Al-Jazeera Presenters, Qatari Journalists Condemn Palestinian Authority Counterterrorism Operation In Jenin: It Is Serving Israel And Should Learn A Lesson From Assad's Downfall; Palestinian Authority Daily Attacks Al-Jazeera: It Is A 'Channel Of Deception' That Supports Outlaws

In the past several days, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been carrying out a military operation in Jenin in the northern West Bank against the Jenin Brigade terrorist militia, which has entrenched itself in the area over the recent years.[1] On the backdrop of this operation, presenters for the Qatari Al-Jazeera network and Qatari journalists criticized the PA, accusing it of serving Israel's interests by fighting the Jenin terrorists – whom they refer to as "resistance fighters" – instead of fighting the Israeli occupation. One of the journalists even warned the PA to learn a lesson from the rebel offensive in Syria that resulted in the fall of the Assad regime, suggesting that the PA might face a similar fate.

This position expressed by the Al-Jazeera presenters is in line with the channel's biased coverage of the recent events in Jenin, characterized by condemning the PA security forces while providing a media platform for spokespersons of the Jenin Brigade and of the organizations that support it.[2] 

In response, the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published articles tacitly criticizing Al-Jazeera, accusing it of spreading lies and misinformation in support of the "outlaws" in Jenin who are serving the interests of Hamas and Iran.

Exclusive Al-Jazeera interview with Jenin Brigades spokesman Abu Muhammad (Aljazeera.net, December 15, 2024)

The following are some of the responses by journalists in Qatar to the PA's operation in Jenin, and excerpts from articles in the PA daily implicitly criticizing Al-Jazeera.

Al-Jazeera Presenter: The PA Must Learn A Lesson From The Rebel Offensive In Syria

Al-Jazeera presenter Mostafa Ashoor mocked the PA's name for the operation – "Homeland Defense" – saying that the PA is not defending the homeland, but rather the Israeli occupation, and urging it to learn a lesson from the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria. He wrote on his X account: "[Is this] defense of the homeland or of the supporters of the occupation? Does defending the homeland mean performing the role of the occupier? This question is aimed at the PA. What homeland [are you talking about]? Is it the homeland of Judea and Samaria, which thanks to you has been seized by [Israeli MKs Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Betzalel] Smotrich? You have lost the [West] Bank and Ramallah because of your security coordination [with Israel], and today you are murdering the young people of Jenin, eliminating the resistance and aiming American and European weapons at youths who oppose the occupation and the settlements and have chosen to [wage] resistance. Is your negligence and your security coordination [with Israel] over the recent years not enough for you? When the homeland returns [to its people], the people will have to defend it. It would have been better to name the operation ‘Return of the Homeland’ and to turn the weapons on the occupying Zionists. Unfortunately, it is easy to choose names, [but] difficult to realize them in practice, and even more difficult to point these actions in the right direction. O supporters of the occupation, learn a lesson from [the rebel offensive in Syria, called] ‘Deterring the Aggression.'"[3]

Al-Jazeera Presenter: The PA Is Murdering The West Bank Resistance Fighters In The Service Of The Occupation

Another presenter on Al-Jazeera, Hayat Al-Yamani, also condemned the PA's counterterrorism operation in Jenin, writing on her X account: "What the PA is currently doing in the West Bank is serious… [It is] burning the ground under the feet of the resistance so that the occupation can take control of it."[4] In another post, Al-Yamani shared a photo of Jenin Brigade commander Yazid Ja’aysa, who was killed during the PA operation, alongside a video showing PA security forces operating in the Jenin refugee camp, and commented: "The PA under [President Mahmoud] Abbas, which has not aimed a single weapon at the occupation, infiltrates the Jenin refugee camp and eliminates the commander of its brigade. The PA [under] Abbas, who is a representative of the occupation, is the one murdering the members of the resistance in the West Bank."[5]

One of Hayat Al-Yamani’s posts ( X.com/HaYatElYaMaNi, December 14, 2024).

Al-Jazeera Presenter: The PA Operation Is A Disgrace

Al-Jazeera presenter and producer Ahmad Mansour wrote on X: "The operation of the PA security forces against the resistance fighters [who are confronting] the Israeli occupation in the Jenin refugee camp will bring shame, disgrace and dishonor upon all those who participated in it. Targeting the Palestinian rifle that is fighting the occupation [only] serves the occupation and realizes its goals."[6]

Editor Of Qatari Daily: Mahmoud Abbas Is More Concerned About Israel’s Security Than Israeli MK Itamar Ben Gvir Is

Jaber Al-Harmi, editor of the Qatari daily Al-Sharq, wrote on X: “The security coordination between the 'Ramallah Authority' and the Zionist entity is currently at its best, despite all the massacres and the genocidal war that the entity has been waging in Gaza for over 14 months. Countries throughout the world have cut their ties with the Zionist entity due to its crimes in Gaza, yet the [Palestinian] ‘Authority’ continues its security coordination [with it]. The only thing that can be said about this is that Mahmoud Abbas is more concerned about the security of the Zionist entity than [Israeli MK Itamar] Ben Gvir is!!"[7]

Cartoon in Qatari daily depicts "the PA’s operation in Jenin" cutting off the umbilical cord of the West Bank ("Jenin" in Arabic literally means "fetus") (Al-Sharq, Qatar, December 16, 2024)

Al-Jazeera Presenter Praises Palestinian Security Officer Who Resigned In Protest Against The Operation

Al-Jazeera presenter Ayman Azzam shared a video that has circulated on social media in which Mustafa Ibrahim Saleh, a senior officer in the PA National Security apparatus,  announces his resignation  from his position in protest against the PA operation in Jenin. Azzam commented: "These are the positions of men."[8]

Ayman Azzam’s post ( X.com/AymanazzamAja, December 10, 2024)

PA Daily Attacks Al-Jazeera: "A Channel Of Deception" Supporting Outlaws Who Promote Foreign Agendas

By contrast, articles in the PA mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida criticized Al-Jazeera, without openly naming it, accusing it of spreading lies and making opportunistic use of the term "resistance" to support the outlaws in Jenin who serve the interests of Hamas and Iran.

The daily's December 17 editorial stated: "Every time the [Al-Jazeera] channels of deception and misleading use the word 'resistance' in their coverage, they noticeably make opportunistic use of it… in order to undermine the word's true meaning in the service of populist discourse and for the sake of their regional and private interests… As part of this, the channels of deception and misleading present the masked [fighter] as the only resistance fighter, while failing to realize that the entire Palestinian nation is a resisting nation, including all of its organizations and political, social, and economic sectors…

"These satellite channels conceal the truth about the Palestinian people and its resistance, about its healthy consciousness and its national awareness, and point their spotlight only at a group of outlaws affiliated with foreign agendas, and at those who take the path of deadly sectarian adventures [i.e., Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which are part of the Iran-backed resistance axis]. These satellite channels and tendentious media platforms are only interested in defaming the PA and inciting against its responsible policy, in order to spread lawlessness and anarchy in the service of the plans of the [Israeli] occupation, the agendas of [Israeli MK Betzalel] Smotrich and the agendas of Tehran – not only the political ones, but also the hate-filled sectarian ones!!

"Resistance is [also] culture, conduct, values, policy, responsibility and a way of action in the framework of national consensus… [But] these satellite channels do not know about this resistance and do not want to know about it – and neither do the Hamas channels of deception that only incite against the PA in order to destroy and topple it…"[9]

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida Columnist: This Is Similar To Al-Jazeera's Pro-Hamas Incitement Ahead Of The 2007 Gaza Coup And After The October 7 Attack

Fatah Revolutionary Council member and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnist Muwafaq Matar also criticized Al-Jazeera, writing: "The Persian regime in Tehran is intervening and attempting to establish its presence in practice on Palestinian soil, by means of the emerging armed Palestinian militias that publicly declare their loyalty to Tehran, and to ISIS, which was created in the laboratories of Tehran’s mullahs and intelligence agencies. These groups, which appeared when the Zionist campaign of destruction against the Palestinian people was at its peak, have infiltrated the Palestinian refugee camps, entrenched themselves there and receive instructions and funding from officers in [the Iranian IRGC’s] Qods Force…

"Now, at the right moment, national responsibility and the supreme interests of the Palestinian people required the crucial intervention of the Palestinian rule of law and of the institution entrusted with its enforcement, in order to end this situation that is unfolding with Tehran’s guidance. However, precisely at that moment, a major satellite channel [Al-Jazeera] – which has always spiced its messages with deception, misleading and lies – launched a campaign supporting and backing the outlaws, just as it has done several times in the past, [such as] when it contributed to preparing the early signs necessary for justifying the blood-soaked coup carried out by Hamas [in the Gaza Strip] in 2007, and when it contributed to creating excuses for the [Israeli] occupation before and after the crime of genocide and destruction [in Gaza], which has been taking place since October 7 of last year…"[10]