PA Suspends Al Jazeera, Sparking Criticism of Media Censorship

Following in the footsteps of the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian Authority decided on January 1, 2025, to suspend the broadcasting of al Jazeera and freeze the activities of its office and employees in Palestine, citing violations of local laws.

The Palestinian News Agency stated that "the decision came after Al Jazeera’s interference in internal affairs, broadcasting inciting materials, and airing reports that are misleading and stir discord."

"The suspension of Al Jazeera’s broadcast came due to its violation of the laws and regulations in effect in Palestine," claiming that the suspension would be temporary "until its legal status is rectified, " the Palestinian News Agency further added.

Suspicious Timing

The closure of the channel came one week after a provocative campaign launched by ‘the Palestinian National Liberation Movement’ "Fatah," which leads the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, against Al Jazeera and its journalists.

The campaign began with an attack on Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed alatrash, following his coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian resistance fighters in Jenin.

Uncharacteristically, Al Jazeera intensified its critical reports on the operation launched by the Palestinian Authority in early December 2024 to eliminate resistance factions in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.

The Authority’s security forces initiated the operation in an attempt to demonstrate their ability to manage security in the limited areas under their control in the West Bank, while also aiming to rule Gaza after the war.

This campaign represents an unusual move by the Authority, which is supported by the West but rejected by the United States and excluded by “Israel” from playing a larger role in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The campaign comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, bringing with it Israeli hopes of annexing the West Bank, re-occupying Gaza, and permanently ending the two-state solution.

The Palestinian Authority's decision comes after the Israeli occupation authorities closed Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah, West Bank, in September 2024, and raided it under a military order. As a result, all equipment and documents in the office were confiscated, and employees were banned from using their vehicles.

In May 2024, the Israeli government approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to close Al Jazeera's offices in “Israel.”

The decision was immediately implemented with the signature of the Minister of Communications, under what was referred to as the "Al Jazeera Law."

Changing Mood

Over the years of its operation, Al Jazeera did not criticize the Palestinian Authority, and its office in the West Bank often aligned with its narrative. 

Many attributed this to the background of several of its journalists, who were either affiliated with Fatah or feared that criticizing President Abbas's security forces could harm their safety.

However, the Jenin campaign, the most intense military operation by the Palestinian Authority in its three-decade history, forced the network to escalate its tone against the PA's headquarters in Ramallah.

"For a Palestinian to kill another Palestinian, the tragedy will be beyond the capacity of language to describe, and even more difficult for the killer to place their action within the context of any national project," Al-Jazeera reported.

The report, which activists said was the reason behind the closure of the channel, continued, "Under the guise of protecting the nation, Palestinian security forces have spent the past three weeks hunting resistance fighters in the Jenin refugee camp, killing and arresting them in scenes that reflect the confusion and misguidedness of rifles that cannot distinguish between brother and enemy."

"Can the hand that killed your brother be equated with the hand that killed your mother? The hands, both Palestinian and Israeli, have become equal in hunting down resistance."

"This is the report by Al Jazeera that caused the anger of the Ramallah Authority and led them to ban the channel in the West Bank," Palestinian writer Ibrahim Hamami tweeted.

"This is what hurt them: exposing their practices, which are no different from the occupation's practices. There is no difference between the occupation and its tools! Share it, spread it, and distribute it as much as you can. May the eyes of the cowards not sleep," Hamami added.

It seems that Abbas's authority is now waging a battle against anyone who stands in its way or criticizes it, whether opposition groups or media outlets, in what is arguably its biggest test of credibility in the West Bank, and later in Gaza, following the end of the Israeli war.

The Washington Post reported on December 22 that the Palestinian Authority, with support from Western nations, is attempting to demonstrate its ability to maintain security in the West Bank—a reminder to the world that it also seeks to regain control of Gaza once the war concludes.

A Palestinian official close to President Abbas, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the paper that Abbas had decided the authority "will impose its rule, and there will be no turning back."

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ruled out any return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, while key figures in his far-right coalition are pushing for the annexation of part or all of Palestinian territories.

However, in the latest round of ceasefire negotiations, “Israel” agreed to allow the Palestinian Authority to manage the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for a brief period, according to a former Egyptian official, who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.

It seems that the Palestinian Authority is attempting to bolster its credentials with both the new U.S. administration and “Israel” through its recent operations, aiming to prove itself as a reliable partner amid ongoing Israeli uncertainty and division over its role.

Since the onset of the war on Gaza, Netanyahu's government has linked the Operation al-Aqsa Flood to the Palestinian Authority, asserting that it "is no different from Hamas in its practice of terrorism" and has no future role in the Gaza Strip after the mission is completed.

This has prompted the Authority to pursue several strategies, the latest being an attempt to mend the rifts within ‘Fatah’ and appoint a new government in the West Bank, signaling the appearance of change, alongside efforts to find a resolution with Hamas to oust it from Gaza’s governance—though no tangible results have emerged thus far.

The New York Times reported on January 1, 2025, that “sharp divisions also exist between Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the secular Fatah party.”

‘Fatah’ officials have at times accused the network of serving as a stronghold for Hamas, which expelled Fatah from Gaza in 2007, the American paper added.

Tensions appeared to escalate in recent weeks after the Palestinian Authority launched its Jenin operation. 

When asked about examples of alleged incitement, ‘Fatah’ official Munir al-Jaghoub pointed to a video aired by Al Jazeera that criticized the Authority’s campaign as evidence.

In a satirical scene, the video accused the Palestinian Authority of collaborating with “Israel” to suppress Palestinian fighters resisting Israeli occupation.

Legality of the Decision

Regarding the legality of this move, lawyer and legal expert Isam Abdeen stated that “it doesn’t take much effort to realize that this decision constitutes a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law (Constitution) and the international agreements to which the State of Palestine is a signatory.”

This includes, particularly, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression and media freedoms, as Abdeen outlined in a detailed post on Facebook.

"No matter what justifications are presented to defend this decision, it reflects the Palestinian government's gradual slide into a dark tunnel. Media freedoms are the backbone of free expression and the true measure of democratic performance, as well as the state of public rights and freedoms," he said.

Constitutional Breach

Abdeen further emphasized that, according to Article 27, Paragraph 3 of the amended Basic Law, within the section on public rights and freedoms, the constitution clearly states, "Censorship of the media is prohibited, and no media outlet may be warned, suspended, confiscated, canceled, or restricted except in accordance with the law and by a judicial ruling."

Therefore, any restriction on media freedoms must meet two "constitutional conditions" simultaneously: the existence of a legal provision and the issuance of a definitive judicial ruling.

In the absence of the second constitutional condition (the judicial ruling), there is no merit in discussing the laws or regulations referred to in this decision.

As such, Abdeen concluded, the decision by the ministerial committee (the executive authority) to suspend Al Jazeera constitutes a clear and unconstitutional violation, plain and simple.

A Misguided Decision

On the other hand, Mustafa Barghouti, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), believes that the Palestinian Authority's decision to suspend Al Jazeera's broadcast is wrong and ultimately counterproductive, even for those who made it.

"The network, through all its channels, has extensively covered the struggle of the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance, while exposing and unmasking the brutal crimes of the occupation," Barghouti told Al Jazeera.

Aligning with the Occupation

The decision to suspend Al Jazeera's broadcast has drawn widespread criticism, particularly given that “Israel” had already taken similar steps, marking what many view as the final blow to the network’s presence in both “Israel” and the West Bank, following the closure of its offices, and in Gaza, where its offices were bombed and journalists killed.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have long described the network as a "mouthpiece" for Hamas, the group responsible for the October 7, 2023, Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

“Israel” has also accused several Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being affiliated with Hamas.

In July 2024, the Israeli Occupation Forces killed Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul in an airstrike, claiming he was a member of Hamas's military wing. 

The network rejected these allegations, calling them baseless.

In early April 2024, Netanyahu stated that "Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against our soldiers."

On the day the Palestinian Authority issued its decision, Al Jazeera condemned the move, calling it "an attempt to prevent the network from covering the escalating events in the occupied territories."

It urged the Palestinian Authority to reverse the decision and allow its journalists to report freely from the West Bank without intimidation.

The following day, Hamas condemned the decision, calling it "a flagrant violation of press freedom and a repressive act aimed at silencing dissenting voices."

The group described the move as "illegal and a direct insult to the profession of journalism and media at a critical time that demands shedding light on the crimes of the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank."

Hamas called on the Palestinian Authority to "immediately reverse this decision" and urged human rights and media organizations to oppose what it termed "repressive practices that contradict the values of freedom and democracy."

Islamic Jihad also condemned the move, saying it came "at a time when the Palestinian people and their cause urgently need a platform to voice their suffering to the world."

“I grew up with Al Jazeera, and I grew up within it [...] these moments are some of the toughest I’ve faced in my career," Najwan Samri, the network’s correspondent in Jerusalem, tweeted on X.

Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent, Anas Al-Sharif, expressed his dismay at the decision, calling it "a regrettable and shameful move" adding, "Al Jazeera is our voice and the voice of the people of Gaza in these difficult times."

"After the Palestinian Authority aligned militarily with the occupation to destroy and crush the Jenin refugee camp, it is now politically and media-wise aligned, shutting down Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah entirely," the Writer Ali Abo Rezag commented.

"A message of misery, tyranny, and betrayal—a betrayal of the blood of Al Jazeera's martyrs spilled on Palestinian soil, betrayal of the blood of Shireen Abu Akleh, Samer Abu Daqqa, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, Hamza al-Dahdouh, his sister, mother, and brother," he concluded.