How Palestinian TV is Covering the War
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
FrontPageMagazine.com | 12/29/2008
As events in Gaza unfold, Palestinian Media Watch monitors the incitement and hatred pouring forth on Hamas Television. Below are several dispatches from the front, which tell a much different story than the one reported in the Western media. -- The Editors.
Hamas Celebrates Targeting Israeli Civilians
Along with today's TV propaganda in which Hamas depicts itself as a victim, Hamas continues to portray itself as the heroic killer of Israelis.
A video on Hamas TV this morning blended pictures of Hamas fighters shooting at Israel with pictures of injured Israelis and medical evacuation scenes.
In addition, the visuals include pictures of skulls dripping with blood, captioned: "Let them taste violent death."
Other narrations and texts include:
* "Send them to Hell! Tear them to pieces!"
* "Send them to Hell, Qassam missile!"
Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Dec. 28, 2008.
Hamas TV: 180 Killed are from Hamas Armed Forces
Hamas TV acknowledged this morning that the vast majority of those killed are from the Hamas military. A news ticker running repeatedly from 10:00 AM announced:
More than 180 Palestinian policemen were killed including the [Police] Commander, General Tawfik Jaber.
In the background Hamas TV is repeatedly broadcasting the same scenes of dozens of bodies of the uniformed Hamas soldiers who were killed in Israel's first attack yesterday when Israel hit the Hamas officer's course graduation ceremony.
Hamas TV, Dec. 28, 2008.
Hamas TV: Ahmadinejad Threatens Israel Over Gaza Events
Hamas TV reported that Iranian President Ahmadinejad threatened Israel in response to Israel's attack on Hamas. The Hamas TV news ticker reported numerous times:
The President of Iran [Ahmadinejad]: These crimes will not change the Zionist entity's condition. Rather, its situation will be even blacker and its fate even worse.
Iran's support of the Hamas is not surprising as Hamas is a major supplier of weapons for Hamas and Hamas military units have undergone training in Iran.
Hamas TV, Dec. 28, 2008.
Mahmoud Abbas: Hamas Responsible for Violence
In a news conference today from Cairo, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas placed the blame for the violence in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. He described how he repeatedly made contact with Hamas and implored them not to break the ceasefire. He lamented that the violence in the Gaza Strip could have been avoided had Hamas not broken the ceasefire.
The following is Mahmoud Abbas's statement at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit.
I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side... We spoke with them on the telephone and we said to them: We ask of you, don't stop the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop, in order to avoid what has happened, and if only we had avoided it.
PA TV Dec. 28, 2008.
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