The Stream

Will Al Jazeera be shut down?

Gulf nations are calling for the closure of the Qatar-based media network.

Why does a Saudi Arabia-led group of nations want Al Jazeera to close? It’s been more than a month since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on the country, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”, an allegation Doha has rejected as “baseless”. One of a list of 13 demands the countries made of Qatar was that it shutter the global media network.

Since then, Al Jazeera offices in Riyadh and Amman have been closed and its websites blocked in several of the countries. Qatari-owned Al Jazeera began in 1996 and was the first pan-Arab news channel in a region dominated by tightly controlled state media.

Al Jazeera journalists and others will answer your questions about the network’s impact in the Middle East and beyond.

Joining us:

Alexandra El Khazen @RSF_ar
Head of Middle East Desk, Reporters Sans Frontieres
rsf.org

Sam Cherribi @cherribi
Author, ‘Fridays of Rage – Al Jazeera, the Arab Spring, and Political Islam’
mesas.emory.edu

Abderrahim Foukara @afoukara
Washington DC Bureau Chief, Al Jazeera International

Imad Musa @imadmusa1
Manager of Online, Al Jazeera English
aljazeera.com

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