Layalina Productions, Inc. | The Layalina Review: "Al-Jazeera Re-Opened in West Bank"

The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 16, July 17-July 30, 2009

Al-Jazeera Re-opened in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority allowed Al-Jazeera to resume operations in the West Bank after banning the Arab satellite station for four days, reports the Associated Press.

The injunction and pending lawsuit against Al-Jazeera came in the wake of its decision to broadcast former Palestine Liberation Organization Chief Farouk Al-Kouddoumi's claims that Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammad Dahlan conspired with Israel to assassinate late President Yasser Arafat, according to Saseen Kawzally for Menassat.

Kawzally writes that Al-Kaddoumi "organized an exclusive press conference in the Jordanian capital on July 12, 2009, in which he declared that he had the transcripts of conversations held between former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, current de facto Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the former Head of the Preventive Security Services in Gaza, Mohammad Dahlan, in the presence of an American security team led by William Burns."

In the minutes published by Al-Jazeera, Sharon, Abbas and Dahlan discussed the possibility of assassinating Arafat and the heads of the Palestinian resistance, and stated that Sharon "insisted on killing Arafat by poisoning to pave the way for the killing of the rest of the Palestinian leaders, with Israeli help."

Since Arafat's death in Paris in 2004 remains shrouded in mystery, Al-Kaddoumi's accusations stirred considerable controversy within many levels of the Palestinian leadership, though most notably among Fatah supporters, writes Human Rights Watch.

Consequently, Fatah's Deputy Minister of Information, Salaam Fayyad, ordered the bureau's suspension on July 15 and instructed Attorney General Ahmed Al-Mughni to prosecute Al-Jazeera for "incitement against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority," reports the Ramallah-based Ma'an News Agency.

"Despite our repeated calls to remain neutral when it covers the Palestinian issue and to be balanced when it comes to the internal Palestinian situation, the channel continues to incite against the PLO and the PA," a PLO statement said. Moreover, Fayyad denounced Al-Kaddoumi's documented minutes from the Sharon, Abbas and Dahlan meeting as a forgery, notes the BBC.

Skepticism with regards to Al-Jazeera is nothing new, Al-Bawaba notes, as the channel has "often been accused of bias against the governments of the US and Israel and is often criticized by Arab governments for being too critical."

Additionally, the Christian Science Monitor reports that, "Officials in Ramallah have complained in the past few years – particularly since Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza amid intense fighting in 2007 – that the station has grown more sympathetic toward Hamas than Fatah."

Nevertheless, the director of Al-Jazeera in Beirut, Ghassan bin Jeddo, told Menassat's Kawzally that Fatah's decision to shut-down the television station was "strange and shocking because Al-Jazeera was not the only media outlet to air Al-Kaddoumi's accusations . . . [made] at a public press conference."

According to Kawzally, even Fatah media reported on Al-Kaddoumi's controversial allegations, leaving bin Jeddo to surmise that covering the "press conference couldn't be the sole reason behind the station's closure." He added that he didn't know the real reason, and described the procedure as a, "dangerous abuse of freedom of opinion and expression."

Similarly, in Al-Jazeera's officially-released statement, the channel said it, "Believes that it has maintained strict professional journalistic standards and acted in accordance with its Code of Ethics in its coverage, and that the Palestinian Authority's reaction reflects a repression of the freedom of media and a refusal to tolerate the opinions of others," writes Kawzally.

The prominent Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) agreed with Al-Jazeera's statement condemning the decision to suspend the TV station's operations indefinitely. According to the Palestinian News Network, PCHR asserted that Fayyad's decision constituted "a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression. . .as ensured by the Palestinian Basic Law and international humanitarian [law]."

New York-based Human Rights Watch also called on Palestinian officials to immediately allow the network to reopen its offices in Ramallah, writes Al-Jazeera. Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, argued that "The suspension of Al-Jazeera [sic] sends a clear message that the Palestinian Authority has red lines when it comes to free speech."

"Are they going to silence the media every time someone reports something they don't like?," she asked with regard to Fayyad's punitive actions against Al-Jazeera.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) likewise criticized the suspension, calling it a "serious violation of press freedom" and pointing out that "It shows intolerance on the part of the Palestinian Authority and suggests that it is trying to control media by suppressing reporting which it does not like," Aidan White, the General Secretary of IFJ, said in a statement.

Fortunately, according to Reuters, the Palestinian Authority said that it will allow Al-Jazeera television to resume operations in its territory, though Prime Minister Fayyad added that he will still "pursue legal action against the broadcaster for its continuous incitement against the PLO and the Palestinian National Authority."

Walid Al-Omary, Al-Jazeera's Bureau Chief in Israel and the Palestinian territories, welcomed the retraction: "This is the right decision. Media outlets should not be banned from doing their work. If they have something against us, they should go to the courts."

There is much speculation about the Palestinian Authority's reasons behind revoking their embargo on Al-Jazeera in the West Bank. The Associated Press posits that by shutting down the region's Palestinian bureau, "Abbas risked picking a fight with one of the most potent shapers of Arab public opinion."

In her open letter of criticism to the PA, Khalid Amayreh, writer for The People's Voice, accuses the ruling body of "behaving like a police state, and in your case, it is a police state without a state. This is certainly a bad beginning for you and for the 'independent and sovereign' state you are dreaming of."

While the PA has yet to come forward with its motivations for allowing Al-Jazeera to function again in the region, Marc Lynch adeptly encapsulates the implications of the tumultuous relationship, stating: "The reflexive hostility to a free media shows yet again why the Palestinian Authority in its current configuration is a poor foundation for building a viable Palestinian state, and shows the need for major political and institutional reforms."

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