Israel’s Minister of Public Security, Gilad Erdan, has signed an order to shut down the Palestinian television channel Musawa (“Equality”) funded by the Palestinian Authority. The alleged basis for this order is that the station operates from within the State of Israel without a license. Musawa’s programs are recorded in a studio in the city of Nazareth in northern Israel, and are then sent to Ramallah for editing.

News program broadcast by the Mussawa television channel (Footage: Al Ittihad)

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Security, “Musawa was being run under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, without having the required permits to operate in Israel.” Following receipt of the order, which is valid for the next six months, the channel suspended its broadcasts on Friday, June 24.

According to an article in Al Ittihad, the daily Arabic-language newspaper of the Communist Party of Israel, I’lam — The Arab Center for Media — based in Nazareth responded to the order by saying that Erdan’s move came as a surprise, because Musawa had already been operating for half a year with no word from the government. “This decision by the minister is entirely consistent with prior decisions intended to harm Palestinian media institutions and to violate the rights of Palestinian journalists,” a statement from I’lam read.

Joint List Knesset member Yousef Jabareen (Hadash) has commented that the intention of the move is punitive: “Minister Erdan is acting like a military governor, and working non-stop to silence people and suppress freedom of expression. This is another arbitrary and vindictive step concocted by Israel’s extreme right-wing government.”