Ramallah - February 14th, 2024. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms “MADA” condemns the occupation authorities’ persistence in fighting the media in Palestine, as the Israeli occupation government issued a decision to prevent the Qatari Al Jazeera channel from broadcasting in Israel due to its accusation of supporting “Hamas” and threatening Israeli national security.
This decision came after the occupation government ministers voted in favor of what is known as the “Al Jazeera Law,” which prevents any foreign entity from broadcasting if it harms Israel’s security.
"MADA" views this decision with extreme seriousness, as it comes in light of the fierce attack on the Palestinian press and Palestinian media freedoms to prevent coverage of the events of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has been continuing since October 7, 2023. The occupation authorities were not content with fighting the Palestinian media to prevent coverage, as they killed what is more than 120 journalists, the most recent of whom were the two journalists, ALAA HASSAN AL-HAMS, succumbed to the wounds she sustained in the bombing of her family’s home in the Al-Geneina neighborhood, east of Rafah, a few days ago, and the journalist, ANGHAM AHMED ADWAN, who were martyred yesterday, Monday. Dozens of headquarters of local or foreign media organizations were destroyed, and dozens were targeted. Journalists were injured or their homes were targeted by missile strikes, which led to the martyrdom of a number or all of their family members.
These attacks on media freedoms did not stop in the Gaza Strip. Rather, the occupation forces continued their attacks on the media in the West Bank and their pursuit of journalists and arrests in the West Bank to prevent them from covering the events.
The occupation authorities’ fight against local, Arab and foreign media, especially Al Jazeera, because of its coverage of the crimes committed by the occupation and still in the Gaza Strip, targeting buildings and civilian objects, which led to the fall of thousands of civilian martyrs and the displacement of more than a million, aims to obscure these facts and not allow media the media broadcast it to the world, knowing that this is not the first time that the occupation has sought to close the Al Jazeera channel, as the Israeli Ministry of Communications had announced in 2017 the closure of the Qatari Al Jazeera channel in Jerusalem under the pretext of incitement to violence.
MADA Center calls on the occupation authorities to reverse their decision to prevent the broadcast of Al Jazeera. It also demands to stop targeting journalists and media freedoms. It condemns the aggression against civilians and condemns all violations against journalists and local and Arab media freedoms. It also calls on all international institutions concerned with freedom of expression to pressure the occupation authorities to stop its aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip first and against journalists and media institutions second.