International media organisations and journalists Monday condemned the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s cabinet to shut down the local operations of Qatari-owned TV station Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
The Israeli cabinet shut down the network a day ago for as long as its military offensive bombardment in Gaza continues, saying the outlet threatened national security.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera said the move was a \u201ccriminal action\u201d and the accusation that the network threatened Israeli security was a \u201cdangerous and ridiculous lie\u201d that put its journalists at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,\u201d Netanyahu posted on social media following a unanimous cabinet vote.<\/p>\n
A government statement said Israel\u2019s communications minister signed orders to \u201cact immediately\u201d, but at least one lawmaker who supported the closure said Al Jazeera could still try to block it in court.<\/p>\n
The measure, the statement said, includes closing Al Jazeera\u2019s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, cutting off the channel from cable and satellite companies and blocking its websites. It did not mention Al Jazeera\u2019s Gaza operations.<\/p>\n
Several international media organistions slammed the decision of the cabinet.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) said Israel\u2019s decision to shutter Al Jazeera should be a cause for concern for all supporters of free press.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station. And the government may not be done,\u201d FPA said, adding that the Israeli premier had the authority to target other foreign media that he deemed to be \u201cacting against the state\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge the government to reverse this harmful step and uphold its commitment to freedom of the press \u2014 including outlets whose coverage it may not like,\u201d FPA said<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a dark day for the media. This is a dark day for democracy,\u201d FPA added.<\/p>\n
Reporters Without Borders condemned the \u201crepressive legislation\u201d and called for a repeal of the law passed by the cabinet.<\/p>\n
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the decision to shut down Al Jazeera\u2019s operations and warned that the vote could set a dangerous precedent for other international media outlets working in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cCPJ condemns the closure of Al Jazeera\u2019s office in Israel and the blocking of the channel\u2019s websites,\u201d said CPJ Programme Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis move sets an extremely alarming precedent for restricting international media outlets working in Israel. The Israeli cabinet must allow Al-Jazeera and all international media outlets to operate freely in Israel, especially during wartime.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UN Human Rights Office also criticised the closure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe regret cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel,\u201d it said on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cA free and independent media is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge govt to overturn ban.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding the closure of the Al Jazeera office in Israel,\u201d said spokesman Stephane Dujarric of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres\u2019s office, \u201cwe\u2019ve made it clear that we stand firmly against any decision to roll back freedom of the press.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA free press provides an invaluable service to ensure that the public is informed and that the public is engaged,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
International Federation of Journalists Deputy General Secretary Tim Dawson told Al Jazeera from London, that it was \u201cutterly a retrograde and ridiculous decision\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cClosing down media, closing down television stations is a sort of thing that despots do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The media office in Gaza said that the closure of Al Jazeera\u2019s operations in Israel was a \u201cscandal and a blatant violation of freedom of opinion and expression\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to Al Jazeera, it said the move would be a blow to the Israeli government as it \u201cfalsely praises democracy and human rights\u201d but has shown it commits many violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe condemn the shameful silence of many countries that consider themselves guardians of the world and human rights, while they are engaged in a war of genocide, and participate in the war to silence media professionals, journalists, and their media outlets.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to TRT, Human Rights Watch (HRW) also condemned the decision made by the Netanyahu government to close Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cAl Jazeera\u2019s offices have been bombed in Gaza. Their staff has been beaten in the West Bank. They\u2019ve been killed in the West Bank and Gaza,\u201d HRW\u2019s Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael is trying to muzzle Al Jazeera. But precedent is larger and threatens to cover up Israeli atrocities in Gaza,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The German foreign ministry criticised the decision and said that a free and diverse press landscape was the cornerstone of every liberal democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn times of conflict especially, it is of crucial importance to protect the freedom of the press,\u201d the foreign office said in a post on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision of the Israeli authorities to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel is the wrong signal,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International media organisations and journalists Monday condemned the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s cabinet to shut down the local operations of Qatari-owned TV station Al Jazeera. The Israeli cabinet shut down the network a day ago for as long as its military offensive bombardment in Gaza continues, saying the outlet threatened national security. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64402,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64380\/revisions\/64402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}