Israel forces raid Al Jazeera TV in West Bank, order 45-day closure
Issued on: 22/09/2024 -
Global news channel Al Jazeera said armed and masked Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order.
Israeli troops 'tear down Shireen Abu Akleh banner' at Al Jazeera West Bank bureau
Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera's bureau in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, later tearing down a banner featuring slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
22 September, 2024
Israeli forces have raided and ordered shut Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu/Getty]
Israeli troops tore down a banner of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at Al Jazeera's bureau in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to the pan-Arab broadcaster.
The bureau was raided by Israeli forces and Al Jazeera aired footage of troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days.
The network later aired what appeared to be Israeli troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office.
Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Abu Akleh, a celebrated journalist for the news outlet who was killed by Israeli forces in May 2022 as she reported on a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
Al Jazeera's local bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, later told the AP news agency that the Israeli military cited laws dating back to the British Mandate of Palestine to support its closure order.
In a conversation during the raid broadcast live on Al Jazeera, an Israeli soldier told Al-Omari there was a court ruling to close down the office for 45 days.
"I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment," the soldier is seen as saying in the footage.
"Targeting journalists this way always aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth," Al-Omari said.
Al Jazeera called the raid a "criminal act".
It followed an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera's broadcast position in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel, and blocking its websites.
The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.
However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military acknowledged conducting the raid 12 hours later, claiming without providing evidence that the newsroom was "being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel's broadcasts endanger… security and public order".
Al Jazeera denounced Israel's "unfounded accusations" as it continued broadcasting live from Amman, Jordan, even as Israeli troops welded shut its office doors in Ramallah and confiscated its equipment.
"Al Jazeera will not be intimidated or deterred by efforts to silence its coverage," it said.
Press groups condemn Israel closing Al Jazeera office in Ramallah
The Committee to Protect Journalists says it is ‘deeply alarmed’ by the raid and calls for protection of freedom of the press.
Video Duration 06 minutes 45 seconds06:45
Published On 22 Sep 202422 Sep 2024
Press freedom groups and rights activists have condemned the Israeli military forcibly shutting down Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, calling the act an assault on journalism.
Early on Sunday morning, Israeli soldiers raided the bureau of the Qatar-based network and ordered its closure for 45 days.
The raid, captured on live TV, showed heavily armed Israeli troops handing an Israeli military court order to Al Jazeera’s bureau chief Walid al-Omari, informing him of the closure.
Al-Omari later said the court order accused Al Jazeera of “incitement to and support of terrorism” and that the Israeli soldiers confiscated the bureau’s cameras before leaving.
“Targeting journalists this way aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth,” he said.
During the raid, Israeli soldiers also tore down posters of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, which were displayed on the walls of the bureau, al-Omari said.
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The Ramallah office raid came five months after Israel shut the news channel’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem and took it off cable providers.
‘Relentless assault’
In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “deeply alarmed” by the Israeli raid, just months after Israel shuttered Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after deeming it a threat to national security.
“Israel’s efforts to censor Al Jazeera severely undermine the public’s right to information on a war that has upended so many lives in the region,” it said.
“Al Jazeera’s journalists must be allowed to report at this critical time, and always.”
In a brief statement on X, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it “denounces Israel’s relentless assault” on Al Jazeera. RSF had previously called for the repeal of an Israeli law that allows the government to shut down foreign media in Israel, “targeting Al Jazeera channel”.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate denounced Israel’s “arbitrary military decision”, calling it “a new aggression against journalistic work and media outlets”.
“We call on the entities and institutions concerned with journalists’ rights to condemn this decision and stop its implementation,” the group said.
The Palestinian Authority said the Israeli operation against Al Jazeera in Ramallah was “a flagrant violation” of press freedom.
‘Affront to press freedom’
Al Jazeera has been providing extensive coverage of Israel’s nearly-year-long military offensive in Gaza and of a parallel surge in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Four Al Jazeera journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza began, and the network’s office in the besieged territory was bombed. A total of 173 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October last year. Israel claims it does not target journalists.
The Al Jazeera network, which is funded by the Qatari government, has also rejected accusations that it harmed Israel’s security as a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that puts its journalists at risk.
Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi justified Sunday’s closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau, calling the network “the mouthpiece” of Gaza’s Hamas and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“We will continue to fight the enemy channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters,” he said.
In a statement, however, the Al Jazeera Media Network said it “vehemently condemns and denounces this criminal act by the Israeli occupation forces”.
“Al Jazeera rejects the draconian actions, and the unfounded allegations presented by Israeli authorities to justify these illegal raids,” it said.
“The raid on the office and seizure of our equipment is not only an attack on Al Jazeera but an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism.
‘A bigger West Bank onslaught’
Rami Khouri, a Middle East expert at the American University in Beirut, said the closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office is in line with the policy of Israel since 1948, “which is to prevent real news about the Palestinians”.
“It probably means that there’s going to be a bigger onslaught… of Israeli violence all over the West Bank. And the primary instrument for informing the world about what Israel is doing is not going to be available to do it,” he said.
Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, said the decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah shows that Israel “clearly has something very serious to hide”.
“In this particular case, if you don’t like the exposure of genocide in the context of an illegal occupation, you shoot the messenger.”
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Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
RSF says it once again 'denounces Israel's relentless assault' on Qatar-based media group
Seda Sevencan |22.09.2024 -
ISTANBUL
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Sunday condemned an Israeli raid of Al Jazeera's office in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and the subsequent closure of the bureau.
In a post on its X account, the press freedom organization said Israeli soldiers stormed the Qatar-based media group's office in Ramallah early on Sunday, forcing staff to evacuate.
It said they also imposed a 45-day closure and tore down a poster of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jenin on May 11, 2022.
RSF condemned the raid, saying, "Once again, RSF denounces Israel's relentless assault on @alJazeera."
On May 5, the Israeli government decided to ban Al Jazeera, close its offices in Israel and restrict access to its website under a law passed by the Knesset (parliament) that allows the communications minister to shut down foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if the country's defense minister identifies that their broadcasts pose "actual harm to the state’s security."
Despite the ban, the office staff continued to operate from Ramallah, prompting the Israeli Press Office, affiliated with the prime minister's office, to revoke the accreditation of its reporters on Sept. 12.
Israeli officials have frequently criticized the Qatar-based channel, particularly for its extensive coverage of the brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Israel has continued its deadly onslaught on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,400 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 95,700 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
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