The Palestinian Authority says it has suspended broadcasting by the prominent Arab channel Al Jazeera in parts of the occupied West Bank, citing incitement and bias.
Qatari-owned Al Jazeera expressed shock and denounced the decision as “an attempt to hide the truth about events in the occupied territories”.
It links the closure to news coverage of the recent major crackdown by Palestinian security forces on armed Islamist groups in Jenin refugee camp where at least 11 people have been killed.
Al Jazeera, which is widely watched by Palestinians particularly for its exhaustive coverage of the Gaza war, has already been stopped in Arabic and English in Israel.
For the second time in months, Al Jazeera has broadcast the scene from within its own office in Ramallah as security forces enter and order it to close. Last year, it was Israeli soldiers who raided and this time, Palestinian police went in.
On Wednesday evening, a uniformed officer was shown handing an official order to an Al Jazeera correspondent who reads and signs it.
Fatah, the Palestinian faction which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), has accused the Al Jazeera network of sowing division in “our Arab homeland in general and in Palestine in particular”. Al Jazeera insists it is impartial.
The PA, which cooperates with Israel on security, is increasingly unpopular with the Palestinian public and has little control over Jenin’s urban refugee camp, historically seen as a stronghold for armed groups.
Since early December, its forces have been fighting members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are affiliated with Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose 7 October 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.
Analysts say that the PA is trying to reassert its authority in the West Bank and prove its potential value to the incoming Trump administration. They suggest it may also want to show its ability to take a role in the future governance of Gaza.
However, ongoing events have drawn condemnation from many Palestinians.
“Al Jazeera has successfully maintained its professionalism throughout its coverage of the unfolding events in Jenin,” it said in a statement earlier this week.
According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, Al Jazeera network has been deemed in violation of Palestinian laws and regulations and its operations suspended temporarily. The stoppage order applies to all work by its journalists and staff.
The network is accused of broadcasting “inciting materials” and “misleading reports” that “provoke strife and interfere in Palestinian internal affairs,” Wafa said.
Israel’s parliament voted to close Al Jazeera in Israel last May saying it threatened national security. Israeli police then raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera for broadcasting and some of its equipment was confiscated. The channel’s Arabic staff relocated to the West Bank.
In September, Israeli troops ordered the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah in the West Bank to close for 45 days claiming it was being used to support terrorist activities.
Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have often accused Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Israel has also accused Al Jazeera staff in Gaza of belonging to the Islamist group. In July, the Israeli military killed Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza City, claiming he was a member of Hamas’ s armed wing. Al Jazeera strongly rejects all the allegations.
There is also a long history of hostility between Al Jazeera and the PA, with some PA officials accusing it of showing support for Hamas, a political rival of Fatah.
In 2011, Al Jazeera’s publication of the so-called Palestine Papers, a leak of confidential files detailing years of negotiations between Israel and Palestinian teams, embarrassed PA officials who accused the network of distortion. The documents purported to show offers of major concessions to Israel.
Some Palestinian journalists have criticised the PA decision to bar Al Jazeera saying it comes against a background of an increasingly authoritarian crackdown on dissent. The Foreign Press Association expressed “grave concern” over the action saying that it “raises serious questions about press freedom and democratic values in the region.”
By BBC News
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