Israel’s Al Jazeera shutdown highlights history of tension
Network offers stories of death, suffering in Gaza
CaIRO — When Israel ordered al Jazeera on Sunday to shut down operations there, the network had a reporter covering a government meeting in west Jerusalem, another in an east Jerusalem hotel room, a third in northern Israel to cover clashes on the border with lebanon, and a fourth in tel aviv.
But the cameras stopped rolling when Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief in Ramallah, in the West Bank, ordered all of them to go home.
Israeli authorities descended on a room used by al Jazeera in the ambassador Hotel in east Jerusalem, confiscating broadcast equipment. Israeli television and internet providers cut off its channels and blocked its websites, though people were still able to find it online.
al Jazeera, the influential arab news network, says it will continue reporting and broadcasting from the gaza Strip and the West Bank. But its departure from Israel marks a new low in its long-strained history with a country that much of al Jazeera’s audience in the arab world and beyond sees as an aggressor and an occupier.
the shutdown order, which lasts 45 days and can be renewed, was a break long in the making. al-Omari said that soon after the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the network stopped using an office in west Jerusalem, saying that farright Israelis had used intimidation tactics against the staff there.
the network has played a major role in amplifying stories of the killing and suffering of Palestinians in gaza, heightening worldwide outrage at Israel’s conduct. many defenders of al Jazeera argue that its work is so strong that Israel wants to intimidate and censor it.
But its focus on bloodshed in gaza has also generated controversy, with some arab analysts saying it cheerleads for what it portrays as legitimate armed resistance to Israel, and presents commentary from Hamas officials and fighters with little critical pushback. the network is backed by the government of Qatar, which allows Hamas political leaders to live and operate in its country.
that makes it a compelling target for critics in Israel and beyond who say it is, at best, presenting a one-sided view of the war. Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused al Jazeera of inciting violence against Israel and harming Israel’s security.
“We knew it was a question of time,” al-Omari said of the shutdown in an interview tuesday. Israel’s government, he said, had long pursued what he called “a war against al Jazeera.”
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the devastating Israeli military campaign in gaza that followed, al Jazeera has relied on its network of journalists in the territory — the most robust of any news outlet — to produce a steady stream of harrowing and emotionally charged reporting.
Its broadcasts about gaza’s spiraling hunger crisis fill the screens in many arab households. Its videos of agonized parents clutching their dead children and bodies being pulled from the rubble flood social media.
With other foreign news media blocked by Israel and Egypt from gaining access to gaza, no outlet with al Jazeera’s global audience can match the breadth of its coverage there.
al Jazeera has seven correspondents stretching from northern to southern gaza, according to its managing editor, mohamed moawad, along with a large team of camera people, producers, and others. He said in an interview that Israel was “trying to delegitimize our coverage because we are the only organization covering it from inside.”
“they want to conceal what’s happening in gaza,” he added.
Israeli authorities did not specify their reasoning for barring al Jazeera except to say that it harmed Israel’s security. But given that the network can continue broadcasting from gaza and that its mainly arab audience can still view the channel using virtual private networks or Youtube, many Israeli commentators called the move symbolic at most.