US State Department voices support for free press after Israel's Al Jazeera closure law
'We've not always agreed with all of Al Jazeera's coverage, but it's a media organization that we engage with,' says spokesman
Rabia İclal Turan |01.04.2024 -
WASHINGTON
The US State Department on Monday expressed support for free press after Israel’s Knesset passed legislation that allows the closure of Al Jazeera channel.
"We support the independent, free press anywhere in the world. And we think the work that the independent free press does is important everywhere in the world," said Spokesman Matthew Miller during his press briefing.
"And much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing their jobs, including reporters from Al Jazeera," he added.
"We think it's well known that we've not always agreed with all of Al Jazeera's coverage, but it's a media organization that we engage with," he said. "What we will continue to make clear is that we support the work that the free press does".
Israel’s Knesset on Monday passed legislation allowing the closure of the Al Jazeera television.
Under the bill, the communications minister will be 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.”
Following the passage of the law, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi vowed that the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera channel would be closed down “in the coming days.”
Early Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “immediately act to close Al Jazeera” following the bill's passage in the Knesset.
'We've not always agreed with all of Al Jazeera's coverage, but it's a media organization that we engage with,' says spokesman
Rabia İclal Turan |01.04.2024 -
WASHINGTON
The US State Department on Monday expressed support for free press after Israel’s Knesset passed legislation that allows the closure of Al Jazeera channel.
"We support the independent, free press anywhere in the world. And we think the work that the independent free press does is important everywhere in the world," said Spokesman Matthew Miller during his press briefing.
"And much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing their jobs, including reporters from Al Jazeera," he added.
"We think it's well known that we've not always agreed with all of Al Jazeera's coverage, but it's a media organization that we engage with," he said. "What we will continue to make clear is that we support the work that the free press does".
Israel’s Knesset on Monday passed legislation allowing the closure of the Al Jazeera television.
Under the bill, the communications minister will be 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.”
Following the passage of the law, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi vowed that the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera channel would be closed down “in the coming days.”
Early Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “immediately act to close Al Jazeera” following the bill's passage in the Knesset.
Published: 01 Apr 2024 -
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “act immediately to stop” Al Jazeera’s operations in the country after the Israeli parliament approved a law that grants senior ministers powers to shut down foreign news networks deemed a security risk, according to Al Jazeera.
“Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers,” Netanyahu wrote on X, on Monday. “I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity,” he said.
Meanwhile Al Jazeera in a statement said, in an escalating move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a frantic campaign against Al Jazeera, accusing it of harming Israel’s security, actively participating in the October 7 attack, and inciting against Israeli soldiers. Al Jazeera Media Network condemns these statements and sees as nothing but a dangerous ludicrous lie.
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.
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.
The network stresses that this latest measure comes as part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera, including the assassination of its correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, the killing of its journalists Samer AbuDaqqa and Hamza AlDahdouh, the bombing of its office in Gaza, the deliberate targeting of a number of Al Jazeera journalists and their family members, and the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field.
Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step.
Netanyahu vows to ban Al Jazeera after Israel passes law
Legislation allows the news channel's offices in Israel to be closed
Protesters hold signs and flags calling for Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's to be removed at a demonstration in Jerusalem,
April 1, 2024. Reuters
The National
Apr 01, 2024
Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The Israeli parliament passed a bill on Monday that gives ministers the authority to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country, a move which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to put into effect.
The law, which passed by 70 votes to 10, allows the government to shut down foreign channels and gives senior ministers the power to close the offices of foreign broadcasters in Israel.
Mr Netanyahu had said he would take “immediate action” to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel once the law passes.
Mr Netanyahu's Likud party said he asked “to make sure that the law to close Al Jazeera will be approved this evening” in Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
“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,” Mr Netanyahu said in a post on X after the law was passed.
The bill, which allows officials to ban foreign media that is deemed to be harmful to national security, had already passed its first parliamentary hurdle last month.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the move "concerning".
"We believe in the freedom of the press, it is critical. It is critically important and the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world,” she told reporters.
The US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration has "not always agreed with" Al Jazeera's coverage, but highlighted its vital work in Gaza.
“Much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing their jobs, including reporters from Al Jazeera," Mr Miller said.
Israel had claimed in January that an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an air strike in Gaza were “terror operatives”.
The following month it said another journalist for the channel, wounded in a separate strike, was a “deputy company commander” with Hamas.
Al Jazeera has fiercely denied the accusations and accused Israel of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the besieged enclave where Israeli forces have been fighting Hamas since October.
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza in December. The attack also wounded the channel's bureau chief in the enclave, Wael Al Dahdouh, whose wife and two children were killed in an Israeli strike in October.
His son Hamza Dahdouh, who was also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed in another strike in January.
Since the war began, 90 Palestinian journalists have been killed and 16 more have been arrested, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. More than 32,800 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in almost six months of war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
- With reporting from agencies
Knesset approves bill to shut down
Al Jazeera in Israel
New law approved in second and third reading stipulates Communications Minister could act against foreign media channels in Israel should they be found to harm the country; White House spokeswoman criticizes bill
Moran Azulay|
New law approved in second and third reading stipulates Communications Minister could act against foreign media channels in Israel should they be found to harm the country; White House spokeswoman criticizes bill
Moran Azulay|
YNET
The Knesset approved Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill ordering Qatari news network Al Jazeera to cease its operations in the country in a final reading on Monday. "Hamas mouthpieces won’t have any freedom of expression in Israel. Al Jazeera will be shut down in the coming days,” Karhi said in a statement.
The law stipulates the Communications Minister could act to shut down foreign media channels in the country should the prime minister find it is harming Israel after reviewing at least one security assessment on the issue and conditioned by the approval of the government or security cabinet.
Actions will be approved by orders signed by the Communications Minister, and will include: closing down the channel's offices in the country, confiscating broadcasting equipment, preventing channel reporters from broadcasting, removing the channel from cable and satellite providers in the country, blocking its websites in the country, and more.
"We have approved a quick and efficient tool to act against those who use the freedom of the press to harm Israel's security and IDF soldiers and incite terrorism during wartime," Karhi said in a statement following the law’s approval.
שלמה קרעי
(צילום: אלכס קולומויסקי)
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the law on social media, writing on his X account: "Al Jazeera has harmed Israel's security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited violence against IDF soldiers. The time has come to remove Hamas' mouthpiece from our country. The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel.
Despite Netanyahu’s praise, other members of his Likud party criticized the bill’s wordings. "The bill as presented by the Communications Minister is both ineffective and damaging," Likud MK Amit Halevi told Ynet. "It’s absurd that our coalition will vote in favor of such a bill. It primarily reflects an extreme lack of judgment aimed at gaining popularity."
According to Halevi, the approved law in its current form isn’t effective. "The overwhelming majority of Al Jazeera viewers in Israel’s Arab sector watch it via satellite dishes or the internet, not Israeli broadcasters. The agency’s internet servers and offices will reopen in Ramallah if shut down in Israel.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized the law in a statement, saying, “We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical. It is critically important, and the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world, and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza."
“So, we believe that work is important. The freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us," she added.
The Knesset approved Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill ordering Qatari news network Al Jazeera to cease its operations in the country in a final reading on Monday. "Hamas mouthpieces won’t have any freedom of expression in Israel. Al Jazeera will be shut down in the coming days,” Karhi said in a statement.
The law promoted by Karhi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shut down foreign channels (including Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen, and others), was approved by the Knesset Plenum in second and third readings.
The law stipulates the Communications Minister could act to shut down foreign media channels in the country should the prime minister find it is harming Israel after reviewing at least one security assessment on the issue and conditioned by the approval of the government or security cabinet.
Actions will be approved by orders signed by the Communications Minister, and will include: closing down the channel's offices in the country, confiscating broadcasting equipment, preventing channel reporters from broadcasting, removing the channel from cable and satellite providers in the country, blocking its websites in the country, and more.
"We have approved a quick and efficient tool to act against those who use the freedom of the press to harm Israel's security and IDF soldiers and incite terrorism during wartime," Karhi said in a statement following the law’s approval.
שלמה קרעי
(צילום: אלכס קולומויסקי)
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the law on social media, writing on his X account: "Al Jazeera has harmed Israel's security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited violence against IDF soldiers. The time has come to remove Hamas' mouthpiece from our country. 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.”
Despite Netanyahu’s praise, other members of his Likud party criticized the bill’s wordings. "The bill as presented by the Communications Minister is both ineffective and damaging," Likud MK Amit Halevi told Ynet. "It’s absurd that our coalition will vote in favor of such a bill. It primarily reflects an extreme lack of judgment aimed at gaining popularity."
According to Halevi, the approved law in its current form isn’t effective. "The overwhelming majority of Al Jazeera viewers in Israel’s Arab sector watch it via satellite dishes or the internet, not Israeli broadcasters. The agency’s internet servers and offices will reopen in Ramallah if shut down in Israel.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized the law in a statement, saying, “We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical. It is critically important, and the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world, and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza."
“So, we believe that work is important. The freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us," she added.
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