Netanyahu Bars Al Jazeera's Israel Chief From Government Press Seminar on Freedom of Speech

Government Press Office announces that Netanyahu orders legal steps be taken to deny press passes of all Al Jazeera journalists working in Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Government Press Office to remove Al Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau chief Walid Al-Omari from a state-sponsored seminar on freedom of speech planned for Thursday.
"The prime minister instructed that legal steps be taken to deny press passes of all Al Jazeera journalists working in Israel and to close their offices in Israel," the GPO announced in a Facebook post.

Last month, the GPO announced its intentions to revoke the press accredidation of an Israeli Al Jazeera correspondent over comments he made on another TV network last year.

The GPO cited an interview Karram gave on a TV network identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, in which he said his journalistic work is part of his contribution to Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.

The Union of Journalists in Israel blasted the GPO's intention to revoke Karram's press permit, calling it an "intolerable move in a democracy."


read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.811020