Al Jazeera Media Network 1 November 1996 following the closure of the first BBC Arabic language television station, then a joint venture with Orbit Communications Company, owned by Saudi King Fahd's cousin, Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud. The BBC channel had closed after a year and a half when the Saudi government attempted to thwart a documentary pertaining to executions under sharia law. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, provided a loan of QAR 500 million ($137 million) to sustain Al Jazeera through its first five years, as Hugh Miles detailed in his book "Al Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab
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,"