In Gaza, Terror Trumps Press Freedom

An explosion ripped through the Gaza office of pan-Arab news broadcaster al-Arabiya on Jan. 22. The bombing caused severe property damage, but luckily no injuries, as the station had recently shuttered the bureau after receiving numerous threats against its personnel.

What crime had the self-proclaimed “independent, self-empowered, informative and free-spirited satellite channel” committed to bring about such an attack? Al-Arabiya had the gall to broadcast a tape of Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismael Haniya asserting that “even if God sets conditions for us, we will reject this.” This blasphemy from the chief of the radical Islamist movement was not the type of PR that Hamas, already struggling with crippling economic conditions and the inability to forge a coalition government with its rival Fatah movement, needed at this time.

While Hamas officials denied involvement in the blast, few Palestinians seemed to pay their claim much heed, since Hamas had been condemning the station for days with spokesmen such as Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad calling the broadcast of the tape “a clear and deliberate defamation.”

Hamas has spent its year in power trying to rewrite the rules for media in the region. Gaza is overflowing with media outlets, almost all of which are associated with the various armed groups that fill the Strip. These opposing media outlets fan the sectarian divisions in Palestinian-run territories, at times even broadcasting calls to arms against opposing outfits. Hamas itself runs a plethora of media properties, including newspapers, magazines, Web sites, and radio and television outlets.

While Hamas leaders are quick to attack other groups and even independent media such as al-Arabiya, they hide behind a rhetoric of proclaimed press freedoms when they justify their attempts to spread the reach of their own media. Fathi Hamad, the director of the board of Hamas's al-Aqsa TV and a prominent Hamas leader, argued last year that “every free country has a range of media outlets which express unique viewpoints…Ultimately, we hope al-Aqsa TV will be a bridge between Hamas and the entire world, so we can have our own voice in the international media.”

Yet it is the Hamas-run station, al-Aqsa, which is the real cause for concern. Not only is the station run by an organization that is recognized by the United States, Israel, and the European Union as a terrorist group, but the programming on the station is modeled after Hezbollah's al-Manar, a station that has been banned by the American and European governments and that works as a support network for Hezbollah's terror goals.

Al-Aqsa is now set to become a Trojan horse in living rooms throughout the world, delivering propaganda and instructions to its followers and to potential recruits. Hamas has recently begun transmitting its hate broadcasts throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe via various satellite providers, bouncing around among platforms including Saudi-owned Arabsat and Egyptian-owned Nilesat (both of which also currently broadcast al-Manar), giving it direct access to Arabic-speaking audiences in numerous countries. Most of these governments have little interest in the fact that the station even exists, or that Hamas has previously used its sister media outlets to raise funds for the movement, to villainize the West and Jews, and to recruit civilians to work on its behalf.

Hamas media are not an example of a harmless political movement taking advantage of press freedoms to air unpopular positions. Rather, al-Aqsa and other Hamas outlets are part of the operational wing of a terrorist movement that has been specifically designed to circumvent laws against terrorist support and fundraising through the guise of seemingly legitimate media outlets.

Hamas leaders pay lip service to the idea of press freedom while refusing to adopt the most basic principles of the concept when given the opportunity. They demand that others allow their media outlets, crafted deliberately to further the goals of the terrorist movement, to operate freely, while systematically attacking legitimate media outlets that they see as a challenge to their grip on power. The hypocrisy would be laughable if their methods were not so notoriously violent.

Despite this, the international community should not ban Hamas's media from worldwide distribution on the basis of the duplicity of the movement. The concept of true freedom of the press does not allow for unilateral retribution, no matter how well deserved. The international community should not allow Hamas to spread its hate programming for a different reason, however: Freedom of the press is designed to protect speech, not fund-raising, recruitment and operational support for a designated terrorist movement.

The West may not be able to persuade Hamas to allow true press freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the foreseeable future, but it could help Hamas better understand the concept by making it an offer. Lay down your arms and be recognized as a legitimate political movement, or continue to skirt international law and remain drained of funding and access to the world's satellites.

Jonathan L. Snow is manager of research at the Coalition Against Terrorist Media, a project of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He is writing a book on Hamas media.