Russia Today demands that Israel return seized archives
MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - Russia Today has issued a report stating it expects Israel to explain the seizure of the archive of its Palestinian office.
"Representatives of the Israeli army command link the attack on the Russia Today office in Ramallah to the work of the television channels al-Aqsa and al-Quds. Russia Today considers these explanations to be unacceptable because the work of the Russia Today office in Ramallah is in no way connected to the work of other television channels," Russia Today said in a report obtained by Interfax on Sunday.
According to earlier reports, the Israeli military broke into the building of the company Palmedia in Ramallah and destroyed the offices of Arab media organizations, including an office of Russia Today during a military operation conducted on the Western bank of the Jordan, the Israeli military broke into the building of the company Palmedia in Ramallah and destroyed the offices of Arab media organizations.
"The military broke the door to the building, destroyed the property of the offices, and seized archives," the Russia Today press service reported, citing its reporter in Ramallah.
According to Russia Today, Internet signal and archives of videos and other materials were lost and office furniture and computers were damaged in the attack. According to the Russia Today reporter in Ramallah, computer equipment and hard discs were taken from the offices.
"The military broke the door to the building, destroyed the property of the offices, and seized archives," the Russia Today press service reported, citing its reporter in Ramallah.
A representative of the Israeli army command said "the operation conducted in the early hours of Saturday targeted the Palestinian company Palmedia," Russia Today said in a report obtained by Interfax.
"The reason for this attack, in which the Russia Today office was damaged, was, according to some comments, "the seditious and propaganda" content of the Al-Aqsa programming. Other Israeli officials said the operation targeted Al-Quds. The Israeli authorities could not explain in their statement why the archives of Russia Today, which also has an office in the same building as Palmedia, were seized," the report says.
"We believe the encroachment on our office in Ramallah is unacceptable because our activities have no relation to Al-Quds television or Al-Aqsa television, which, by the way, is based in a different building. Moreover, it's unclear to us why the Israeli army needed to seize the archives of the Russia Today office in Ramallah. We still demand explanations from the Israeli authorities and the return of the seized materials," the Russia Today press service reported, citing Russia Today editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.