Al Jazeera 500 million Qatari riyals (US$137 million) from the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa. By securing its funding through loans or grants rather than direct government subsidies, the channel seeks to maintain independent editorial policy. The channel began broadcasting in late 1996, with many staff joining from the BBC World Service's Saudi-co-owned Arabic-language TV station, which had shut down on 1 April 1996 after two years of operation because of censorship demands by the Saudi Arabian government. The Al Jazeera logo is a decorative representation of the network's name written using Arabic calligraphy. It was selected by the station's
Al Jazeera controversies and criticism Al Jazeera's official broadcasting rights. The British newspaper "The Guardian" reported that evidence points toward jamming by the Jordanian government. As a major news outlet in the Middle East, Al Jazeera's editorial positions are often subject to increased levels of scrutiny. During the Second Intifada Palestinians killed by Israelis were referred to as 'martyrs' while Israelis killed by Palestinians were not. On the 2008 release in an Israel-Hezbollah deal of Samir Kuntar, who had murdered Four Israelis in 1979, including a 4-year-old girl, Al Jazeera Arabic threw him a party: "Brother Samir, we wish to celebrate your birthday with you,"