In at least one realm, the recent reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah appears to have taken hold: children’s television. Both Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah, which governs the West Bank Palestinian Authority (PA), have produced children’s programming teaching that there is no such country as Israel, reports Palestinian Media Watch.
There is currently no substantive difference between official Palestinian Authority and Hamas TV programming for children when it comes to not recognizing Israel’s existence and envisioning a future without Israel. Both Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas’ PA teach children to ignore Israel’s existence, emphatically reject Israel’s right to exist, and anticipate its eventual destruction and replacement by “Palestine.”
Since reconciliation between Hamas and the PA was announced several weeks ago, the same “no Israel” message has been taught repeatedly, including on both PA TV children’s program, Best Home, and on a Hamas children’s program, Tomorrow’s Pioneers.
In one instance on PA TV, the moderator held up a drawing of a map of Israel and the Palestinian Authority areas and said:
“Can you see the map of Palestine? All of it will return to us, Allah willing. All of this map will return to us.”
In another, the PA TV host said:
“Who told you we will forget [Israeli cities] Haifa, Jaffa, Acre and Jerusalem? We will never forget them – we won’t forget any of our beautiful cities occupied by the occupation. We will return to them one day. They will return to us one day, my children friends.”
In another instance, the PA TV host said:
“I want to tell you, my children friends, that the land that was stolen from us – the occupied land – will return to us one day… (adding later) the Ramle district (i.e., central Israel), our stolen lands, our occupied lands to which we will return one day.
A Hamas TV program educated children to reject Israel’s existence by asking a young girl questions about capital cities in the Middle East. When asked about Israel’s capital, the girl made a sign with her hand rejecting the existence of such and responded: “There is no Israel – Palestine.” The host responded: “There isn’t. You’re so clever, sweetie.”
Host: “What is the capital of Palestine?”
Very young girl: “Al-Quds [Jerusalem].” …
Child host: “And Egypt?”
Girl: “Cairo.”
Child host: “Cairo, good. Israel?”
Girl [makes gesture of negation with her hand]: “There is no Israel – Palestine.”…
Host: “There is no Israel – only Palestine. Superb.”
Nahul the bee: “It doesn’t exist, doesn’t exist. Excellent…”
Host: “Speak up, speak up. Tell me again, does Israel have a capital?” …
Girl: “There is no Israel – Palestine.”
Host: “There isn’t. You’re so clever, sweetie.”
In another instance of incitement on Hamas children’s programming, a TV host and a cuddly puppet on the show encouraged a child to “shoot all the Jews.”