About a week ago, a court in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, ordered the banning of several Al Jazeera websites.
Earlier, a Palestinian Authority ministerial committee upheld an order to close media company offices in the West Bank, although the move was widely criticized. Al Jazeera was accused of being inflammatory, seditious, spreading misinformation and interfering in the internal affairs of Palestine.
The UN’s independent experts said in a statement released on Monday that shutting down a major international media organization, a big name in the field, is a disproportionate, unnecessary step.
According to the Special Reporters Group, this imposes severe restrictions on freedom of expression and impedes the right to information of the Palestinian people and regional and global audiences.
“We are deeply concerned about this attack on the Palestinian Authority’s freedom of expression.”
Website closure order
On January 1, 2025, the Attorney-General of Palestine ordered the suspension of Al Jazeera’s news service in the Occupied Palestinian Territory based on a letter received from the Palestinian Minister of Culture.
The decision bans the broadcasting of Al Jazeera programs and the work of journalists and employees associated with them.
Later, on January 5, a magistrate court in Ramallah ordered the closure of several Al Jazeera websites, including aljazeera.net, aljazeera.net/live, aljazeera360.com and global.ajplus.net, for four months. These orders were justified on the grounds of national security and material released to incite people to commit crimes.
Human rights experts expressed concern that the order followed coverage of a crackdown by Palestinian security forces on the Jenin refugee camp and the occupied West Bank since December 5, 2024.
At least 8 Palestinians, including a female journalist, were reportedly killed in the crackdown. According to the Special Rapporteur, the decision to ban Al Jazeera is vague and without any solid basis.
At the same time the increase in violence and human rights abuses shows that the real reason for this decision is to shut down international attention and stifle voices of uncomfortable criticism.
Independent media coverage
Human rights experts point out that the presence of independent media, including international media, is essential to ensure accountability and transparency of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israel has banned all international journalists from reporting from Gaza since the war began in October 2023. A large number of Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli military operations while covering the war.
Independent experts point out that in the absence of independent reporting, information on human rights violations will not be disseminated and will perpetuate an environment that fosters impunity.
In view of this, he expressed concern over the restrictions imposed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority on freedom of expression and freedom of expression.
Human rights expert
Special Rapporteurs and independent human rights experts are part of the UN Special Human Rights Mechanism. They are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to investigate a specific human rights issue or situation in a country and submit a report.
These positions are honorary and human rights experts receive no salary from the United Nations for their work.
A list of experts who have signed this statement can be found here.