Israel Shuts Down News Outlet for Being a 'Hamas Mouthpiece'
May 7, 2024 20:09:51 GMT -5
Post by Shoshanna on May 7, 2024 20:09:51 GMT -5
Israel Shuts Down News Outlet, Takes Them Off the Air for Being a 'Hamas Mouthpiece'
By Jack Davis
May 7, 2024 at 4:37pm
Israel shuttered offices of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network Sunday, citing biased reporting that favored Hamas.
“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
“It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country,” he said.
The order, which took the network off of Israel’s main cable TV and satellite TV providers, included confiscation of broadcast equipment.
The network claimed it was the innocent victim of an Israeli effort to muzzle the truth.
“Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the network said. “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera.”
Last month, an Israeli law gave the government the legal footing for its action.
Al Jazeera will be barred from operation for 45 days, but the action can be renewed.
Hamas criticized the action, as did the Foreign Press Association in Israel, which said the action represented “a dark day for the media.”
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, however, said it was time to shut down what he called “megaphones for Hamas,” according to the Times of Israel.
“Too much time has passed, and there have been too many unnecessary legal hurdles in order to finally stop the well-oiled incitement machine of Al Jazeera, which harms national security,” he said after signing orders that led to Al Jazeera being banned.
“We will act immediately against those who use freedom of the press to harm Israeli security and IDF troops, and incite to terrorism at a time of war,” he said.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat called the network “the biggest engine of anti-Semitism in the world.”
The BBC noted that Al Jazeera is still accessible to Israelis through Facebook.
link
By Jack Davis
May 7, 2024 at 4:37pm
Israel shuttered offices of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network Sunday, citing biased reporting that favored Hamas.
“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
“It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country,” he said.
The order, which took the network off of Israel’s main cable TV and satellite TV providers, included confiscation of broadcast equipment.
The network claimed it was the innocent victim of an Israeli effort to muzzle the truth.
“Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the network said. “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera.”
Last month, an Israeli law gave the government the legal footing for its action.
Al Jazeera will be barred from operation for 45 days, but the action can be renewed.
Hamas criticized the action, as did the Foreign Press Association in Israel, which said the action represented “a dark day for the media.”
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, however, said it was time to shut down what he called “megaphones for Hamas,” according to the Times of Israel.
“Too much time has passed, and there have been too many unnecessary legal hurdles in order to finally stop the well-oiled incitement machine of Al Jazeera, which harms national security,” he said after signing orders that led to Al Jazeera being banned.
“We will act immediately against those who use freedom of the press to harm Israeli security and IDF troops, and incite to terrorism at a time of war,” he said.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat called the network “the biggest engine of anti-Semitism in the world.”
The BBC noted that Al Jazeera is still accessible to Israelis through Facebook.
link
