Why Is the Biden White House Defending Al Jazeera?
TownhallMar 23
Israel Returns Seized AP Equipment After US Pressure
Image copyright: Ahmad Hasaballah/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Hours after seizing a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday — shutting down a live feed of the Gaza Strip — Israel reversed its decision.
In confiscating the equipment, located in the Israeli city of Sderot near the Gaza border, Israeli officials accused the AP of violating a newly passed media law by providing images from the feed to Al Jazeera.
The Spin
Narrative A
AP was broadcasting the movements of Israeli forces, thus putting these troops in danger. Nonetheless, the decision to seize the equipment has been reversed pending a fuller investigation from the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Narrative B
Israeli officials made a wrong-headed decision. Such authoritarian actions — resembling moves by states like Russia or North Korea — only degrade the image of Israel in the eyes of the foreign media.