Israel's closure of Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah sends a chilling message

On September 22, Israeli forces stormed Al Jazeera's Ramallah office and suspended its operations. This blocked one of the few remaining glimpses into the reality of life under occupation in the West Bank. The incident, alarming as it is, goes far beyond the closure of a newsroom and marks an escalation of Israel's broader crackdown on press freedom in Palestine. For those of us journalists who have reported on the ground, our work has never been just about reporting the news; It's about making visible to the world a reality that shapes every aspect of our daily lives as Palestinians.

This is not the first time Israel has targeted media workers in Palestine, where it is trying to control the narrative while trying to control the territory. We have seen similar tactics since October last year and long before, when dozens of Palestinian journalists were killed along with their family members, media offices were bombed and entire news organizations were targeted. I lost colleagues who reported side by side with me from northern Gaza, like Ismail Al Ghoul. Together, Ismail and I endured months of cold and hunger and terrible nights during the Israeli ground offensives. He and so many other dedicated colleagues were killed for speaking out and doing their jobs.

I know this because I survived it. As a writer and reporter for Al Jazeera in Gaza during the war from October 2023 to last May, I experienced firsthand the dangers of reporting on the ground and the scrutiny I faced because of my association with Al Jazeera. The press badge on my chest, which was supposed to ensure my safety, acted as a target. In December 2023, my home was bombed with me and my family inside as a direct result of my work after I received multiple threats via phone calls and text messages from the Israeli military ordering me to stop reporting and writing.

My own experience in Gaza confirms this. The bombing of my home not only shattered my personal life by burying me in rubble for hours – it also destroyed my sense of purpose as a writer and journalist. For days I wondered whether I could continue reporting. Knowing the costs, my family lived in constant fear every time I went on an assignment, while colleagues around me became increasingly afraid to speak out, knowing that anyone could become a target at any time.

What we witnessed every day – from drone surveillance to the bombing of press tents to the direct shooting of journalists and attacks on their vehicles while they were traveling to report – was not just an attack on those who wanted to report, but on the idea of journalism itself. It is an attack on the idea that the world has a right to know what is happening in places like Gaza and the West Bank. Yet we continued reporting because we knew the world needed to see what was happening, and we knew that stopping reporting would mean surrendering to the very forces that wanted to silence us.

Al Jazeera has been a crucial voice, documenting not only the devastation in Gaza, particularly as it provides its viewers with exclusive access and footage from the ground, but also the unrest and protests in Israel, the political discontent in Tel Aviv and the deadly raids in refugee camps in the West Bank. Now that the Ramallah office is closed, that voice has faded. But this is just one episode in Israel's ongoing campaign against the media in the occupied territories.

What is striking is that Israel's war on Gaza has been going on for almost a year and any hope of renewed global attention is fading as people approach an anniversary of death and destruction. What worries me most is that this is about more than just Al Jazeera. It's about the future of a young generation of journalists who want to raise their voices in times of terror and oppression. As someone who has reported directly in front of Israeli tanks, I can say that journalists in Palestine are treated as a threat in a heartbreaking way.

Israel's efforts to silence the free press represent a tragedy that cuts deep into the ongoing struggle for liberation and peace. It is a tragedy for anyone who values ​​the role of the press in democratic societies. When journalists are attacked, the public is deprived of the information they need to truly understand reality.

Silencing the press doesn't just close a building or make stories disappear. It is responsibility itself that is lost. It disrupts a vital flow of information to the public. And the consequences go far beyond the journalists themselves. The world is losing access to basic truth – the kind of truth that challenges “official” government narratives and holds the powerful to account.

By attacking journalists, whether by bombing their homes, as in my case, or by closing newsrooms, as we saw in Ramallah, Israel is sending a frightening message: telling the truth is dangerous work with a high price .

Therefore, the closure of the Ramallah office is not just an Al Jazeera or local concern, but a global one. The erosion of press freedom in Palestine reflects a disturbing trend, a concerted effort to undermine the institutions that protect truth and transparency. It is a pattern of slow, deliberate attempts to completely destroy the free press. Because if we allow press freedom to be undermined in Palestine, what can prevent this from happening elsewhere?

At this critical moment, the world cannot afford to look away. When we defend journalism, we defend the truth. It is the means by which we fight against injustice. I know what happens when the press is attacked, and I fear we have reached a point where these attacks have become the norm and even accepted. Yes, the closure of the Ramallah office is a worrying step. But it's also an urgent call to action, because it won't stop at Al Jazeera.