Israel moves to silence Al Jazeera, ban its journalists

Al Jazeera
August 7, 2017

Doha, Aug 7: Israel plans to revoke media credentials of Al Jazeera journalists and close the network's office in Jerusalem, the country's communication minister has announced.

Ayoub Kara made the announcement on Sunday during a press conference in Jerusalem, where Al Jazeera was barred from attending. 

"We have based our decision on the move by Sunni Arab states to close the Al Jazeera offices and prohibiting their work," Kara said, adding that the channel is being used by groups to "incite" violence - an accusation the network has denied.

Kara said he expects Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to consider his request in the next session.

"I will go through the [legislatorial] mechanism to create the authority in which I can act freely. We will try to end it as quickly as possible."

Al Jazeera denounces measures

In a statement, the Doha-based media network denounced the measures from a country it says claims to be "the only democracy in the Middle East".

"Al Jazeera stresses that it will closely watch the developments that may result from the Israeli decision, and will take the necessary legal measures towards it," the statement read.

Al Jazeera also denied the charges its coverage of al-Aqsa Mosque unrest was unprofessional. 

"Al Jazeera will continue to cover the events of the occupied Palestinian territories professionally and accurately, according to the standards set by international agencies, such as the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom)."

The pan-Arab network's offices in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah would not be affected by the current Israeli move.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, also known as Adalah, challenged the plan, saying it would be subject to scrutiny before the Supreme Court, adding that "it would fail the test of legality".

Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler, reporting from Jerusalem on Sunday, said that the request to revoke the credentials cover all the network's journalists in both the Arabic and English channels. 

It was unclear when the government will act on the request.

Our correspondent reported that Israel is also seeking to shut down Al Jazeera's cable and satellite transmissions in the country.

During the press conference, Kara also said that the interior ministry will also be involved in shutting down Al Jazeera's office in Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to shut Al Jazeera's operations in the country, accusing the network of inciting violence against Israel. His most recent attack on July 27 accused the network of "inciting violence".

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera senior political analyst, said the latest move by Israel shows a "synergy" of "dictatorships" in the Arab world and "dictatorship of military occupation in Palestine".

"It is as if closing down a network will diminish violence, when everyone knows that repression and military occupation, and aggression is the reason for violence in the region. Not reporting it," he said.

Attack on press freedom

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rami Khouri of the American University in Beirut, denounced the plan saying it is "very typical of regimes" in the region. 

"Regimes that want to control power will almost always go after two targets - the media and the foreigners. Everybody goes after the media." 

Aidan White, director of the London-based Ethical Journalism Network, called Israel's decision "a full frontal attack" on press freedom.

"It is a shocking statement, and it completely undermines Israel's claims to be the only democracy in the region, because it gets to the heart of one of the most important institutions of democracy.

"This attack on Al Jazeera is really an attack on all critical independent journalism."

The Committee to Protect Journalists has also criticised the Israeli move.

"Censoring Al Jazeera or closing its offices will not bring stability to the region, but it would put Israel firmly in the camp of some of the region's worst enemies of press freedom," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator Sherif Mansour said in a statement.

"Israel should abandon these undemocratic plans and allow Al Jazeera and all journalists to report freely from the country and areas it occupies," it said.

In recent months, Saudi Arabia and Jordan both shut down Al Jazeera bureaus as part of a coordinated diplomatic and economic campaign against Qatar, where the headquarters of Al Jazeera Media Network is located.

Al Jazeera's signal has also been blocked in the United Arab Emirates. 

Egypt, which is also part of the blocking group, banned Al Jazeera several years ago. 

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News Network
January 28,2025

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Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Centre to prioritise waiving loans for farmers and the middle class instead of wealthy individuals. He also demanded a nationwide law to prohibit the waiver of loans given to billionaires.

Notably, Delhi Assembly elections are scheduled for February 5 and the result will be announced on February 8. Kejriwal is seeking a third consecutive term, following AAP's landslide victory in 2020 when it won 62 out of 70 seats.

Income tax, GST rates can be cut to half

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kejriwal criticised the central government, alleging favouritism toward the wealthy by writing off corporate loans worth thousands of crores. He claimed such practices burden ordinary citizens with excessive taxes while benefitting the rich. "Common people are paying half their salaries in taxes, while the loans of the rich are being waived. Why doesn't the central government waive home loans, car loans, or other financial burdens of ordinary citizens?" Kejriwal asked.

He emphasised that discontinuing loan waivers for billionaires could enable the government to reduce income tax and GST rates by half, double the taxable income threshold, and remove GST on essential commodities. "This is a massive scandal, and it's time to put an end to it," he said.

Kejriwal writes to PM Modi 

In his letter, Kejriwal stated, "Prime Minister should declare that no rich person's loan will be waived off. If you want to waive off, then waive off farmers' loans, middle class's home loans. This money will benefit the middle class a lot."

Kejriwal further argued that by waiving loans for the wealthy, the government could reduce tax rates. "I have calculated that if loans are not waived off, then tax rates will be halved. A person earning 12 lakhs annually pays his entire salary in tax, this is the sorrow of the middle class," Kejriwal wrote.

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News Network
January 23,2025

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President Donald Trump’s pick for the United States ambassador to the United Nations has become the latest administration nominee to voice the belief that Israel has “biblical” dominion over the occupied West Bank.

Elise Stefanik’s comment came during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. 

At the hearing, Elise Stefanik pledged to continue the US’s defense of Israel and advance Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda.

Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York, further said that she supports the claims made by the far right in Israel that Jews have the “biblical right” to take land from Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Stefanik was definitive when asked if she shared the view of far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and former hawkish minister Itamar Ben Gvir that Israel has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank”.

She responded with one word, “Yes.”

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen further asked Stefanik whether she supported Palestinians' right to self-determination.

Stefanik refused to answer the question directly, saying, “I think they deserve more than the failures that they have suffered under the leadership of terrorists.”

Representative Stefanik was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2014, the youngest woman elected to Congress at the time, at just 30 years old, and represented New York's 21st Congressional District.

She is known to be a staunch advocate of Israel supports its decision to defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), 

Stefanik is an advocate of claims by Zionists that that Israeli regime is justified in killing and ethnically cleansing Palestinian Christians and Muslims from their lands and homes.

She made headlines in 2024 by questioning the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about what she claimed was antisemitism on college campuses.

At the time, US students at university campuses all across the country were protesting Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

After positioning herself as a champion in the fight against the alleged rise in antisemitism, Rep. Stefanik began receiving large donations from Republican Jewish donors.

Stefanik has long been one of most ardent defenders Israeli occupation and annexation policy. 

In June 2024, US-Israeli billionaire Miriam Adelson reportedly donated $100 million to Trump for his presidential campaign in exchange for a promise to allow Israel to annex the West Bank. 

Israel's occupation and Jewish settlement of the West Bank and Gaza since 1967 have brought the Palestinian Christian community to the brink of extinction.

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News Network
January 19,2025

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The planned ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Hamas resistance group and Israel has taken effect after deadly strikes by the usurping regime on the Gaza Strip.

The truce deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday to end the 15-month-long Israeli genocidal war on the besieged territory but was delayed for almost three hours. It finally went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said that it continued to carry out attacks on Gaza as Hamas had not provided a list of captives to be released under the ceasefire.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that the regime’s military “continues to strike within the Gaza area at this time. According to the prime minister’s directives, the ceasefire will not come into effect until Hamas fulfills its commitments.”

He echoed an earlier statement from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered the occupation’s military not to implement the Gaza truce until Hamas issues the names of the Israeli captives to be released.

Meanwhile, Hamas said the delay in handing over the names of the captives is due to “technical and field reasons.”

In a statement issued on Telegram, the resistance group reaffirmed its commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Afterwards, Hamas provided a list of the three Israeli captives to be freed later on Sunday.

13 Palestinians killed during ceasefire delay

Gaza’s Civil Defense said 13 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in the Israeli bombing of Gaza on Sunday morning during the nearly three-hour delay in the start of the ceasefire.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced that it had begun deploying thousands of Palestinian police officers tasked with maintaining security and order in the blockaded territory.

“Ministries and government institutions are fully prepared to begin work according to the government plan [and] to implement all measures that ensure life returns to normal as soon as possible,” it added.

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms.

The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase. 

The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza. It also requires Israeli occupation forces to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor - also known as the Salah al-Din axis - on the Gaza-Egypt border.

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