1. The episode of the children's program called “Brilliant Children,” ¹ broadcast by Hamas's satellite channel Al-Aqsa TV on April 2, featured a puppet of a Palestinian child stabbing a puppet of American President Bush. The child said he was killing Bush in revenge for the deaths of his father in Iraq , his mother in Lebanon and his brothers and sisters by the “Zionist criminals” in the “ Gaza holocaust.” ²

“…and my little sisters and my big sisters, you and the Zionist criminals killed them in the Gaza holocaust.”		“I’ll kill you Bush, because that is your fate, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!”
The child puppet threatens to kill the President Bush puppet in revenge for the death of his family in Iraq , Lebanon and the Gaza Strip (Al-Aqsa TV, April 2).

2. The American media (AP, the New York Daily News and MSNBC-TV) were quick to report on the program at length. In response, one of Al-Aqsa TV's commentators, who participated in its production, justified the choice of a Palestinian child to kill Bush by saying that “Bush is a murderer and the leader of the wars in the area.” In addition, he said that “Bush has turned thousands of children into orphans by delivering his weapons to Israel .” He said that the program's message was simple: “The reward is a result of the deed” [i.e.,“An eye for an eye”] (Islamonline.net, April 2).

3. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum expressed surprise at the media storm provoked by the program and rejected the accusations that the movement's media encouraged children to kill. He said that the program merely expressed the sentiments of the children in the Gaza Strip and their reaction to the “Israeli holocaust” which President Bush had justified and supported. He said that “[The Americans] were ready to move heaven and earth when they saw the representation of a Palestinian child express his rage at American policy, which imposes an blockade [on the Gaza Strip] and permits killing…while their media did not express any criticism of the genuine and premeditated killing of more than 30 children in three days.”

4. Al-Aqsa TV customarily broadcasts children's programs with incitement to hatred for Israel and the West and encouraging terrorism. For example, on September 3, 2007, at the beginning of the school year, the same program “Brilliant Children” showed a video of a child called “Ahmed” (to symbolize all Palestinian children), whose field of expertise was described as jihad (holy war.) The “brilliant” child, as a jihad fighter , appeared in the video wearing a uniform and a mask, holding a toy rifle and carrying out military exercises. In the background comments could be heard such as “the homeland is dear to us, we will restore it with our strength, with our childhood, with our bravery and steadfastness…” ³

The child as jihad fighter (The children's TV show “Brilliant Children”,
Al-Aqsa TV, September 3, 2007).

5. Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV broadcasts its programs, rife with radical Islamic ideology and anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish and anti-American incitement, by means of two Arab communications satellites, Nilesat and Arabsat . The broadcasts are received in the Middle East, parts of Africa and south Europe . Fathi Hamad , Hamas activist and the channel's general manager, recently said that he intended to extend its reception area by broadcasting via the European satellite “ Hot Bird ” ⁴ (which also broadcasts Al-Jazeera TV) (Qudspress News Agency, February 20). So far, that has not been carried out .

Arabsat : Established in 1976 by the 21 member countries of the Arab League, today it is the ninth largest satellite company in the world. According to company reports, it has 164 million viewers who receive broadcasts from four satellites. It is in strategic partnership with most of the world's communications satellite companies. Its main offices are in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia . It also has transmitters in Dubai , Cairo and Paris . Nilesat : An Egyptian company established in 1996. It has two satellites which broadcast mainly to the Middle East, north and central Africa and south Europe .