Palestinian Authority closes Al Jazeera offices in West Bank, accusing it of 'incitement'

Decision comes amid a siege on Jenin by security forces and months after Israel issued a similar order to network

The move against Al Jazeera by the Palestinian Authority mirrors an order by Israel last September. AFP

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The Palestinian Authority has ordered Al Jazeera to close its office in the occupied West Bank, accusing the broadcaster of disseminating “inciteful materials” and “interfering in Palestinian internal affairs”.

The order freezes the Qatar-based network's journalists, crew and affiliates from operating, the Palestinian Authority's interior, culture and communications ministries said.

Al Jazeera has been covering a siege by Palestinian security forces on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which started on December 5. The Palestinian Authority says it is cracking down on “outlaws” who have outstanding warrants against them including for murder, theft and destruction of civilian and military infrastructure.

But it has also accused Al Jazeera of being a part of a campaign inflaming tensions between civilians and officials by promoting the idea that the Palestinian Authority is attempting to repress legitimate resistance groups, not criminals as it claims.

In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for the ruling Fatah party, Abdulfattah Al Dawleh, accused Al Jazeera of adopting a “one-sided narrative” on Jenin and “raising doubts” about the intentions behind the Palestinian Authority's operations there.

The family of a 21-year-old journalist killed in the Jenin camp on Saturday has accused the Palestinian Authority of targeting her over her reporting on the siege. On the day of her death, Shatha Al Sabbagh had published a report in which a resident said security forces had set his home on fire and injured his son.

On Monday, the journalist's mother took part in an on-camera Al Jazeera exchange with Palestinian security forces spokesman Brig Gen Anwar Rajab, who ended up pulling out of the segment on air. Before his screen went black, Brig Gen Rajab said the network had not informed him Ms Al Sabbagh's mother would be included. Two days later, the order came to close the Al Jazeera offices.

Critics accused the Palestinian Authority of stifling free speech, particularly Article 19 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that freedom of opinion in the occupied Palestinian territories “shall not be infringed upon”.

Television images showing Palestinian officials delivering a handwritten order to the broadcaster's West Bank offices were reminiscent of scenes in September, when Israeli soldiers handed a similar order to the chief of Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah, demanding his office closed and that those inside left.

In a statement, Al Jazeera said the Palestinian Authority's decision was “in line” with the order made by Israel last year. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the closure order and urged the Palestinian Authority to reverse its decision. “Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” said the committee's chief executive Jodie Ginsberg.