The Palestinian Authority (PA) froze the operations of Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera on Wednesday, ostensibly due to its “insistence on broadcasting inciting materials and reports characterized by misinformation, incitement, and interference in Palestinian internal affairs.”
Al Jazeera responded by accusing the PA of silencing it to cover up the truth about affairs in the West Bank.
The PA made good on a threat by its dominant political party, Fatah, last month to take action against Al Jazeera for its unflattering coverage of raids against armed groups in the West Bank. The PA decided to conduct a rare crackdown against militant groups lurking in the Jenin refugee camp, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, after several vicious street battles.
Jenin has been a hotbed of terrorism for many years, but Fatah finally chose to crack down because it wants to prove it can play a leading role in Palestinian government after the Gaza war concludes.
Al Jazeera rubbed Fatah the wrong way by reporting on several outrages committed by PA security forces, from causing excessive civilian casualties to turning a hospital into a military bunker. Al Jazeera needled the PA for treating Palestinian “fighters” even more harshly than the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
When the PA announced it would shut down Al Jazeera’s operation in the West Bank, the Qatari news service denounced the move as “in line with the Israeli occupation’s actions against its staff.”
Al Jazeera said the shutdown was “nothing but an attempt to dissuade the channel from covering the rapidly escalating events taking place in the occupied territories.”
“Al Jazeera Media Network denounces the Palestinian Authority’s decision to freeze its work and coverage in the West Bank. It considers this decision nothing but an attempt to dissuade the channel from covering the rapidly escalating events taking place in the occupied territories,” the network said.
Al Jazeera further accused the PA of running an “incitement campaign” that could put the lives of its journalists in danger and said it would hold the PA “fully responsible for the safety and security” of all of its staff in the West Bank.
“Al Jazeera stresses that this decision will not deter it from its commitment to continue its professional coverage of events and developments in the West Bank,” the statement concluded.
The PA accused Al Jazeera of violating its “laws and regulations,” and sowing division “in our Arab homeland in general, and in Palestine in particular.” The PA claimed some of the deadly clashes in Jenin would not have occurred without Al Jazeera’s “incitement” and “sedition.”
The terrorists of Hamas – who violently ejected the PA from Gaza in 2007, and have no intention of allowing their old rivals to take control of their turf – published a statement in support of Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
“This decision aligns with a series of recent arbitrary actions taken by the Authority to curtail public rights and freedoms, and to reinforce its security grip on the Palestinian people,” Hamas said.
“We call on the Palestinian Authority to immediately reverse this decision,” the Hamas statement said. “It is crucial to ensure the continuation of media coverage that exposes the occupation and supports the steadfastness of our people.”
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