authority plenary, probably early next month.
TV WORKERS CALL STRIKE
But in the meantime the matter has already caused a public debate, with several Knesseters demanding a discussion in the Knesset. The argument is that the postponement of the broadcast was against the principle of freedom of speech. One lawyer asked for the intervention of the high court of justice. Haaretz displayed its daily cartoon on its first page, showing a television set squeezed between the jaws of a shark carrying the sign “political censorship.”
Israel television workers decided Tuesday to cancel tonight’s broadcasts immediately after the daily news bulletin at 9:30 p.m., in protest against the decision. They said it was an unprecedented case of political censorship. It was the first time the workers called a strike to protest political interference.
Twenty-five writers sent Hammer today a petition protesting the decision to take Hirbet Hiza off the air, and demanded the reversal of his decision. Alternatively, the writers suggested, Hammer should resign. Among those signing the petition was Izhar.
The authors accused Hammer of intervening in the freedom of expression and creation, undermining the democratic foundations of the State. Other authors demanded that the Writers Association be convened to condemn the Minister.
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