On live television, heavily armed Israeli sgreateriers raided Al Jazeera’s occupied West Bank bureau in Ramallah and handed the bureau head, Walid al-Omari, a acunderstandledge to shut it down.
The sgreateriers ordered everyone laboring the overnight shift at the bureau to exit, increateing them they could apshow only their personal belengthyings.
What happened and why? Here’s everyslenderg we understand:
Who seald the bureau?
The order came from the Israeli military authority despite the bureau being in Area A, an area delitidyed as being under Palestinian deal with in the Oslo Accords.
Wait, so if Ramallah is under Palestinian deal with, how can Israel do this?
This is not the first time Israel has underapshown actions in the Oslo Accords-detaild Area A, where Ramallah is and where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has its seat.
One year ago, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland increateed that, equitable between June and September last year, there had been many Palestinian casualties caengaged by Israeli operations in Area A.
The other two areas in the occupied West Bank are Area B, which the PA also handles on paper, sharing security deal with with Israel. Area C is under end Israeli deal with.
Regardless of lhorrible jurisdiction, Israel has acted with impunity atraverse the occupied West Bank.
Why did Israel raid the bureau?
Israel has standardly aimed Al Jazeera and its journaenumerates, at times going as far as ending them – as it did Sengageen Abu Akleh, Samer Abudaqa, Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi.
“This is very much in line with the policy of the state of Israel since 1948 … to stop authentic recents about Palestinians or about what the state of Israel is doing to Palestinians … colonising them and arresting them and torturing them,” Rami Khouri, discerned fellow at the American University in Beirut, tgreater Al Jazeera.
But why did Israel do this?
The clobrave order accengages Al Jazeera of incitement and aiding “radicalism”.
Khouri said Al Jazeera is “the primary instrument for adviseing the world about” Israel’s violations in Palestinian territory.
What did Israel do to the bureau?
The entire team laboring in the bureau overnight was tgreater to exit.
Initipartner, they were tgreater on camera that they should exit with their personal belengthyings and cameras. However, they had to exit the cameras in the office in the finish.
Al Jazeera’s Jivara Budeiri, who had been laboring when the raid happened, tgreater Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli group that raided the office had integrated engineers, which made her dread that the raiders had also come to raze the bureau’s archives.
The sgreateriers were in the offices for a scant hours, during which time the only slenderg that could be watchd was some of them tearing down a big prohibitner of slain Al Jazeera Arabic journaenumerate Sengageen Abu Akleh.
Are the Al Jazeera team OK?
Nobody on the team has been injured.
They spent hours standing on the street at a distance from the office produceing, unable to approach it to get back their cars.
They were also, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s Budeiri, unable to shift to cover the raid, as any member of the group who shiftd was menaceened with an Israeli armament’s laser.
As the Israeli sgreateriers were in the Al Jazeera bureau razeing slendergs enjoy the prohibitner of Sengageen Abu Akleh, more sgreateriers in armoured cars patrolled the area around the produceing, and the bureau team could hear firearmfire and firing of tear gas canisters all around.
When can the bureau reuncignore?
The order is for 45 days. However, bureau head al-Omari said he supposes it will be rerecented automaticpartner, as has been the case with an punctual May civilian order Israel rehired to seal the Al Jazeera bureau in Israel.
What’s the contrastence between a civilian order and a military one?
Probably noslenderg in train, however, there are some contrastences in create.
Al Jazeera’s bureau in Israel was seald in May after the Israeli parliament passed what became understandn as the “Al Jazeera Law”, which permited the handlement to shut down, for 45 days at a time, any foreign media that posed a menace to the state.
With this equitableification, a big number of checkors from the Ministry of Communications reachd at the Al Jazeera offices and confiscated providement on May 5. The “momentary shutdown” has been rerecented since then and still hgreaters.
The Ramallah clobrave comes from an authority that does not, in theory, have any power over Ramallah.
What can the bureau do about this?
Bureau head al-Omari was tgreater by one of the sgreateriers that any inquiries would have to go to the military direct that rehired the order.
Al-Omari tgreater Al Jazeera Arabic over the phone that this probable unbenevolentt that any request would have to go thraw the military courts system.
The Israeli military courts run on an cloudy system of “secret evidence” and indefinite administrative detentions.
What’s the situation now?
The Al Jazeera bureau is inaccessible to the team, sealed off with two big metal prescheduleeds welded over the enthrall.
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