Asef Hamidi
The Guardian / September 26, 2024
The images of Israeli troops shutting down our bureau are a warning to journalists everywhere – but we will not be silenced.
The decision to weld shut Al-Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, ban its operations in Israel and restrict international media reporting from Gaza is a dire warning for all independent journalists worldwide. No media organisation anywhere in the world would accept heavily armed and masked security men storming its offices.
In the early hours of 22 September, the armed foot soldiers of Israel’s far-right regime stormed the entrance to the bureau, confiscated equipment and disrupted live broadcasts, waving a signed directive ordering the network’s Palestinian operations to be shut down. They boarded the entrance with metal sheets.
This egregious assault on the freedom of the press, which forced the immediate closure of Al-Jazeera Media Network’s office in the occupied West Bank, came after the decision in May by the cabinet of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to halt Al-Jazeera’s operations in Israel. Authorities ordered the Ramallah office’s closure for 45 days on charges of “incitement to and support for terrorism” – relying on a law established under the British mandate in 1945.
The Israeli authorities have relentlessly targeted Al-Jazeera and its journalists, because we remain the only international media network reporting from Gaza and the occupied territories. The network’s crime seems to have been shining a light on the devastating impact of Israel’s war on Gaza, and the continuous raids and incursions in the occupied West Bank. The constant threats faced by Al-Jazeera, including intimidation, obstruction, injuries, arrests and killings, are unacceptable. We will exhaust all available legal channels to protect our rights and our journalists.
Sadly this is not new – Israel has a long history of targeting Al-Jazeera. In recent years, the attacks have become more pronounced and audacious. In 2017, Netanyahu threatened to close our Jerusalem office. In 2021, an Israeli missile destroyed the building housing our offices in Gaza. In 2022, our journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in the Jenin refugee camp.
Since October 2023, the targeting and harassment have increased manifold. In July the targeted assassination of our courageous colleagues, the journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and the cameraman Rami al-Rifi, by Israeli forces, was yet another attempt to silence journalists covering the war and its human impact on millions of people.
We believe these heinous acts form part of a systematic campaign against Al-Jazeera journalists, as evidenced by the targeted drone killings of our journalists Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza al-Dahdooh, and the killing of our colleagues’ family members, since last October.
The callous conduct and shameful attacks by Israeli authorities against Shireen Abu Akleh continue even after her death. Police stormed her funeral procession, causing her coffin to fall to the ground. And after Sunday’s raid, occupation forces tore down the memorial photo of Shireen at Al-Jazeera’s office in Ramallah. The Netanyahu regime’s deep animosity towards journalists and their work, even in death, is an outrageous embodiment of a policy that has been implemented for years.
This sets a dangerous precedent for journalists and media outlets, posing a serious threat to press freedom and the audience’s right to know not only what is happening on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but also inside Israel.
Draconian legislation is designed to silence Al-Jazeera and all independent media in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, in order to hide this inhumane war and the atrocities that are being investigated by the world’s highest court.
It is preposterous to accuse Al-Jazeera of breaching professional standards and equally outrageous to portray its camera operators and reporters as a threat to Israel’s security. These accusations are unsubstantiated and groundless, and are a grave threat to the safety and security of our colleagues.
Having repeatedly failed to silence Al Jazeera, the Israeli government’s introduction of a new law citing the emergency situation to ban Al Jazeera, circumventing its own judicial due process, demonstrates the lengths to which the prime minister and his extreme-right-wing cabinet are prepared to go to silence international media.
Despite these relentless attacks, Al-Jazeera remains committed to upholding the values enshrined in our code of ethics and providing impartial, accurate and fearless reporting. These attacks will do the opposite of what Israeli authorities desire: they only strengthen our resolve to be the voice of the voiceless and speak truth to power. Al-Jazeera’s global recognition among hundreds of millions of viewers, and our awards and accolades for courageous coverage of the war on Gaza, are a further testament to the network’s impartial and objective reporting.
It is imperative that Israel allows Al-Jazeera and all other international media outlets to operate freely; to allow independent, international media teams to enter Gaza; and to refrain from intimidation, harassment and attempts to curtail freedom of information. Israel must be held accountable for its actions against the press, and the impunity must end.
It is high time that the leaders of the free world stood up for fundamental press freedom. It is not too late to take immediate, stern, decisive action against the Israeli government and its military apparatus for its continuous violations of press freedom and international humanitarian law. The world’s legal institutions are duty-bound to hold Israel accountable for these crimes.
The Israeli far-right government has chosen to shatter the mirror reflecting a painful reality. Now, if the world fails to ensure the protection of journalists in conflict zones, their safety and the free flow of information, it will set a dangerous and dark precedent. And history will not be kind.
Asef Hamidi is the director of news, Al-Jazeera Channel
