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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: January 10, 2006 |
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The Islamic Hamas terrorist group has launched a TV station in the Gaza Strip, a first step toward setting up a satellite station like the one Hezbollah guerrillas run in Lebanon, Hamas officials said Monday.
The Al Aqsa Television station is being set up just weeks before the Palestinians' Jan. 25 parliamentary election, and if up and running in time, could help Hamas in its campaign, analysts said. Hamas presents a serious challenge to the ruling Fatah party, which has led the Palestinian Authority since its establishment in 1994.
Fathi Hamad, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the station has been in the making for the past six months, and will be on a trial period for three to six months.
"The aim of this step is to establish Islamic culture and an ideological, scientific and political vision that is in tandem with the spirit of Islam, and to spread information about important issues," he told reporters.
The station broadcast a half-hour of readings from the Islamic holy book, the Quran, on Sunday, but nothing else due to technical difficulties, said a Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the issue.
During down times, a picture of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, one of Islam's holiest shrines, fills the screen.
Once officially launched, Al Aqsa Television will be the first private station in Gaza. Hamas says it wants the station to be high-tech and modern, not like the stodgy, state-run Arab stations.
Hezbollah's Al Manar TV has reporters throughout the Middle East, who cover events on location. When Hezbollah attacks Israeli targets, Al Manar often broadcasts images of the strike.
Hamas' Al Aqsa Television will seek to do similar things. The Hamas official said the station aims to carry the group's message to the Palestinian people and to the world.
"Politically and from a freedom of expression point of view, every party is entitled to have whichever medium it sees fit, to present its political programs and promote them," said Moheib Nawati, a political analyst in Gaza.
The AP contributed to this report. |
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