July, 17 2009, 12:57pm EDT
Palestinian Authority: Lift the Ban on Al Jazeera
Suspension and Threatened Prosecution of Network’s Bureau a Blow to Press Freedom
JERUSALEM
The Palestinian Authority should immediately reverse its decision to suspend the operations of Al Jazeera satellite television in the West Bank, Human Rights Watch said today. Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, in his capacity as deputy minister of information, ordered the bureau's suspension on July 15, 2009, the day after it aired allegations against the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.
On the July 14 edition of "Behind the News" (Ma Wara al-Khabar), an Al Jazeera talk show, Farouq al-Qadumi, a high-ranking PLO and Fatah official currently in Amman, Jordan, accused Abbas and his adviser Muhammad Dahlan of participating in what he said was an Israeli plot to assassinate the former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat died of unknown causes in Paris in 2004. Al-Qadumi's accusation was widely covered by the Arab media.
"The suspension of Al Jazeera sends a clear message that the Palestinian Authority has red lines when it comes to free speech," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Are they going to silence the media every time someone reports something they don't like? Prime Minister Fayyad should reverse this punitive step."
The Ministry of Information statement signed by Fayyad suspended Al Jazeera's work and prohibited its staff "from doing any work until a final judgment is issued." The statement did not include specific charges, but cited the 1995 Press and Publications Law (No. 9), television licensing regulations from 2004, and "the high interests of the Palestinian people." The Ramallah-based Ma'an news agency reported that Fayyad instructed Attorney General Ahmed al-Mughni to prosecute Al Jazeera for "incitement and [spreading] false information."
Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in the West Bank and Israel, told Human Rights Watch that on the morning of July 15, Jamal Zaqout, an aide to Fayyad, told him that Fayyad's cabinet "had taken a decision that would be delivered to Al Jazeera's office."
"I went to the office, and just after my arrival, three policemen in civilian clothes arrived and showed me an order from the Interior Ministry and the police commander saying that we had to stop our operations," al-Omari said.
In a statement, Al Jazeera called the Palestinian Authority's suspension of its operations "repression of media freedom."
According to news reports, the Ministry of Information stated that Al Jazeera "has always dedicated a wide portion of its broadcasts to incitement against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority."
The Palestinian Authority has harassed Al Jazeera staff in the recent past, al-Omari said. On June 16, security forces detained an Al Jazeera correspondent and a cameraman and deleted a videotaped interview the journalists had just conducted with the family of Haytham Amr, a Hamas member who died in a Palestinian Authority prison in Hebron, and footage of Amr's funeral. Al-Omari told Human Rights Watch that the Palestinian Authority had failed to take adequate steps to investigate several violent incidents, including the burning of Al Jazeera cars in Ramallah and the office of the network's Nablus reporter.
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) protects the right to freedom of expression, including freedom of the press. International standards on free expression allow limitations on the press in light of important public interests only where "necessary" in "a democratic society."
The Palestinian Authority is not a state and is therefore not party to the ICCPR, but Article 19 of the revised Palestinian Basic Law (2003) states, "Every person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and expression, and shall have the right to publish his opinion orally, in writing, or in any form of art, or through any other form of expression, provided that it does not contradict the provisions of law." Article 27(3) of the Basic Law prohibits censorship and provides that "no warning, suspension, confiscation, cancellation, or restrictions shall be imposed on media except by law, and in accordance with a judicial ruling."
"President Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan have many ways to protect their reputations and respond to these allegations," Whitson said. "Shutting down Al Jazeera is not an acceptable response."
According to the 2004 television licensing regulations that the Ministry of Information cited in suspending Al Jazeera's operations, in emergency situations that threaten the public welfare, a joint ministerial committee composed of the ministries of information, the interior, and information technology can decide to suspend the operations of a broadcaster temporarily. It appears that the order against Al Jazeera was issued only by Fayyad, however, in his Ministry of Information capacity.
Articles 8 and 37 of the 1995 Press and Publications Law, which the ministry statement also cites, prohibit publications that incite crime or violence. The law also contains a number of overly broad content restrictions. Article 37, for instance, prohibits publication of content that harms national unity or is "inconsistent with morals."
Al-Qadumi, who made the allegations against Abbas, is the secretary-general of Fatah, but he does not recognize the Palestinian Authority and has long been a critic of Abbas. Al-Qadumi does not reside in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
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According to JVP:
Instead of listening to the calls of Columbia and Barnard students to divest from the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government, the university has called in the NYPD to arrest students, suspended them, and even expelled them. At present 85 students, 15 of whom are Jewish, are suspended.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rhetoric against Muslims is extremely divisive and dangerous. It would only fuel more hate and violence against the already battered community. pic.twitter.com/KT36FVpS6u
— Raqib Hameed Naik (@raqib_naik) April 21, 2024
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As housing rights advocates and people who have been unhoused themselves rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to demand an end to the criminalization of homelessness, the court's three liberal justices demanded to know how the city of Grants Pass, Oregon can penalize residents who take part in an act necessary for human survival—sleeping—just because they are forced to do so outside.
After an attorney representing Grants Pass, Thomas Evangelis, described sleeping in public as a form of "conduct," Justice Elena Kagan disputed the claim and reminded Evangelis that he was presenting a legal argument in favor of policing "a biological necessity."
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Evangelis is representing the city in Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case stemming from a 2018 lawsuit filed by an unhoused woman, Debra Blake, who accused officials of "trying to run homeless people out of town."
"On any given day or night, hundreds of individuals in Grants Pass, Oregon, are forced to live outside due to the lack of emergency shelter and affordable housing in their community," the original lawsuit stated.
The city has passed ordinances banning people from sleeping or camping on publicly owned property, with violators subject to fines of hundreds of dollars.
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Kneedler acknowledged that the statement was made at a City Council meeting.
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Considering the dynamics contributing to a growing unhoused population, Sotomayor asked of people facing homelessness in Grants Pass: "Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?"
The conservatives on the Supreme Court, who make up the majority, signaled a willingness to rule in favor of the city, with Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledging that the case is centered on "a policy problem because the solution, of course, is to build shelter to provide shelter for those who are otherwise harmless," but noting that "municipalities have competing priorities."
The answer to the questions being asked at the Supreme Court Monday "is not complicated," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). "Unhoused people need housing. Housing is the answer. Housing NOT Handcuffs."
Ramirez repeated a phrase that was seen on many signs held by rally attendees, who included the national grassroots economic justice group VOCAL and organizers with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC).
"What the Supreme Court decides in this case will say a lot about what kind of country we are and what country we want to be," said Efrén Olivares, director of strategic litigation and advocacy at the SPLC. "We demand a future without policies like the one before the court and a government that instead works to ensure that the right to affordable housing is guaranteed for all."
A ruling in the case is expected in June.
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