Television studio used by Al-Jazeera sacked in Nablus

Reporters Without Borders condemns the attack yesterday on a television studio in the Palestinian Territories used by the satellite television station Al Jazeera which has recently broadcast confidential documents on the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians between 1999 and 2010. The studio, in Nablus in the north of the West Bank, belongs to the Palestinian television agency Pal Media and is used by Al Jazeera. Young Palestinians invaded the studio shortly after the transmission live on Al-Jazeera of an interview conducted in it with Abdel Sattar Qassem, politics professor at the University of Najah, who is known for his critical view of the Palestinian Authority. Technical equipment belonging to the station was wrecked and an attempt to set the studio on fire was under way when police intervened. Backers of President Mahmoud Abbas had tried to break into the station’s headquarters in Ramallah a few days earlier. Al Jazeera, based in Qatar has come under substantial criticism following publication of the documents which disclose major concessions by the authority in several areas, such as the status of Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian negotiators reacted by regretting that the disclosures by Al Jazeera did not reflect the reality. In a similar situation the authority closed the offices of Al Jazeera in June 2010 for “spreading false information” before reopening them a month later (http://en.rsf.org/palestinian-territories-al-jazeera-s-ramallah-bureau-22-07-2009,33841.html). Reporters without Borders calls on the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank to do everything to protect journalists and their equipment. Without taking a position on the editorial choices of Al Jazeera, it issues a reminder that medias have a duty of impartiality, especially important in the present political situation when political tensions are being heightened.