al-Aqsa TV

{{Infobox television channel

| name = Al-Aqsa TV

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| launch_date = {{Start date|2006|01|09|df=y}}

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| network = al-Aqsa Media Network

| owner = Hamas

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| country = Palestine

| language = Arabic

| area = Middle East, Webcast

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| headquarters = Gaza

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| website = {{URL|http://aqsatv.ps}} (ar)

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Al-Aqsa TV ({{langx|ar|قناة الأقصى}}) is a television channel run by Hamas,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7807124.stm |title=Hamas leader killed in air strike |publisher=BBC |date=2009-01-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104073652/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7807124.stm |archive-date=2009-01-04 }} which is based in the Gaza Strip. Its programs include news and propaganda promoting Hamas,[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4559009,00.html "Subtle voices of dissent surface in ...."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816050046/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4559009,00.html |date=2014-08-16 }} Ynetnews. 15 August 2014. 15 August 2014 children's shows, and religiously inspired entertainment.{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5186883 |access-date=2006-02-03 |title=Hamas Launches Television Network |publisher=NPR |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427063105/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5186883 |archive-date=2006-04-27 }} It is currently directed by Fathi Hamad, who is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1551265/Anti-Israel-%27Mickey-Mouse%27-row-escalates.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505090232/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1551265/Anti-Israel-%27Mickey-Mouse%27-row-escalates.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-05-05| access-date=2007-05-11 |title=Anti-Israel 'Mickey Mouse' row escalates | publisher=The Telegraph | location=London | first=Tim | last=Butcher | date=2007-05-11}} and Interior Minister of the Gaza Strip. The channel is named after Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.

History

The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on 9 January 2006,{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/international-extremism-terrorism/c/al-aqsa-tv-hamas.html |access-date=11 January 2017 |title=Terrorism: Al Aqsa TV |date=13 May 2013 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112220351/http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/international-extremism-terrorism/c/al-aqsa-tv-hamas.html |archive-date=12 January 2017 }} after Hamas won a decisive victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. On 22 January 2006, the Palestinian public prosecutor Ahmed Maghni moved to close down the al-Aqsa television station because it did not have the necessary broadcast license, but the decision was never enforced.[http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1867389,00.html Hamas TV station shut down] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009220331/http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0%2C%2C2-10-1462_1867389%2C00.html |date=2007-10-09 }}, news24.com, January 22, 2006

On 29 December 2008, during the Gaza War, Israeli aircraft repeatedly bombed the television station headquarters in Gaza City. The building was completely destroyed,{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/27/gaza.israel.strikes/index.html| access-date=2008-12-28 |title=Hundreds dead, injured in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes continue | publisher=CNN | date=2008-12-28| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081230143944/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/27/gaza.israel.strikes/index.html| archive-date= 30 December 2008 | url-status= live}} but the station continued to broadcast from a mobile TV unit.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

On 29 July 2014, during the 2014 Gaza War, an Israeli air strike hit a media building housing al-Aqsa TV and Al-Aqsa Radio in the centre of Gaza City early in the morning. The television station continued to broadcast, but the radio station went silent,{{Cite web|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/10997026/Israel-Gaza-conflict-massive-explosions-as-air-strikes-hit-Hamas-media-building.html|title= Israel-Gaza conflict: massive explosions as air strikes hit Hamas media building|access-date= 2014-07-29|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140729100856/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/10997026/Israel-Gaza-conflict-massive-explosions-as-air-strikes-hit-Hamas-media-building.html|archive-date= 2014-07-29}} though it later returned to the air.{{Cite web|url= https://twitter.com/AqsaTVChannel/status/494033193574875136|title= Twitter account for AqsaTVChannel|access-date= 2014-07-29|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140819174228/https://twitter.com/AqsaTVChannel/status/494033193574875136|archive-date= 2014-08-19}}

In September 2016, the U.S. Department of State named Hamad a Specially Designated Terrorist in his role as the director of Al-Aqsa TV, which the U.S. said aired "programs designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers."{{cite news |last1=Balousha |first1=Hazem |title=Palestinian leader says he is proud to be branded a 'global terrorist' by U.S. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinian-leader-says-he-is-proud-to-be-branded-a-global-terrorist-by-us/2016/09/18/d2aac6c8-492f-4040-8b76-2c0a37ea4653_story.html |access-date=5 December 2023 |date=2016-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207183610/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinian-leader-says-he-is-proud-to-be-branded-a-global-terrorist-by-us/2016/09/18/d2aac6c8-492f-4040-8b76-2c0a37ea4653_story.html |archive-date=2020-12-07}}

On 12 November 2018, Israel bombed the station building after launching at least five non-exploding missiles nearby as warnings to evacuate followed a surge in cross-border fighting.{{Cite news |title=Israel bombs Hamas TV station in Gaza after warning calls, shots |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-palestinians-violence-tv/israel-bombs-hamas-tv-station-in-gaza-after-warning-calls-shots-idUKKCN1NH2A3/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |work=Reuters}}

In 2019 after the Shin Bet assessed that al-Aqsa TV used coded messages to recruit operatives to Hamas;{{cite news |last=Hacohen |first=Hagai |date=February 13, 2019 |title=Hamas Attempts to Recruit West Bank, Jerusalem Residents - Via Satellite |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Hamas-attempts-to-recruit-West-Bank-Jerusalem-residents-via-satellite-580520 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=March 7, 2019}} and the Israeli Ministry of Defense has designated al-Aqsa TV a terrorist organization.{{cite news |last=Rubenstein |first=Sara |date=March 6, 2019 |title=Netanyahu Declares Hamas's al-Aqsa TV a Terrorist Organization |url=https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/gaza-news/Netanyahu-declares-Hamass-Al-Aqsa-TV-a-terrorist-organization-582599 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=March 7, 2019}}

Criticism

In May 2013, al-Aqsa TV became the focus of media scrutiny after a decision by the Newseum to honor two al-Aqsa TV members as part of its ongoing memorial to journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2012.{{cite web |title=Spotlight On Al Aqsa Television |url=http://blog.adl.org/international/spotlight-on-al-aqsa-television|publisher=Anti-Defemation League|access-date=13 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816044531/http://blog.adl.org/international/spotlight-on-al-aqsa-television|archive-date=16 August 2013}} The U.S. government classifies al-Aqsa TV as being controlled by Hamas, a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," and states that it "will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself."{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg594.aspx|title=Treasury Designates Gaza-Based Business, Television Station for Hamas Ties|website=www.treasury.gov|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091936/http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg594.aspx|archive-date=2014-10-06}}

According to the American Jewish and Zionist organisation, the Anti-Defamation League, Al-Aqsa TV promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis and much of its programming glorifying violence is geared towards children.

Tomorrow's Pioneers, a children's television show produced by the network, received criticism due to its promotion of antisemitic and violent themes.{{cite news |last1=Küntzel |first1=Matthias |title='Wipe Out the Jews' : Anti-Semitic Hate Speech in the Name of Islam |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/wipe-out-the-jews-anti-semitic-hate-speech-in-the-name-of-islam-a-553724.html |access-date=30 March 2024 |work=Der Spiegel |date=16 May 2008}} Following complaints by Israeli watchdog groups that triggered international scrutiny, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said he had asked Al-Aqsa TV to stop broadcasts so the content could be reviewed. Despite Barghouti's call, Tomorrow's Pioneers went on air as usual.[http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/05/13/10124830.html Al Aqsa TV defies Hamas government] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207060357/http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/05/13/10124830.html |date=2008-12-07 }}, Reuters, May 13, 2007.

In May 2008, Basem Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas government in Gaza, responded to allegations of antisemitism in Al-Aqsa TV programmes. In his letter to The Guardian, Naim stated that the Al-Aqsa Channel is an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Hamas government or the Hamas movement.{{cite news | first= Bassem | last= Naeem | title= Hamas condemns the Holocaust | date= 2008-05-15 | work= The Guardian | url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/12/hamascondemnstheholocaust/ | location= London | url-status= live | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161201173227/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/12/hamascondemnstheholocaust | archive-date= 2016-12-01 }} In response, The Guardian columnist Alan Johnson wrote that Al-Aqsa TV cannot be a media institution independent of Hamas,{{cite news | first=Alan | last=Johnson | title=Hamas and antisemitism | date=2008-05-15 | work=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/15/hamasandantisemitism | location=London | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119091754/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/15/hamasandantisemitism | archive-date=2017-01-19 }} because it is headed by Fathi Hamad, chairman of a Hamas-run company that also produces the Hamas radio station and its bi-weekly newspaper, and because, since 2007, Hamas had blocked Palestinian National Authority broadcasts into Gaza, which indicated that there is no independent media in Gaza.

About reporting, Ibrahim Daher, a director at Al-Aqsa media operation, said they may not broadcast certain news. He said “If there was bad news during the war, or something went wrong, we just kept silent about it” and “now we mostly keep silent about the blockade, and that Hamas wasn't able to lift it during the war”.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hamas-radio-station-in-gaza-reports-on-the-sunny-side-of-islamist-movements-rule/2014/09/28/cf533106-c8b2-47ab-9c6f-1f1acc075ca3_story.html|title=Hamas radio station in Gaza reports on the sunny side of Islamist movement's rule|access-date=14 January 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 September 2014|last=McCoy|first=Terrence|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224000209/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hamas-radio-station-in-gaza-reports-on-the-sunny-side-of-islamist-movements-rule/2014/09/28/cf533106-c8b2-47ab-9c6f-1f1acc075ca3_story.html|archive-date=24 February 2015}}