BBC Monitoring

Text of report by Palestinian Filastin al-An website on 10 June; subheadings as published

    The official Palestine Television is Palestinian in name, but biased in performance. It is clearly biased towards one side at the expense of the other, even if it has to fabricate news, falsify facts and broadcast news that inflames the Palestinian arena.

    Palestine TV's media coverage of the details of the regrettable events that recently took place in our internal arena, in terms of its bad and destructive effect, is clearer than the midday sun. It not only took the side of one party against the other, but also carried out obvious incitement and intentional instigation of public opinion against a specific side.

    At a time when the ugliest crimes are committed against Hamas members and the citizens who are proud of their Islamic identity, and in the face of the crimes of execution implemented by the gangs of Lahad's army [reference to Antoine Lahad, Lebanese leader of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army] under Abbas - the most recent being the execution of citizen Husam Abu-Qunnays by throwing him from the top of a multistorey housing complex in Gaza for the sin of growing his beard - we find that Palestine TV does not do anything.

Covering the Lahadist crimes

    While these brutal crimes are being committed, we find that the official Palestine TV is broadcasting an Egyptian film starring actor Nur al-Sharif and actress Dalal Abd-al-Aziz.

    It is as if this is TV living in another world, as if the Palestinian arena is experiencing the best security conditions and security is available to citizens so that they have started to look for recreation and watching films.

    Observers consider that this step comes in the context of covering up the crimes committed by Lahad's army in Palestine. This army consists of mercenaries from Fatah, from the preventive security services, and the guards of President Abbas. It is a clear attempt to falsify facts for public consumption.

    This TV was not satisfied with this. It has also become a tool of incitement against Hamas, the Palestinian government and the Executive Force under the Ministry of the Interior. Hamas or the Executive Force is quickly blamed for the causes and results of the events as a result of Fatah's internal disputes or the settlement of personal accounts. Palestine TV today [11 June] was quick to accuse the Executive Force of throwing a member of Lahad's army from a multistorey housing complex.

Inflaming the arena

    For its part, the Executive Force called on Palestine TV, which it said was supposed to speak in the name of all the Palestinians and not in the name of "a mercenary group," to stop accusing the Executive Force of every event without having any evidence.

    The Executive Force accused Palestine TV of "adding fuel to the fire as if it aims to inflame the internal arena." The Force added: "Despite the killing and abduction that we face every day by the coupist movement, we will always remain as our people know us - namely, the defenders of the Palestinian people without discrimination. We will not allow this group to drag us into infighting that only benefits the occupation."

    Source: Filastin al-An website, in Arabic 10 Jun 07