Al-Aqsa TV condemned the US-European decision to block its broadcast, calling it an attack on press freedom and part of the broader war on Palestinian media.
On Friday, the United States and several European countries revealed their decision to block Al-Aqsa TV from all satellite networks, Arab media reported.
The channel reported in a statement that, alongside the ban, the joint US-European decision imposes severe financial penalties on any satellite operator that continues to broadcast the channel.
The channel condemned the decision, viewing it as a reflection of the complicity in the Israeli attacks against Palestinian journalism.
In its statement, it declared, “We strongly denounce the US-European decision to block our broadcast on all satellites. This is a blatant attack on press freedom and a systematic effort to silence the voice of the Palestinian people, who are sharing their suffering under bombardment and siege with the world.”
Al-Aqsa TV further stated that this unjust decision is part of the ongoing war against Palestinian media, which has already seen the cold-blooded targeting of journalists.
“The occupation has assassinated more than 25 journalists from our team and completely destroyed our headquarters in the Gaza Strip in a desperate attempt to suppress the truth and cover up its crimes. Now, the US-European decision acts as a shield for this aggression, giving the occupation a free pass to continue its assault on Palestinian media without any accountability or oversight,” the statement added.
In October 2023, with the onset of the extermination war on Gaza, the French company managing the Eutelsat satellite made the decision to remove the channel’s logo and halt its broadcast.
This move has sparked significant outrage from the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas and other Palestinian media organizations, who have also condemned the action.
“This unjust decision is a direct attack on free Palestinian media, which exposes the suffering of our people and the occupation’s crimes to the world,” Hamas said in a statement, adding that the decision “is part of the enemy’s ongoing attempts to silence voices (…) and suppress the Palestinian narrative.”
Hamas called “on media institutions and international press organizations to condemn this decision and strengthen their efforts in exposing the occupation’s continuous violations of international laws and human rights conventions.”
Israel has systematically attacked Palestinian media during its genocidal war on Gaza, killing over 200 journalists and injuring and detaining others.
In January alone, at least 110 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were documented, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
In a statement, the organization said that Israeli army violations against Palestinian journalists and media coverage in Gaza and the West Bank escalated in January, including the killing of seven journalists in Gaza and the injury of six others.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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