Israel to Impose Sanctions on Al Jazeera

JERUSALEM, March 13: The
Israeli government has accused Al Jazeera of biased coverage favoring the
militant Hamas party and has said that the country’s officials will no longer
be interviewed on the Middle Eastern news network.

According to wire reports,
the Israeli government also intends to deny visas to the station’s employees. Majalli
Whbee, Israel's deputy foreign minister, is quoted in an AP report as saying:
"We have seen that Al Jazeera has become part of Hamas…taking sides and
cooperating with people who are enemies of the state of Israel. The moment a
station like Al Jazeera gives unreliable reports, represents only one side and
doesn't present the positions of the other side, why should we cooperate?"

A statement from the
Doha-based network yesterday said: “Al Jazeera wants to state that we have not
received any formal communication from the Israeli government on this issue. We
would like to further state that Al Jazeera has always endeavored to cover the
news in a fair and balanced professional manner from its inception and we will
continue to report the news from across all parts of the world in accordance
with the highest journalistic standards.”

—By Mansha Daswani