Israel Closes Palestinian Organizations in Jerusalem

W460

Israeli authorities closed several Palestinian organizations in Jerusalem Wednesday, including a television channel, an Israeli minister and officials from the organizations said.

The offices of Palestine TV -- a channel funded by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority -- and an office of the Palestinian ministry of education were given orders to close for six months, staff members said on condition of anonymity.

The director of the al-Araz production company that hosts Palestine TV was temporarily arrested, while a correspondent for the channel was summoned for questioning, these Palestinian sources said.

Israel's Public Security minister Gilad Erdan confirmed the closure of offices used by Palestine TV and the education ministry.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in a 1967 war and considers the entire city its undivided capital.

The Palestinians consider the eastern part of the city the capital of their own future state.

"I will continue to pursue a firm policy against any attempt by the Palestinian Authority to violate our sovereignty in the capital," Erdan said in a statement seeking to justify the closures.

He accused Palestine TV of producing anti-Israeli content in which the country is presented as "responsible for war crimes and ethnic cleansing."

The Palestinians condemned the closures.

"This is a continuation of the Israeli government's campaign against everything Palestinian in occupied Jerusalem," senior official Hanan Ashrawi said.

MADA, a Palestinian organisation that defends freedom of expression, said the closures were "part of Israel's efforts to silence the media and prevent the Palestinian story from spreading, through a series of repressions against the media and journalists."

Comments 2
Thumb chrisrushlau 21 November 2019, 04:02

"I will continue to pursue a firm policy against any attempt by the Palestinian Authority to violate our sovereignty in the capital," Erdan said in a statement seeking to justify the closures.
He accused Palestine TV of producing anti-Israeli content in which the country is presented as "responsible for war crimes and ethnic cleansing."
This is your Jewish and democratic state? "Oh, you violated political correctness and possibly offended someone." That is, "You are on the wrong page of the script, or you are saying whatever you want."

Missing phillipo 21 November 2019, 10:16

So dear friend, I can only presume by your comment that you would be extremely happy if one of the Israeli television channels opened a studio/office in Beirut.