8/9/2019 Noursat Stops the Broadcasting of the Palestinian
Channel Al
1/2
Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
Beirut, June 15, 2010
Press release
Noursat stops the broadcasting of the Palestinian channel
Al-Aqsa
GazaSKeyes Special Report
The administration of Al-Aqsa satellite channel, which is
affiliated to Hamas
and which broadcasts from the Gaza Strip, received a
notification from the
management of the satellite service Noursat, whereby
Al-Aqsas
broadcasting was to be stopped at one oclock in the afternoon of
Tuesday
the 15th of June, 2010.According to the channels Director
General, Hazem al-Sharawi, thedecision took place in the wake of
the channels repeated successes in
exposing the Israeli practices, the latest of which being the
exceptionalcoverage of the Israeli assault against the Freedom
Flotilla on the high seas.Al-Sharawi also told SKeyess
correspondent in Gaza: this decision has
already been discussed several times in the U.S Congress, in the
aftermath of
the channels success in exposing Zionist crimes, and also its
success increating a popular campaign in solidarity with
Jerusalem.
Al-Sharawi said that the Jewish lobby in France and the United
States hasprobably put pressure on the owners of the Noursat
satellite service to stop
the channels broadcasts, noting that this is not the first
channel that comesunder pressure because of its defence of the
truth. He added: at noontoday, we sent a letter to the French
Consulate in Gaza City, calling for
repealing the decision which violates media and press
freedoms.
Al-Aqsa channel, who was chaired by the Interior Minister in the
dismissed
government of Hamas Fathi Hammad, suffered many assaults in the
course
of its work, starting with the destruction of its headquarters
during the recent
Israeli war on Gaza, and then the U.S Treasurys decision to
freeze its assets
around the world. This in addition to the decisions taken by a
number ofArab countries denying it the right to broadcast live from
these countries
territories, and the deliberate jamming against its broadcasts
during the last
war, where there was incitement against the leaders of Hamas and
its
government in Gaza.
In the past, Al-Aqsa operated from residential buildings in Gaza
City, and
did not have fully dedicated headquarters until recently.
Al-Aqsa played a
8/9/2019 Noursat Stops the Broadcasting of the Palestinian
Channel Al
2/2
Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
significant role in uncovering the Israeli practices and
violations against the
Strip, in particular the brutal assaults against the
journalists, civilian
population and activists and also by exposing the blockade and
its effects onGaza. It should be mentioned that the Palestinian
National Authority had
closed the channels offices in the West Bank in the wake of
Hamassmilitary coup in Gaza, and barred its correspondents from
working there.
The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom expresses its
deep
concern regarding Noursats decision to stop the broadcasting of
the
Palestinian channel Al-Aqsa in this manner, and calls on those
concerned to
work on overturning the decision immediately, considering what
this entails
in terms of violating the freedom of the work of the press and
the respect of
different opinions, and calls for treating the channel in the
same manner thatother outlets are treated around the world, and to
resolve any dispute or
practical violations on the part of the channel by legal means
only, away
from any other motivations.
