Gaza – Ma'an – The Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip issued an appeal to the media on Thursday, asking editors not to describe it as the al-muqalah government, translated as "dismissed" or "deposed."
While Ma'an English describes the government in Gaza as the "de facto government," most local and international Arabic news agencies use the "dismissed" or "deposed" to describe the technical position of the Hamas-lead authority.
The Ministry of Information in Gaza sent a memorandum to media outlets saying that "Using the term 'dismissed government' when talking about the Palestinian government in Gaza is political, biased and illegal, and reverses the facts."
It added: "It is clear to everyone that the 11th government is a national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the government that gained the confidence of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
"When Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] dismissed it, [the 11th unity government, his new appointed government in the West Bank] became a caretaker government until the formation a new government that will gain the confidence of the PLC."
The term "deposed government" is used by all the West Bank newspapers (Al-Hayat, Al-Quds, Al-Ayam) as well as the majority of news websites and wires (Ma'an Arabic, BBC Arabic, CNN Arabic, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurrah, Agence France-Presse Arabic) and the London-based Arabic daily paper Al-Quds Al-Araby. Al-Jazeera uses the term, but not exclusively, alternating with "Gaza government."
News outlets that do not use the term "deposed government" include the Gaza-based paper "Al-Filistinioun," which refers to Ismail Haniyeh as the leader of the government without qualifications, the Ramallah-based government's WAFA uses "Hamas" without using the term government at all, along with the Iran-based Al-Alam, which says "Gaza government."
The ministry's statement on the issue said that by using the word "deposed," it imposed an "illegal reality by terming all of the ministries in a similar way; dismissed Ministry of Health, dismissed Ministry of Education, dismissed security forces, and the dismissed Ministry of Information."
It added that news outlets must take a "serious stance" and proposed using the phrases "Palestinian government in Gaza," "the government in Gaza," or the "government headed by Ismail Haniyeh."
The statement conceded that officials in the coastal enclave "acknowledge the restrictions you are under, and do not demand you to use the term 'the Palestinian government' but we encourage you to use one of the alternative terms."
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