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VOL. V NO. 4, January 30-February 12, 2009

Israel Spurns Al-Jazeera

Israel's relationship with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera is moving from "frosty" to a "deep freeze" according to Dion Nissenbaum, writing for McClatchy.

Six months ago, Israel temporarily terminated the approval of work visas and press cards for Al-Jazeera after one of the station's anchors held a birthday celebration for Samir Kuntar, "the Lebanese killer freed in a prisoner exchange with Israel."

Following Al-Jazeera's coverage of the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza, Israel has decided to take new steps to restrict the network's ability to work freely in Israel and in territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The BBC notes Israeli officials have been vehemently critical of Al-Jazeera's Gaza coverage, accusing the station of being "a mouthpiece for the militant Islamist movement, Hamas."

As AFP reports, Qatar's decision to close the Israeli trade office, based in Doha and operated by two Israeli diplomats, also served to hasten Israel's decision to clamp down on Al-Jazeera.

An Israeli official told AFP, "Qatar itself has set up obstacles by breaking relations with Israel. There is no reason to help clear the problems this emirate which controls Al-Jazeera created for itself."

Barak Ravid writing for Haaretz reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the newly-created national information directorate in the Prime Minister's Office, attempted to declare Al-Jazeera a "hostile entity," in response to the closure of the Israeli trade office.

However, after legal review, concerns emerged that the High Court of Justice would not allow the "hostile entity" declaration, and so the idea was dropped in favor of a three-step strategy. The strategy was described by an Israeli Foreign Ministry official as "a rearrangement of relations between Israel and the Al-Jazeera network in light of the present situation."

Ghassan Bannoura, writing for the International Middle East Media Center, outlines Israel's three-step strategy. First, Israel will cease renewing the visas of Al-Jazeera staff who do not hold Israeli documents. Second, Al-Jazeera staff will no longer be permitted to interview Israeli MPs, and will only be allowed to speak to a spokesman from each of the Israeli Prime Minister's office, the Israeli Defense Force and the Foreign Ministry. Third, Al-Jazeera reporters will be prevented from attending briefings or press conferences.

The Doha Centre for Media Freedom labeled the Israeli actions as "unacceptable," reports The Peninsula, a Qatari daily. The Centre continued, "After keeping the international media away from the tragic events in Gaza, Israel is now planning to punish foreign media on its territory according to the diplomatic choices of their countries of origin."

However, Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz supports the Israeli decision, emphasizing the importance of success on the "second battlefield" of media and public diplomacy.

Horovitz adds that Al-Jazeera's Gaza coverage has helped fuel a delegitimization of Israel in Europe and the United States, complaining, "It is hard to articulate the wider narrative [that explains context and root-causes of conflict] over film of bloodied Palestinian children."

Horovitz argues that the lack of an Israeli satellite TV station, in English or Arabic, renders Israel unable to counter Al-Jazeera's coverage. This issue has been brought into focus, writes The Times's Richard Kerbaj, by an incident on Al-Jazeera's English-language channel in which the sermons of Sheikh al-Qaradawi celebrating the Holocaust and praying for the killing of all Jews were broadcast.

The incident caused John Whittingdale, chairman of the UK House of Commons Media Select Committee, to demand an apology - a request refused by Al-Jazeera.

In response to Horovitz's claims, Isaac Herzog, Minister of welfare and social services, said that Israel has considered a "Jewish Al-Jazeera," but it was "torpedoed by the Finance Ministry, which refused to pay for it."

Israel's three-step strategy began almost immediately, as two Al-Jazeera journalists, Ahmad Mansour and Ghassan Bin Jido, were prevented from entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border by Egyptian authorities, reports Yoav Stern of Haaretz. Both Mansour and Bin Jido are known for their "favorable attitude toward the Palestinian 'resistance movement.'"