VZCZCXRO9224
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1223 1971437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161437Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5463
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA FRONT OFFICE, NEA/IPA, AND NEA/PPD 
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PROP PHUM KPAL KWBG KPAO
SUBJECT:  PA ACCUSES AL JAZEERA OF INCITEMENT, SUSPENDING ITS 
LICENSE AND CLOSING ITS OFFICES 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended Al Jazeera's 
license and closed its West Bank offices on July 15.  PA officials 
accused the Qatar-based satellite news channel of systematic 
incitement and unbalanced coverage after it broadcast inflammatory 
allegations by Fatah Central Committee member-in-exile Farouq al 
Qaddoumi against PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Fatah 
Revolutionary Committee member Mohammad Dahlan.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in his capacity as Minister of 
Information, signed orders on July 15 closing Al Jazeera's Ramallah 
offices and suspending the license granted Al Jazeera by the PA. 
This was in response to the news channel's coverage of allegations 
made by Qaddoumi that Abu Mazen and Dahlan conspired with Israel and 
the USG to assassinate former PA President Yasser Arafat.  This, in 
the PA's view, constituted systematic incitement and unbalanced 
coverage. 
 
¶3.  PA plainclothes security officers handed a closure order to 
staff in Al Jazeera's Ramallah office, shutting down West Bank 
operations of the news channel's Arabic and English services.  (Al 
Jazeera's offices in Gaza and Jerusalem are unaffected by the PA's 
decision, since they do not fall under PA jurisdiction.)  Prime 
Minister Fayyad ordered PA Attorney General Ahmad al Mughani to file 
a lawsuit against Al Jazeera on charges of incitement and reporting 
false information.  Al Jazeera's Ramallah offices will remain closed 
and the license suspended until the court rules on the case. 
 
¶4.  The newly designated director of the PA Information Office, 
Ghassan al Khatib, criticized the PA's decision in statements to the 
press on July 15.  He called the decision "hasty and irrational," 
and expressed hope that Al Jazeera's offices would reopen soon. 
 
¶5.  The PA Journalists' Union issued a statement calling on the PA 
to allow Al Jazeera's offices to reopen, demanding that the PA 
respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech.  That said, the 
Union's statement also emphasized that Palestinian media must 
refrain from publishing material that might inflame the political 
situation.  The local Foreign Press Association likewise expressed 
deep concern and urged the PA to reconsider its decision. 
 
¶6.  Hamas denounced the PA's decision and requested a "serious" 
investigation into Qaddoumi's allegations.  Qaddoumi repeated them 
during a July 15 evening interview on Al Jazeera.  He predicted he 
would be excluded from the Fatah Sixth Party Congress, due to take 
place in Bethlehem on August 4. 
 
¶7.  Note:  The PA suspended the license of Al Jazeera in 2000 on 
similar grounds after the channel broadcast a doctored photo of 
Yasser Arafat with a shoe over his head.  End note. 
 
WALLES