Public Security Ministry sets up Arabic Web site

Comes as rumors of “dangers” to the Aksa Mosque continue to circulate in Arabic.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
In a bid to improve communications with Israeli Arabs and the Arab world at large at a time when rumors of “dangers” to the Aksa Mosque continue to circulate in Arabic, the Public Security Ministry has announced the launch of an Arabic Web site.
“False propaganda by the Islamic Movement on the Temple Mount [being in jeopardy]” underlines the need for an Arabic Web site, a statement by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch’s bureau said Monday.
“The Web site will detail [the ministry’s] activities and those of the police and Prisons Service,” the statement went on, adding that “Web traffic results for the ministry’s Hebrew Web site show that during security incidents like those involving the Temple Mount, Operation Cast Lead and the [Second] Lebanon War, the number of visitors from Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority grew significantly.”
Information on programs to curb anti-social behavior and on plans to expand the City Without Violence Program – a coordinated effort among the government, local councils, schools and the police to bring down levels of violent crime in city centers – will also be available in Arabic.
“A vacuum exists in Arab communications which is being filled bypolitical elements that systematically propagate false information toserve personal interests,” the statement said, adding that “theminister views Arab communications as a vital platform.”
“We hope to become a source of information for Arab citizens and journalists,” a spokesman for the ministry said.