Palestinian media spurring wave of terror
Since the beginning of the current terror wave, Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV and other Palestinian networks have been devoting nearly all their programming to lauding attacks and 'martyrs'.
Hamas' popular television channel Al Aqsa, which broadcasts to every home in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has been devoting nearly all of its air time over the past four months to encouraging attacks and keeping the flame of the current terror wave burning.
Interviews with relatives of terrorists are a daily occurrence. "I am the mother of the heroic martyr Muataz Qasim, who was killed in an heroic act near the village of Jaba," the mother of one terrorist told the channel. "Muataz was a kind, young, handsome man, who never hurt anyone and always loved the al-Aqsa Mosque. In fact, his favorite thing in the world was the al-Aqsa Mosque."
To complete the picture, the heads of the station, based in the Gaza Strip, set up a new studio decorated with burning tires, barbed wire and a wall of graffiti showing Palestinians holding knives and stones. The station's hosts wear black and white keffiyehs to show solidarity with Palestinians who confront the IDF.
Al-Aqsa TV's programming is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the incitement raging in Palestinian media in general and in recent months in particular. Channels such as Palestine al-Yom and al-Quds carry daily broadcasts with short interludes that unequivocally encourage attacks against Israelis.
One clip shows the bodies of all female Palestinian terrorists that were killed while attempting stabbing attacks. It ended with the caption: "We swear to take revenge for Raqiya Abu Eid" (the girl who attempted to carry out a stabbing attack last Saturday at Anathoth and was shot and killed). Alongside the caption was an image of a bloody knife.
Another video incorporates the funerals of terrorists while in the background there is a song praising them. There are, of course, endless clips dedicated to specific terrorists that are presented as almost superhuman heroes. Moreover, the news of every attack is carried live with songs of joy and praise to the martyrs.
And then there are videos designed to sow hatred of IDF soldiers and settlers. The videos usually show staged situations in which actors play settlers or soldiers abusing, humiliating or shooting innocent Palestinians at checkpoints, markets or in the street.
At the beginning of the terror wave, official Palestinian television broadcasted inflammatory programs, but a direct order given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a few week ago led to a decrease in the level of on-air incitement.
