Gazans protest Israeli broadcast ban on Al-Quds channel

By Hidaya al-Saedi

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Dozens of Palestinian journalists and civil society activists demonstrated in Gaza City on Tuesday to protest an Israeli broadcast ban on the Lebanon-based Al-Quds satellite television channel.

Protesters gathered outside the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raising banners reading: “Reporting the news isn’t a crime.”

They also called on international rights and media organizations to pressure Israel to reverse the ban, which prevents the channel from broadcasting inside Israel and Jerusalem.

“We demand that the UN High Commissioner take a clear stand against this aggression perpetrated by the [Israeli] occupation,” Imad Ifranji, the Al-Quds channel’s director in Gaza, told Anadolu Agency.

He went on to describe Israeli claims that the channel supported “terrorism” as “a serious escalation”.

Earlier this month, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman -- citing Israel’s anti-terrorism laws -- ordered the broadcast ban on the channel.

While Lieberman failed to provide a reason for the ban, the Israeli authorities frequently accuse the Al-Quds channel of serving as a mouthpiece for Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.

The channel, which broadcasts from Lebanon, reportedly has at least one correspondent in Jerusalem and another in Israel.