You can’t make stuff like this up.
MKs and journalists received a call purportedly from Hamas spokesman Ribhi Rantisi, telling them that Army Radio should not be closed, out of concern for free speech.
The call was actually pre-recorded by My Israel, a right-wing organization that, among other causes, advocates closing the IDF’s radio station, because its hosts interview Hamas members. A member of the organization called Rantisi, claiming he is a representative of Army Radio, and asking him to pledge his support for the station.
“Hello, this is Ribhi Rantisi the Hamas activist in Gaza,” said the voice calling from a Palestinian phone number. “I call for members of the Knesset Economics Committee to allow Army Radio to have freedom of expression.”
“I’m usually interviewed on Army Radio, and they give me freedom of speech, and I think this should continue,” Rantisi added, calling the IDF station “everyone’s home.”
MK Eitan Cabel (Labor) reacted to the incident by saying he expects that “whoever sent out this criminal message will reveal himself and not hide behind a keyboard.
“A dangerous line has been crossed,” he added.
My Israel director Ayelet Shaked said that “it is absurd and painful that fighters and officers see their military radio station as hostile, while terrorists come to [Army Radio’s] defense.”
So let’s get this right. A representative of Hamas, the terrorist organization that does not recognize the state of Israel and wants us annihilated, stands up for Israeli army radio out of concern for “free speech,” which is something else they do not themselves uphold.
I’m feeling dizzy.
Update: It would seem this is not unusual for Rantisi.
From 2006:
Who says Israel and Hamas aren’t talking?
Officials may be shunning all contact, but Ribhi Rantisi is rocking the Israeli airwaves, spreading the Hamas word in fluent, slang-peppered Hebrew.
The Gaza shampoo salesman and nephew of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi has become a media star, connecting to Israeli audiences through his pragmatic views and familiarity with the Jewish state.
He has worked there for years, is a fan of the Maccabi Petah Tikvah soccer club and keeps up-to-date by watching Israeli TV.
Rantisi, a 44-year-old father of seven, said he had kept quiet for years after being arrested by Palestinian security services. But since Hamas’ election victory last month, he has been all over the place, appearing on Israeli TV and radio to share folksy tales of his experiences in Israel.
For an active member of a radical Islamic movement, he has managed to woo his interviewers with an unexpected openness to Israel and the West.
“I need these interviews to pass the word of Hamas to the world,” he said. “I want what I say to reach every Israeli ear. Instead of them hearing through a translation, they can get it straight from me.”
He has not been to Israel since 1994, when his work permit was revoked. But he keeps up with Israeli culture through TV shows such as Eretz Nehederet, Hebrew for “Wonderful Country,” a satiric news show that often pokes fun at Hamas.
Though definitely outside the Hamas consensus — the group calls for Israel’s destruction — Rantisi said his opinions were generally respected.
But, he said, his uncle, who was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in 2004, “didn’t take me that seriously.”
Neither did Mushir al-Masri, the official Hamas spokesman in Gaza, who said Rantisi’s media appearances are freelance work not sanctioned by Hamas.
“He is doing this voluntarily, and the movement did not assign him to do this propaganda,” he said.
