BRUSSELS — A respected media watchdog on Thursday slammed a Palestinian Authority decision to shut down Al-Jazeera television in the West Bank as a "serious violation" of media freedoms.
"This decision is a serious violation of press freedom," Aidan White, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said in a statement.
"It shows intolerance on the part of the Palestinian Authority and suggests that it is trying to control media by suppressing reporting which it does not like. The ban should be lifted immediately," he said.
The Palestinian information ministry suspended the Qatar-based station's operations in the West Bank, accusing it of airing "false" information and said it would take the channel to court over a report aired Wednesday.
In the report -- which had been broadcast by other media -- senior PLO official Faruq Kaddumi accused president Mahmud Abbas of collaborating with Israel to kill veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004.
It was aired a few weeks before the ruling Fatah movement, headed by Abbas, is due to hold a general congress on August 4 for the first time in 20 years to renew its leadership.
The IFJ said the use of the courts would intimidate the media in general, and it urged the Palestinian authorities to find other ways to challenge the report's content.
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries.
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