Al-Watan (lit. 'The Homeland') was a weekly publication byHamas until its closure in February 1996 after repeated pressure and suspensions by the Palestinian Authority.
Al-Watan was one of the most important opposition periodicals published in thePalestinian Authority (PA)-controlled areas. PA officials used the ambiguity of the 1995 Palestinian press law and control over granting news licenses to temper criticism and silence opposition voices, includingal-Watan.[1]
In 1995, the PA twice suspendedal-Watan for 3-month periods, beginning in May and in August, without explanation. According to the publication's editor, the August suspension followed the publication byal-Watan of an article stating thatYasir Arafat had accepted money for allowing a European news agency to publish a photograph of his infant daughter.[2]
In May 1995,al-Watan's editor Sayed Musa Abu Musameh was sentenced to prison for 2 years by the state security court in Gaza on charges of incitement against the PA. When the ban onal-Watan was lifted in October 1995, he was still in prison.[3] In February 1996, Palestinian authorities closedal-Watan along withal-Istiqlal, the press organ ofPalestinian Islamic Jihad.[4]Al-Watan was permanently closed in early 1996 following a series of Hamas bombings in Israel.[1]
Subsequently, Hamas affiliateIslamic Salvation Party began publishingal-Risala ('The Message') on 1 January 1997, which while critical of the PA, avoided issues considered too incendiary. Hamas officialGhazi Hamad, chief editor ofal-Watan, became head ofal-Risala.[1]
Al-Risala was closed by the Palestinian Authority repeatedly by the PA for its criticism of Yasir Arafat at theOslo peace process.[5] In 1997, it was shut down by the PA after it published an article on Egypt's support of the PA deemed offensive to Egyptian presidentHosni Mubarak. Supreme Court Chief JusticeQusai Abdallah was forced to resign in January 1998 after giving an interview toal-Risala.[1] In 2004,al-Risala was described as the main opposition newspaper in Gaza against the PA.[5]
In 2011, the Palestinian Authority barred pro-Hamas publications likeal-Risala andAs'ada magazine from being brought into the West Bank and did not permit the publications to operate bureaus in the area. The bans were criticized byHuman Rights Watch.[6]
