Netanyahu Orders Shut Down of Al Jazeera
May 5, 2024
On Sunday, May 5th, Netanyahu’s government voted to shut down Al Jazeera, close its offices in occupied Palestinian territories, and confiscate broadcast equipment, according to Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Palestine, Walid Al-Omari.
“The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X.
The closure will go into effect immediately, according to Israel’s Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi. It came a month after the Israeli parliament approved a bill allowing the temporary shutdown of foreign broadcasters, including Al Jazeera. The decision is valid for 45 days and could be renewed.
‘Israel’ has been inciting against the Qatar-based network, studying its closure as a result of Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza, accusing ‘Israel’ of committing a genocide in Gaza. The network accused Netanyahu of continuing a “frantic campaign” against it.
Al Jazeera is one of the last remaining international media networks reporting on Israel’s war on Gaza from the ground.
“Netanyahu could not find any justifications to offer the world for his ongoing attacks on Al Jazeera and Press Freedom except to present new lies and inflammatory slanders against the Network and the rights of its employees,” the network said in a statement.
“Al Jazeera holds the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the safety of its staff and Network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner.”
Since October, Israeli occupation forces have killed, wounded and detained several Al Jazeera journalists reporting from Gaza.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the decision in a post on X, calling it “repressive legislation” aiming to “censor the channel for its coverage of the war in Gaza”.
Israel bans Al Jazeera over Gaza war coverage
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Al Jazeera will be banned in Israel, with its offices closed down and equipment confiscated.
The New Arab Staff
05 May, 2024
Al Jazeera has been commended for its reporting of Israel's war on Gaza since October 7 [Getty]
The cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on Sunday unanimously decided to shut down news channel Al Jazeera’s operations within Israel, a government statement announced.
"The government under my leadership has unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel," Netanyahu’s statement read on X.
Netanyahu authorised Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to immediately order the cessation of the channel's broadcasts in Israel, in both Arabic and English.
The ban will also force Al Jazeera to close its offices in Israel, with Karhi ordering the confiscation of equipment used by its personnel to broadcast, as reported by Haaretz.
Access to the network's website will now be blocked from within Israel.
The head of Al Jazeera in Israel and the Palestinian territories described the Israeli government's decision to shutter the station's local operations as "dangerous" and motivated by politics rather than professional considerations.
Al Jazeera's legal team was preparing a response, Walid Omary told Reuters, in possible anticipation of a court appeal against the decision.
The move to ban Al Jazeera has been under consideration for some time, with Israel’s hostility toward the Qatari news network intensifying since the beginning of its war on Gaza following the events of 7 October.
In early April, the Israeli Knesset granted Netanyahu the authority to ban broadcasts from foreign channels deemed a security threat, specifically with Al Jazeera in mind.
RELATEDUnfilteredAhmed Shihab-Eldin
“The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel's activities,” Netanyahu said on X at the time.
In response to the law's passage, Al Jazeera stated, "This latest measure is part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks aimed at silencing Al Jazeera."
The Middle East’s largest news network reported that Israel’s action against it included the killing of two network correspondents and the bombing of its office during the Gaza war on 7 October.
Without providing evidence, Israel accused the two slain Al Jazeera journalists of being "terror operatives," a claim that the network vehemently denied, stating that Israel was "systematically targeting" its staff.
In December, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael al-Dahdouh, was also wounded in an Israeli strike that killed the network's cameraman.
RELATEDMENASally Ibrahim
This incident followed the killing of Dahdouh’s wife, two of his children, and a grandson in October, after an Israeli strike on their home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Last month, US spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Israel’s then-proposed ban on Al Jazeera was “concerning”.
The ban also threatens to raise tensions with Qatar, at a time when the Gulf state is playing a crucial role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza.
It also comes amid Israel’s wider attacks on press freedom, with its assault on Gaza being the deadliest for media workers in recent history.
More than 100 journalists, almost all of whom are Palestinian, have been killed by Israel in seven months of its war.
2024/05/05
The lettering and logo of the Arab news channel Al-Jazeera can be seen on the company's premises.
Tim Brakemeier/dpa
Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera on Sunday decried a decision by the Israeli government to close its offices in the country, saying it would pursue "all avenues" available to protect its rights and employees.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his Cabinet had unanimously decided to close Al Jazeera's operations in Israel.
Israel accuses the Doha-based broadcaster of biased reporting on the ongoing war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Al Jazeera categorically denied the accusation.
"The Netanyahu government has decided in a highly misleading and calumnious step to endorse the order to shut down Al Jazeera offices in Israel," the network said.
The channel condemned what it called an "Israeli criminal act" that violates the human right of access to information.
"We confirm that we will pursue all avenues at international and legal organizations to protect our rights and crews," it added without elaborating.
Last month, the Israeli parliament approved what is known as the "Al Jazeera law" which allows for broadcasters from abroad to be shut down if they are deemed to pose a risk to state security.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Al Jazeera has reported extensively on the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and shown images of death and destruction rarely shown on Israeli television.
The channel also regularly shows videos of attacks on Israeli soldiers by Hamas' military arm, the Qassam Brigades.
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera on Sunday decried a decision by the Israeli government to close its offices in the country, saying it would pursue "all avenues" available to protect its rights and employees.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his Cabinet had unanimously decided to close Al Jazeera's operations in Israel.
Israel accuses the Doha-based broadcaster of biased reporting on the ongoing war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Al Jazeera categorically denied the accusation.
"The Netanyahu government has decided in a highly misleading and calumnious step to endorse the order to shut down Al Jazeera offices in Israel," the network said.
The channel condemned what it called an "Israeli criminal act" that violates the human right of access to information.
"We confirm that we will pursue all avenues at international and legal organizations to protect our rights and crews," it added without elaborating.
Last month, the Israeli parliament approved what is known as the "Al Jazeera law" which allows for broadcasters from abroad to be shut down if they are deemed to pose a risk to state security.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Al Jazeera has reported extensively on the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and shown images of death and destruction rarely shown on Israeli television.
The channel also regularly shows videos of attacks on Israeli soldiers by Hamas' military arm, the Qassam Brigades.
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
‘Dark day for the media’: Israel raids Al Jazeera’s offices after banning broadcaster
By Galit Altstein
May 6, 2024 —
Jerusalem: Israeli officials seized equipment from Al Jazeera hours after the nation’s cabinet approved a decision to shutter the Qatar-based TV news network’s operations in the Jewish state – an unprecedented step against an international media outlet.
Inspectors from the communications ministry, accompanied by police, arrived at Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem on Monday (AEST), confiscated equipment and cut off access. Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and access to its website have been blocked throughout Israel.
Palestinian politics analyst Nehad Abu Ghoush broadcasting from inside the network’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.CREDIT:AP
Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s communications minister, posted a video clip of the raid on X, formerly Twitter, where the inspectors can be seen and heard naming the equipment they found.
Karhi has been a key advocate for the termination of the network’s activity within Israel. He’s also called Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, biased and threatened to cut its budgets.
Al Jazeera denounced Israel’s move, calling it a “criminal act that violates human rights in access to information”. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has petitioned the move to Israel’s Supreme Court.
“This is a dark day for the media and a dark day for democracy,” Israel’s Foreign Press Association said in a statement. “Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station.”
An Al Jazeera reporter speaking live from the network’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah. CREDIT:AP
The association expressed concern that Israel’s government “may not be done” as the prime minister now has the authority to target other foreign media he deems to be “acting against the state”.
Several ministers from Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party abstained from the vote and criticised its timing, underlining escalating tensions between the various factions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Gantz’s party said that while it supports shutting down Qatari-owned Al Jazeera, Israel’s war cabinet had agreed to postpone any decision at the request of security officials, including the head of Mossad, to avoid harming ceasefire negotiation efforts now under way in Egypt.
Israel and Hamas, through intermediaries, continue to work towards a deal that would involve the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Qatar has been a dominant mediator since the war in Gaza broke out following Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
The idea of shutting down the news channel has been circulating within Netanyahu’s cabinet, comprised mostly of hard-right, nationalist and Jewish Orthodox parties, since the early days of war.
Al Jazeera was blamed by Israel for what were termed false reports that heavily relied on what was thought to be Hamas propaganda.
In late March, the channel ran a story claiming that Israeli soldiers had raped and murdered women at Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, which the Israel Defence Forces denied. It was later removed from all of Al Jazeera’s platforms.
A law allowing foreign media outlets to be shuttered in Israel was approved by the nation’s parliament, the Knesset, in early April. It would give Israel’s premier the power to instruct the communications ministry to act against any foreign media entity deemed to be “harming the country,” pending the opinion of at least one security official and the approval of the cabinet or security cabinet.
The media outlet can then be subject to a range of actions, including shutting down its offices in Israel, the confiscation of broadcast equipment, prevention of broadcasts by the channel’s reporters, removal of the channel from Israeli cable and satellite companies, and blocking of its websites in Israel.
RELATED ARTICLE
Israel accused of executions, using human shields in West Bank raid
“Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers,” Netanyahu said when the law was passed. “It is time to remove the voice of Hamas from our country.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre criticised the move at the time as a concerning step. The US supports the work of journalists around the world, including those working in Gaza, she said.
Bloomberg
Al Jazeera condemns Israel’s ‘criminal’ decision to close offices
Qatar-based network Al Jazeera on Sunday condemned as “criminal” a move by the Israeli government to ban the broadcaster from operating over its coverage of the Gaza war.
“We condemn and denounce this criminal act by Israel that violates the human right to access information,” the channel said in a statement, adding that it would take legal action.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his government had decided unanimously to close the channel, and hours later it went off-air.
Al Jazeera has been the focus of months of criticism by Netanyahu and his government in the latest round of a long-running feud that began well before Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
The network said it would “pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information”.
“Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the broadcaster said.
“Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover,” it added.
Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, Al Jazeera has aired continuous on-the-ground reporting on the effects of Israel’s campaign.
The network’s office in Gaza has been bombed in the conflict and two of its correspondents have been killed.
Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he had issued the order to shutter the channel, confiscate equipment and restrict broadcasting to Al Jazeera’s websites in a separate joint statement with Netanyahu.
Al Jazeera said its crew accreditations had been withdrawn and Israel had banned media service providers from transmitting its broadcasts.
Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera ‘dark day for media’: Foreign Press Association
Israeli authorities raid Al Jazeera offices after government decision to close television
Rania R.a. Abushamala |05.05.2024 -
ISTANBUL
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign media in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has condemned a decision by the Israeli government to close Al Jazeera television.
“With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station,” it said in a statement.
“This is a dark day for the media. This is a dark day for democracy.”
Israeli authorities raided the offices of Doha-based Al Jazeera television in Jerusalem and confiscated its equipment on Sunday, shortly after a government decision to shut down the broadcaster.
Video footage released by the office of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi showed Israeli officials entering the office and documenting the equipment inside.
According to The Times of Israel newspaper, the news channel was pulled off the air in the country and is no longer available on its two biggest TV providers Yes and Hot.
“We urge the government to reverse this harmful step and uphold its commitment to freedom of the press — including outlets whose coverage it may not like,” the FPA said.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, for its part, termed the Israeli ban of the Qatar-owned television as a “war crime.”
"This decision poses a great danger to the lives of journalists working for Al Jazeera, and in all international and local media outlets,” it said in a statement.
Last month, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) passed legislation allowing the closure of the Al Jazeera television.
Under the legislation, the communications minister is empowered to shut down foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if the defense minister identifies that their broadcast poses “an actual harm to the state’s security.”
Al Jazeera has an office in Israel and a team of correspondents working year-round, including covering Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 34,600 people since Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli authorities raid Al Jazeera offices after government decision to close television
Rania R.a. Abushamala |05.05.2024 -
ISTANBUL
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign media in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has condemned a decision by the Israeli government to close Al Jazeera television.
“With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station,” it said in a statement.
“This is a dark day for the media. This is a dark day for democracy.”
Israeli authorities raided the offices of Doha-based Al Jazeera television in Jerusalem and confiscated its equipment on Sunday, shortly after a government decision to shut down the broadcaster.
Video footage released by the office of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi showed Israeli officials entering the office and documenting the equipment inside.
According to The Times of Israel newspaper, the news channel was pulled off the air in the country and is no longer available on its two biggest TV providers Yes and Hot.
“We urge the government to reverse this harmful step and uphold its commitment to freedom of the press — including outlets whose coverage it may not like,” the FPA said.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, for its part, termed the Israeli ban of the Qatar-owned television as a “war crime.”
"This decision poses a great danger to the lives of journalists working for Al Jazeera, and in all international and local media outlets,” it said in a statement.
Last month, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) passed legislation allowing the closure of the Al Jazeera television.
Under the legislation, the communications minister is empowered to shut down foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if the defense minister identifies that their broadcast poses “an actual harm to the state’s security.”
Al Jazeera has an office in Israel and a team of correspondents working year-round, including covering Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 34,600 people since Oct. 7, 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment