Israel has decided to close the operations of the Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, within its borders, describing the network as an “incitement channel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a post on the social media platform X, stated, “The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel.”
Ofir Gendelman, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson to the Arab world, confirmed that the decision would be executed immediately.
بالفيديو: تصريحات رئيس الوزراء نتنياهو حول قرار الحكومة إغلاق مكاتب قناة الجزيرة, بوق حماس, في إسرائيل. pic.twitter.com/rbCE76EsJ7
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) May 5, 2024
“The broadcast equipment will be confiscated, the channel’s correspondents will be prevented from working, the channel will be removed from cable and satellite television companies, and Al Jazeera’s websites will be blocked on the Internet,” Gendelman elaborated in a post on X. By late Sunday afternoon, Israeli cable providers had already ceased carrying Al Jazeera networks.
BREAKING: Israeli government votes to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel, says media report.
LIVE updates: https://t.co/a5LwCUzZ5e pic.twitter.com/7rDyzKReG0
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 5, 2024
Gendelman also conveyed Netanyahu’s reasons for the closure: “Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers. It is time to expel the mouthpiece of Hamas from our country.”
This action followed a sweeping new law passed by the Israeli government, which allows the banning of foreign networks perceived as a threat to national security. Netanyahu had expressed his intention to shut down Al Jazeera shortly after this law was passed, criticizing the network’s coverage of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
“Al Jazeera has been producing on the ground reporting of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza,” Netanyahu noted, emphasizing the network’s alleged anti-Israeli bias.
In response to the closure, Al Jazeera condemned the Israeli cabinet’s decision as a “criminal act,” which it argued infringes on the human right to access information.
“Israel’s suppression of the free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists did not deter us from performing our duty. More than 140 Palestinian journalists have been martyred for the sake of the truth since the beginning of the war on Gaza.”
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel labeled the government’s decision “a dark day for democracy” and “a cause for concern for all supporters of a free press,” according to CNN. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera asserted its commitment to “bold and professional coverage,” also per CNN.
This closure coincides with ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, involving Israeli and Palestinian representatives, where Qatar has been playing a significant mediating role. While technical progress has been made, finalizing the deal could take up to a week, according to Israeli sources.
Al Jazeera is based in Qatar by the Qatari government. Launched in 1996, it has been financially supported by loans and grants from Qatar’s ruling family, the House of Thani, which has historically provided the majority of its funding. This financial backing allows Al Jazeera to operate a network of bureaus around the world, producing news content in multiple languages, including Arabic and English. The Qatari government’s substantial financial support is often seen as a means of projecting Qatari influence internationally, leveraging Al Jazeera’s extensive reach to further their own geopolitical ambitions.
The Qatari royal family, known as the House of Thani, has been ruling Qatar since the mid-19th century. The family’s ascent to power began when Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani signed a treaty with the British in 1868, acknowledging the distinctness of Qatar from Bahrain and solidifying the Thani family’s position. The Thani dynasty has since then played a central role in Qatar’s political and economic life, navigating through the discovery and exploitation of oil reserves starting in the 1940s, which transformed the emirate into one of the wealthiest countries per capita in the world. Currently, the family continues to exert significant influence under the leadership of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who ascended to the throne in 2013 following his father’s voluntary abdication, continuing policies of significant international investment and regional diplomacy.
The post Israeli Government Shuts Down Al Jazeera Within Country appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Nicholas Dolinger
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