Israel revokes Al Jazeera journalist accreditation
August 17, 2017
By Chris Forrester
As expected, Israel has revoked the Press Pass of an Al Jazeera journalist, Elias Karram who is based in Israel.
Karram is alleged to have referred to the work of Palestinian journalists as being part of the “resistance” to “Zionist occupation” of former Arab territory.
Karram is an Arab citizen of Israel from Nazareth who has been reporting on Israel for Al-Jazeera for many years.
According to Associated Press, the head of Israel’s Press Office, Nitzan Chen, said the press card issued to Karram is revoked pending a hearing to clarify “whether or not he is part of the Palestinian people’s resistance to the ‘Zionist occupation’, as he stated in the interview, and if so, how this affects his work as a journalist according to universal ethics.
Israel’s communications minister said earlier this month he plans to revoke the press credentials of all Al-Jazeera journalists, effectively preventing them from working in Israel, and is seeking parliamentary legislation to ban the broadcaster completely.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have moved to shut down Al-Jazeera as part of their dispute with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting extremist groups. Qatar denies the allegations, and has refused Arab demands that it shut the channel down.
Jordan and Saudi Arabia have recently closed Al-Jazeera’s local offices, while the channel and its affiliate sites have been blocked in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain.