The PA does not heart Al J

And in perfect poetic timing as a counterbalance to the last post, this story from the BBC: "Al-Jazeera closed in West Bank" (see reports also from the Guardian, AFP, and AP).

The self-rule body said al-Jazeera promoted a negative view of its work and that the coverage is biased.

It comes a day after a guest on the station accused Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of collaborating with Israel to have Yasser Arafat killed.

The channel - based in Doha - said it was "stunned" by the Palestinian Authority's decision. But the BBC's Arab Affairs Analyst, Magdi Abdlehadi, says the controversy surrounding al-Jazeera's broadcast reveals more about the crisis within Mr Abbas's group than about the satellite channel's often rocky relationship with Arab states.

And from Bloomberg:

The action was taken today because of a story the Qatar- based broadcaster aired that the authority considered false, it said in an e-mailed statement.

“Al-Jazeera is suspended since it dedicates a wide portion of its coverage to incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization,” the Palestinian administration said, calling the action temporary.

The shutdown followed an interview Al-Jazeera conducted with Farouk al-Qaddumi, in which the longtime PLO official accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas [and, I should note, Mahmoud Dahlan] of collaborating with Israel to kill Yasser Arafat, who died in a French hospital in 2004.

And lastly, commentary from AbuKhalil:

Will the Committee to Protect Some Journalists issue a condemnation of the Abu Mazen-Dahlan gang for closing down AlJazeera offices in the West Bank? I very much doubt that and doubt that this important development will get any Western coverage. If the offices in Gaza were closed down by Hamas, the American TV networks would have interrupted their regular programming to broadcast the news. And the AlJazeera bureau chief in the West Bank is somebody with very moderate political views who is often criticized for being chatty with Israeli officials. But no one can deny his abilities and knowledge.