Image: Al Jazeera offices in East Jerusalem. Photo: The Sudan Times.
In what has been described as “a dark day for the media”, Israeli authorities have shut down local offices of international news service Al Jazeera.
The order, which came on Sunday, saw officials raid the media outlet’s offices in East Jerusalem, confiscating their broadcast equipment, preventing broadcasts and blocking its websites.
The shutdown happened a month after Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that would allow the government to shut down foreign media outlets if deemed a threat to national security.
“The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” posted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media after the unanimous cabinet vote.
Critics have since said the move is cause for serious concern for those who defend a free press.
The Foreign Press Association said, “With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station.”
“We urge the government to reverse this harmful step and uphold its commitment to freedom of the press – including outlets whose coverage it may not like.”
“A criminal act”
Al Jazeera described the move as “a criminal act” in a statement released on Sunday.
“Ironically as the world marked World Press Freedom Day; the Israeli government closed Al Jazeera’s offices, preventing the public from accessing its content, disregarding the universally recognised fundamentals of freedom of expression,” the statement continued.
Al Jazeera further warned that Israel’s suppression of the free press “stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law” and was part of their ongoing effort to conceal their actions in Gaza
Greek economist and former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis also condemned the move. Posting to X on Monday, he wrote, “Israel’s banning of Al Jazeera is one aspect of its War On Truth.”
“It aims at preventing Israelis from knowing that what goes on in Gaza, in their name, which is no self defence but an all out massacre,” the statement continues.
“An industrial strength pogrom. Genocide.”
Israel’s banning of Al Jazeera is one aspect of its War On Truth. It aims at preventing Israelis from knowing that what goes on in Gaza, in their name, which is no self defence but an all out massacre. An industrial strength pogrom. Genocide. The West’s determination to aid &… pic.twitter.com/or2axn5T4V
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) May 6, 2024
While it is unclear how the shutdown will affect Al Jazeera’s reporting from correspondents in Gaza or the occupied West Bank, the media outlet has vowed to keep providing news to a global audience and continue “its quest to protect both its rights and its journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.”
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