On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not mince words when it came to how he felt about Al Jazeera: “Al Jazeera has abandoned even the semblance of a credible media outlet, and it broadcasts – both within Gaza and outside it, to the world – anti-Semitic incitement, lies, provocation and encouragement to terrorists,” he said.
The Foreign Minister pointed a finger at the government of Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, for financing the media backing of jihadi groups through the news outlet. “Qatar constitutes the economic spine of the most radical terrorist groups, which are undermining the stability of the world in general and the Middle East in particular,” he said. “Qatar is a key player in our current conflict with Hamas in Gaza, since among other things, it finances Hamas and gives asylum to Khaled Meshaal (Hamas Chairman living in Doha, Qatar).”
Lieberman pointed out that Israel allows for many alternative media outlets, many of which hold anti-Israel biases, but Al Jazeera had crossed the line. Lieberman noted that many media outlets “don’t exactly broadcast Zionist propaganda – even the opposite. But as a democratic country, we’re obligated to allow this,” he continued. “In Al Jazeera’s case, however, this isn’t a media issue, but an issue relating to the operation of a branch of a terrorist organization that is currently fighting against the State of Israel. The U.S. wouldn’t let an Al-Qaida channel broadcast from New York.”
Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces Tuesday of fired at their offices in Gaza. “Two very precise shots were fired straight into our building,” said an Al Jazeera reporter. The two shots, although described as precise, appeared to cause no harm. Al Jazeera said it has evacuated its Gaza offices. The left wing anti-Israel Guardian newspaper ran with Al Jazeera’s independent account, writing, “Al Jazeera Gaza offices evacuated after direct hit by Israeli fire.”
On Tuesday, an Al Jazeera contributor referred to IDF lone soldiers (volunteers from other countries) as Jewish foreigners who were “fighting jihad” on behalf of Israel, calling the Jewish state’s operation into Gaza a “genocidal campaign.”
In July, 2013, 22 members of Al Jazeera’s staff in Egypt abruptly resigned, accusing the network of forcing its employees to adhere to the network’s pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias in its reporting. One journalist called Al Jazeera a “propaganda channel” for the Brotherhood. Another said that “Al Jazeera has turned itself into a channel for the Muslim Brotherhood… They are far from being professional.”
The US-designated Hamas terror group, currently in a self-declared war with Israel in perpetuity, describes itself in its charter as the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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