Palestinian protestors storm Al-Jazeera's Ramallah offices

Ahram Online and AFP, Monday 24 Jan 2011

Palestinian protestors broke into Al-Jazeera's Ramallah offices, graffiting the walls and breaking windows and cameras

Palestinian protesters have smashed windows and sprayed graffiti outside the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera TV channel in the West Bank on Monday.

Al-Jazeera aired late Sunday what it said were leaked documents showing that Palestinian leaders agreed to deep concessions on two of the thorniest issues in negotiations with Israel: Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo accused the station on Monday of misleading viewers to discredit Palestinian leaders.

Claims that Palestinian security forces entered Al-Jazeera’s Ramallah offices were tweeted by Al-Jazeera English's correspondent Alan Fisher earlier Monday, followed by a message that an ‘angry crowd’ had assembled outside the offices.

According to AFP, the protesters, who numbered around 250, gathered outside Al-Jazeera' seventh floor office in Ramallah.

A small group then broke security cameras, windows and station logos outside the building. The graffiti read "Al-Jazeera are spies," and "Al-Jazeera equals Israel." Police removed them and prevented people from entering the building.

Fisher later tweeted that Al-Jazeera staff was ‘ok’.

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