Irate Abbas Supporters Ransack al-Jazeera Studio

Al-Jazeera is feeling the wrath of Palestinians upset with its coverage of leaked papers related to negotiations with Israel. The documents—dubbed the Palestine Papers by the Arab channel—have proven to be an embarrassment to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas because they allege his team has offered big concessions to Israel. Today, armed men broke into an al-Jazeera studio in Nablus and smashed equipment, reports Reuters.

Earlier in the week, Abbas supporters demonstrated against al-Jazeera in Jericho and Ramallah. They say al-Jazeera has grossly distorted what's going on in negotiations and is running a "smear campaign" to discredit Abbas on behalf of Qatar, where the network is based. As Reuters explains, Qatar has ties to Hamas, the arch-enemy of Abbas' Palestinian Authority.
(More al-Jazeera stories.)