Al-Aqsa TV () is a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

channel run by

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, which is based in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. Its programs include news and propaganda promoting Hamas, children's shows, and religiously inspired entertainment. It is currently directed by Fathi Hamad, who is a member of the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

and

Interior Minister of the Gaza Strip The Interior Minister in the Gaza Strip is an office created in June 2007, following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, that left the Ramallah-based version of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) as the Palestinian leadership in only the ...

. The channel is named after

Al-Aqsa Al-Aqsa (; ) or al-Masjid al-Aqṣā () and also is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock, many mosques and ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

History

The station began broadcasting in the

on 9 January 2006, after Hamas won a decisive victory in the

2006 Palestinian legislative election Legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories on 25 January 2006 in order to elect the second Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The result was a victory for Hama ...

. 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.Hamas TV station shut down
, news24.com, January 22, 2006 On 29 December 2008, during the

Gaza War The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Israeli aircraft repeatedly bombed the television station headquarters in

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

. The building was completely destroyed, but the station continued to broadcast from a mobile TV unit. On 29 July 2014, during the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

, 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, though it later returned to the air. In September 2016, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

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." 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. In 2019 after the

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

assessed that al-Aqsa TV used coded messages to recruit operatives to Hamas; and the Israeli

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

has designated al-Aqsa TV a terrorist organization.

Criticism

In May 2013, al-Aqsa TV became the focus of media scrutiny after a decision by the

Newseum The Newseum (April 18, 1997–March 3, 2002 and April 11, 2008–December 31, 2019) was an American museum located first in Rosslyn, Virginia, and later at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C., dedicated to news and journalism that ...

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. The U.S. government classifies al-Aqsa TV as being controlled by Hamas, a "

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

," 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." 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. Following complaints by Israeli watchdog groups that triggered international scrutiny, Palestinian Information Minister

Mustafa Barghouti Mustafa Barghouti ( ; born 1 January 1954) is a Palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), also known as al-Mubadara, and head of the Palestinian Medical Relie ...

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.Al Aqsa TV defies Hamas government
,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, May 13, 2007. In May 2008, Basem Naim, the

minister of health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

in the Hamas government in Gaza, responded to allegations of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Al-Aqsa TV programmes. In his letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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. In response, ''The Guardian'' columnist

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chancello ...

wrote that Al-Aqsa TV cannot be a media institution independent of Hamas, 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 The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...

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”.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al Aqsa Tv Hamas Mass media in Palestine Television stations in Palestine Arab mass media Arabic-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2006 2006 establishments in Palestine Mass media in Gaza City Television in Palestine Attacks on mass media offices in Asia Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Television networks in Palestine Conservative media Palestinian entities subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Propaganda in Palestine

History

Criticism

See also

References

External links