Israel’s cabinet voted to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel and raided the broadcaster’s Jerusalem office. According to the BBC, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet agreed to the closure while the war in Gaza is ongoing.”
The Israeli government has called Al Jazeera a “mouthpiece of Hamas.” Police took broadcasting equipment and prevented the BBC from covering the raid.
Why do broadcasters need to be shut down during war operations? The opposite is true. The public needs broadcasters MORE during war, not less. Press agencies are asking the Israeli government to repeal the decision and the “Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said they had filed a request to the country’s Supreme Court to issue an interim order to overturn the ban.” Al Jazeera also says that they will “pursue every legal step.”
