Al Jazeera controversies and criticism a week of the start of the rebellion in Libya against the Libyan Government, Al Jazeera started using the rebels' tricolor flag to mark its coverage. Qatar's emir appeared on Al Jazeera and urged that military intervention in Libya was necessary. Al Jazeera's journalists were criticized for not challenging the emir over his position. Although Al Jazeera reported on 22 February 2011 that Libya's government carried out airstrikes on Benghazi and Tripoli, observers concluded that the airstrikes did not take place. Saudi Arabia decided to ban Al-Jazeera and another Qatari website after Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani stated
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,"