Palestinian factions strongly condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to stop broadcasting Tel Aviv Tribune and close its office in Ramallah in the West Bank, and called on it to withdraw it.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced – in a statement – its strong condemnation of the decision, and said that the decision “is a blatant violation of media freedom and repressive behavior aimed at gagging voices.”
Hamas described this decision as “illegal and represents a direct insult to the profession of journalism and media at a critical stage that requires shedding light on the crimes of the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The movement called on the Palestinian Authority to immediately retract this step, and called on human rights and media institutions to stand firmly in the face of what it described as oppressive practices that conflict with the values of freedom and democracy.
For its part, the Islamic Jihad movement denounced the decision to freeze the work of Tel Aviv Tribune and close its office in the West Bank.
The movement expressed – in a statement – its condemnation of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to close the Tel Aviv Tribune channel office at a time when the Palestinian people and their cause are in dire need of a voice to convey their suffering to the world.
The Islamic Jihad Movement believed that taking such a step for reasons and pretexts that it described as political would not benefit the cause, especially in this sensitive and critical time that the Palestinian people are going through, according to the statement.
The movement called on the authority in Ramallah to retract its decision and facilitate the work of all media crews that it said were supportive of the Palestinian cause and its people.
An unfair decision
The resistance committees in Palestine also denounced the authority’s decision to close the Tel Aviv Tribune office, describing it as unjust and in violation of the Palestinian constitution, which guarantees the freedom and protection of journalistic work and journalists, and called for its immediate retraction.
In the same context, the Palestinian National Initiative Movement described the Authority’s decision as not benefiting the Palestinian people and their just cause, and called on it To retract it, the movement described Tel Aviv Tribune as the one that covers the struggle of the Palestinian people and exposes the crimes of the occupation in all languages.
She also said that Tel Aviv Tribune is the most watched channel in Palestine and the region, and its Palestinian correspondents are subjected to constant attacks by the occupation.
Tel Aviv Tribune Network expressed its regret that the Palestinian Authority’s decision comes in harmony with the Israeli government’s decision to close its office in Ramallah, and said that the closure decision comes in the wake of an ongoing campaign of incitement and intimidation by parties sponsored by the Palestinian Authority against the network’s journalists.
In late September, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the Tel Aviv Tribune network office in Ramallah and announced its closure for 45 days. The occupation authorities renewed the closure more than once, and the move sparked widespread international condemnation.
