The Union of Journalists in Israel has criticized Israel’s recent shuttering of Al Jazeera‘s Ramallah offices, prompting at least one of the union’s board members to quit.
“The IDF raid on Al Jazeera’s offices is problematic and worrisome. The Union of Journalists expresses concern over the closing of Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah and the confiscation of all equipment,” the Union wrote in a statement on Monday. The statement came a day after the closure of the Ramallah offices of the Qatari television network, which critics accuse of inciting to violence and, at times, complicity in terrorism.
“It’s not possible to know what is behind the decision to close the offices,” the statement added.
Ynet reporter Yair Kraus resigned from the union’s executive board on Monday in protest at the move.
“Unfortunately, the journalists’ union habitually deals with issues outside its mission of defending the press and Israeli journalists. This pains me. Its unfathomable mobilization in favor of a pro-Hamas incitement vehicle like Al-Jazeera is the straw that broke my back. Therefore, I hereby resign from my position as a member of the organization’s executive board,” he tweeted.
Prominent Israeli journalist Amit Segal ridiculed the union on Tuesday, posting on Telegram that he hopes it “won’t protest like it did about Al Jazeera” regarding a video showing Hezbollah mouthpiece Fadi Boudia scream following a nearby explosion during a TV interview in Lebanon.
Contacted by JNS for a reaction, the union’s spokesman, Liron Weiss, declined to comment on Kraus’ criticism.
Lilac Sigan, a columnist for Maariv, also criticized the union. “I’m a journalist and this post is problematic and worrisome,” she wrote of the union’s statement on X. “Who exactly do you represent anyway?”
In April, the Knesset voted 71-10 to pass a law authorizing the communications minister to act against a foreign channel deemed to be harming the state’s security, with the consent of the prime minister and the approval of the Cabinet. Israel closed down Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem offices in May.
Critics decried the move as a crackdown on free speech, but its advocates defended it as a necessary action.
Al Jazeera “broadcasts reactionary Islamist propaganda and violent incitement,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in a statement in May. ”It’s long past time for Western countries to ban this Islamist influence operation masquerading as a media outlet.”
