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The Italian section of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Friday defended its decision to expel La Stampa journalist Francesca Del Vecchio before it sets off to join boats from other nations seeking to break the Israeli blockade and take aid to Gaza. 
  Del Vecchio said she was kicked off simply for trying to do her job,
arguing the move was “a defeat for me, and not just a personal one”  
  But Maria Elena Delia, the spokeswoman for the flotilla’s Italian
section, said that, while flotilla had “utmost respect” for press
freedom, Del Vecchio’s ejection was justified.

The
reason they gave was that “in the first few days, we had asked for the
location where the boats were located and where we were training not to
be revealed” but she mentioned it anyway.In other words, they said what could and could not be reported. Just like Hamas does. After her expulsion, Del Vecchio describes how the flotilla imposed draconian and absurd rules on the journalists, but some were more privileged than others:

I
arrive in Catania, the starting point of the Italian expedition and the
training for participants. In my story, I begin with the “manual” they
sent us and focus on the theme of “non-violence.” Upon arrival at the
training site, everyone is asked to hand over their cell phones,” the journalist writes. “In the following days, they will also be asked to submit to a body search. Security reasons, they say. The
course, however, won’t start for another hour and a half, and I ask if
it’s possible to stay outside and come back after work. The answer is no.”Then
the course begins, and “there are other journalists (not part of the
crew) inside, complete with cameras and video cameras. At the end of the
session—which includes a simulated boarding and arrest—I ask if there
are any objections to reporting on it. I’m told no, as long as I don’t
go into details. That’s acceptable. It’s the first day’s report, with a
few vague references to the context. I’ll leave out—because it wouldn’t
have added anything—that the organizers caught an activist with a McDonald’s bag and asked witnesses to delete any videos. In hindsight, however, it seems indicative of the general climate.”As the hours pass, Del Vecchio senses that “the distrust is palpable. No one wants or can speak, no one can approach the boats,
not even accompanied. The only thing that can be reported are the
requirements for living together on board.” She asks to attend a night
shift of the fleet’s surveillance, “with the promise to write about it
only after departure, once the safety concerns have passed.” The
response? “After a half-hearted yes, we go into hiding: no one responds
anymore.”Then she’s removed from the group chat. She asks why. “A member of the board, Simone, calls me. He tells me the decision to fire me for revealing sensitive information that could have undermined the security of the mission.
I’m incredulous. I get a chance to discuss it again in person with
Maria Elena Delia the next day,” Del Vecchio writes. “I explain the
demands of my profession. I acknowledge the need for caution, but I also
insist that we must find a compromise. We agree that, from that moment
on, there will be more dialogue. I think the crisis is over, and I’m off
to my first exercise at sea.”At this point, the journalist recounts being chased by two activists, along with a member of the management team. They tell her,
“We can’t trust you. You’re a dangerous journalist; you told the world
where our course is being held. You’re dangerous. Your newspaper showers
us with shit every day.” Her passport is returned to her,
“confiscated, as if it were a police force,” and they “literally kick
her out of the port, informing me I couldn’t take the bus back with the
others.”

It sounds a lot like the rules given in
the campus encampments. It also sounds a lot like Hamas, only allowing
stories they approve to be sent out.But when Israel places
restrictions on journalists for their own safety, there are petitions
and journalist unions who roundly complain about freedom of the press.No journalists are publicly slamming the flotilla organizers for their censorship, as far as I can tell. As usual, when people make false claims about Israel, they are projecting what they would do if they had the chance.