| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas ratchets up its rhetoric against Jews |
| 2008-04-02 |
| In the Katib Wilayat mosque one recent Friday, the imam was discussing the wiliness of the Jew. "Jews are a people who cannot be trusted," Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas told the faithful. "They have been traitors to all agreements. Go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing. Look what they are doing to us." At Al Omari mosque, the imam cursed the Jews and the "Crusaders," or Christians, and the Danes, for reprinting cartoons of Muhammad. He referred to Jews as "the brothers of apes and pigs." The Hamas television station, Al Aksa, is harsher. It praises suicide bombing and holy war until Palestine is free of Jewish control. Its videos praise fighters and rocket-launching teams; its broadcasts insult the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for talking to Israel and the United States; its children's programs praise "martyrdom," teach the perfidy of the Jews and the need to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, meaning any part of the state of Israel. Such incitement against Israel and Jews was supposed to be banned under the 1993 Oslo accords and the 2003 "road map" to peace. While the Palestinian Authority under Fatah has made significant, if imperfect, efforts to end incitement, Hamas, no party to those agreements, feels no such restraint. Since Hamas routed Fatah and took over Gaza last June, sermons and media preaching violence and hatred have become more pervasive, extreme and sophisticated, on the model of Hezbollah in Lebanon and its Al Manar television. Designed to indoctrinate the young to its brand of radical Islam, the programs of Al Aksa television and radio, including key Friday sermons, are an indication of how far from reconciliation Israelis and many Palestinians are. Hamas's grip on Gaza matters, but what may matter more in the long run is its control over propaganda and education there. No matter what Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agree, there is concern here that the attitudes being instilled will make a sustainable peace extremely difficult. "If you take a sample on Friday, you're bound to hear incitement against the Jews in the prayers and the imam's sermon," said Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University here. "He uses verses from the Koran to say how the Jews were the enemies of the prophet and didn't keep their promises to the prophet 1,400 years ago." Abusada is a Muslim and political independent. "You have young people and everyone has to listen to the imam whether you believe him or not. By saying the same thing over and over, you find a lot of people believing it, especially when he cites the Koran or hadith," the sayings of the prophet. Radwan Abu Ayyash, deputy minister of culture in Ramallah, ran the Palestinian Broadcasting Company until 2005. Hamas "uses religious language to motivate simple people for political as well as religious goals," he said. "People don't distinguish between the two." He said he finds a lot of what Al Aksa broadcasts "disgusting and unprofessional." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Radwan Abu Ayyash, deputy minister of culture in Ramallah, ran the Palestinian Broadcasting Company until 2005. Hamas "uses religious language to motivate simple people for political as well as religious goals," he said. "People don't distinguish between the two." He said he finds a lot of what Al Aksa broadcasts "disgusting and unprofessional." Glad he said that. even if motivated only by Hamas fatah rivalry for power, good things are being said on the West Bank. Probably only said it in English, though. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-04-02 11:30 |
| #1 the programs of Al Aksa television and radio, including key Friday sermons, are an indication of how far from reconciliation Israelis and many Palestinians are. Nonsense. The programs and sermons are an indication of how lunatic the Palestinians are. These programs say nothing at all about Israelis, other than that Israel has deeply warped neighbors. And note the qualification "many Palestinians" meaning not all Palestinians are like this - but no such qualification before "Israelis". |
| Posted by: Gleatch BenGurion4128 2008-04-02 08:17 |