US-based Palestinian journalist allowed back on Twitter

Said Arikat, a Washington correspondent for Jerusalem-based news outlet al-Quds, says he has been reinstated on Twitter after being kicked off nearly a month ago.

Arikat, known for acting as a persistent gadfly at State Department briefings, has claimed he did not know why his account was suspended and says he still has not received any answer after the account was returned today.

“After 4 weeks of being suspended on twitter, 4 reasons still unknown to me, my account was reinstated this afternoon,” he tweets.

Two recent articles in the right-wing Jewish mediasphere had highlighted Arikat’s role at the briefings, where he consistently presses State Department officials on US support for Israel and other issues related to the Palestinians.

Al-Quds had also been suspended from Facebook this month, but was reinstated last week.

Since being taken over by Elon Musk, Twitter has repeatedly been accused of removing journalists and others from the site for arbitrary reasons or in response to personal vendettas.