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Beirut, June 15, 2010

Press release

Noursat stops the broadcasting of the Palestinian channel Al-Aqsa

Gaza – SKeyes Special Report

The administration of Al-Aqsa satellite channel, which is affiliated to Hamas


and which broadcasts from the Gaza Strip, received a notification from the
management of the satellite service Noursat, whereby Al-Aqsa‟s
broadcasting was to be stopped at one o‟clock in the afternoon of Tuesday
the 15th of June, 2010.
According to the channel‟s Director General, Hazem al-Sha‟rawi, the
decision “took place in the wake of the channel‟s repeated successes in
exposing the Israeli practices, the latest of which being the „exceptional‟
coverage of the Israeli assault against the Freedom Flotilla on the high seas”.
Al-Sha‟rawi also told SKeyes‟s correspondent in Gaza: “this decision has
already been discussed several times in the U.S Congress, in the aftermath of
the channel‟s success in exposing Zionist crimes, and also its success in
creating a popular campaign in solidarity with Jerusalem”.
Al-Sha‟rawi said that “the Jewish lobby in France and the United States has
probably put pressure on the owners of the Noursat satellite service to stop
the channel‟s broadcasts”, noting that “this is not the first channel that comes
under pressure because of its defence of the truth”. He added: “at noon
today, we sent a letter to the French Consulate in Gaza City, calling for
repealing the decision which violates media and press freedoms”.
Al-Aqsa channel, who was chaired by the Interior Minister in the dismissed
government of Hamas Fathi Hammad, suffered many assaults in the course
of its work, starting with the destruction of its headquarters during the recent
Israeli war on Gaza, and then the U.S Treasury‟s decision to freeze its assets
around the world. This in addition to the decisions taken by a number of
Arab countries denying it the right to broadcast live from these countries‟
territories, and the deliberate jamming against its broadcasts during the last
war, where there was incitement against the leaders of Hamas and its
government in Gaza.
In the past, Al-Aqsa operated from residential buildings in Gaza City, and
did not have fully dedicated headquarters until recently. Al-Aqsa played a

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org
significant role in uncovering the Israeli practices and violations against the
Strip, in particular the brutal assaults against the journalists, civilian
population and activists and also by exposing the blockade and its effects on
Gaza. It should be mentioned that the Palestinian National Authority had
closed the channel‟s offices in the West Bank in the wake of Hamas‟s
military coup in Gaza, and barred its correspondents from working there.

The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom expresses its deep
concern regarding Noursat‟s decision to stop the broadcasting of the
Palestinian channel Al-Aqsa in this manner, and calls on those concerned to
work on overturning the decision immediately, considering what this entails
in terms of violating the freedom of the work of the press and the respect of
different opinions, and calls for treating the channel in the same manner that
other outlets are treated around the world, and to resolve any dispute or
practical violations on the part of the channel by legal means only, away
from any other motivations.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org

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