Israel shutting down Al Jazeera is straight out of the authoritarian playbook

Al Jazeera, like any media organisation, never gets it all right and has no doubt made mistakes and offended many, writes Eric Lewis. But banning news organisations from reporting in your country is never the answer

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who announced the ejection of Al Jazeera from the country (EPA)

You don’t need to be a fan of Al Jazeera or a regular viewer of its numerous outlets to be saddened and outraged by Israel’s ejection of the network from the country and seizure of its equipment and property. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision followed a unanimous vote by Israel’s war cabinet, posting that “the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel”. In a separate statement, he accused Al Jazeera correspondents of having “harmed the security of Israel” and said that “the time has come to eject Hamas’s mouthpiece from our country”.

Al Jazeera has more than 70 bureaux, making it one of the largest news organisations in the world. Thirteen of its journalists have been killed, including Shireen Abu Akleh, one of the best-known reporters in the region. She was unarmed when killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2022. More than 50 of the organisation’s journalists have been attacked since 7 October.

To be sure, Al Jazeera has a point of view and has focused extensively on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including in its detailed reporting of abuses by Israeli troops during the war in Gaza. It also documented and condemned the 7 October Hamas attacks, while also questioning some of the initial claims about the number of casualties – figures that have since been revised downwards. It airs a narrative not often heard in Western media and has drawn both plaudits and criticism for its more pro-Palestinian viewpoint. It ran interviews with terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, not endorsing his views but exposing his terrorist ideology to the world.