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Hamas government bankrupt, leaders invest in web sites

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

TEL AVIV — The ruling Hamas movement has invested millions of dollars in a media upgrade, a report said.

The Israeli government-aligned Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said Hamas has upgraded its television station and Internet sites. The center said in a Feb. 23 report that the effort reflected the increasing role of media in Hamas's strategy, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Hamas recently upgraded its TV station and Internet sites," the report said. "Although the Hamas government is bankrupt, the movement has invested massive sums in improving its propaganda assets, aware of their importance in the battle for hearts and minds against Israel and against its opponents in the internal Palestinian arena."

Hamas has created a portal for its most important websites, the report said. The movement's Palestine-info's new homepage contains sites in Arabic, English, Farsi, French, Malaysian, Russian and Urdu, regarded as Hamas priorities.

In October 2006, Hamas began operating a satellite broadcasting station entitled Light of Al Aqsa and upgraded its website system. Both media assets have encouraged Islamic strikes against Israel as well as maligned rivals in the Palestinian Authority, such as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah security chief Mohammed Dahlan.

The report said Hamas received the money for the upgrade from Arab and Muslim countries. The report did not elaborate.

"Most of its sites are administered from Lebanon and their contents are dictated by Hamasin Damascus," the report said. "Some of them, however, are handled in the Gaza Strip."

The Hamas website highlights its leader, Khaled Masha'al, followed by his deputy Mussa Abu Marzouk. The Arabic version of the Palestine-info has a link to suicide bombers, portrayed as heroes.

The English website was termed a "moderate" version of Hamas's website and meant for the West. Still, the English site praises suicide bombing attacks, including one in which 23 Israelis were killed.

The Executive Force of Hamas also has a website, tanfithya.com. The site includes a banner with news about the Executive Force. The site has been hosted and supported by the Defender Technologies Group, located in Virginia.

The new Hamas channel broadcasts to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab states. The station operates 24 hours a day through ArabSat, owned mostly by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

"During its first months most of the broadcasts were devoted to religious programs in the spirit of Hamas's radical Islamic ideology, although the field was widened to include politics," the report said.

"Today, many of the programs include incitement against Israel and document the activities of Hamas's and the other organization's terrorist-operative wings."


Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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