Palestinian Children’s Show Sparks Anger in Washington

Incensed that the Palestinian Authority has not pulled the plug on children’s television shows glorifying violence against Israelis, the U.S. Congress is set to ban all American support for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.

Lawmakers hope that the symbolic move — the State Department actually ended financial support to the network three years ago — will send a signal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat that the United States will not stand by while a new generation of Palestinians are taught the glory of violence.

Before leaving for its August recess the Senate, by a 99-0 vote, approved a bill that includes a ban on funds for the Palestinian network.

While the House version of the bill that funds the Commerce, State and Justice Departments does not contain a formal amendment to prohibit funding of the broadcasting company, the ban is supported in a report that accompanies the bill. Lawmakers hope that a conference committee of Senators and Congressmen who will meet to hammer out the differences between the two versions will include the ban in the final bill.

For many on Capitol Hill and in the Jewish community the issue goes deeper than the controversy over U.S. aid to the Palestinians. If the Palestinian children are taught to hate Israelis and use violent means to express this hatred, peace between the two sides may never take hold, activists say. In addition, the Palestinian media is filled with statements of Holocaust denial and anti-Israel propaganda that, according to Israel and the United States, violate provisions of the Oslo accords.

“You have these types of broadcasts with people play-acting suicide bombers and fulfilling violent missions in life. That’s not the message we should be teaching,” said Matt Brooks, executive director of the National Jewish Coalition, a Republican Jewish group, which led the lobbying effort against the network.

The controversy over aid to the broadcasting corporation began in March when an Israeli group, Peace For Generations, began distributing tapes of the “Children’s Club.”

Loosely based on “Sesame Street,” the program shows a group of children with an adult performing skits. On an episode aired July 2, young boys, with arms raised, chanted, “We are ready with our guns, we are ready with our guns. Revolution until victory, Revolution until victory.”

On the same show, a boy about 8 years old stood before the group of children and announced, “I come to say that we will throw them to the quiet sea. Occupiers, your day is near, then we will settle our account. We will settle our claims with stones and bullets.”

On a Feb. 6 show, a young girl about 10 years old promised to “turn into a suicide warrior” in Jerusalem.

While top officials in the Clinton administration have expressed their outrage at the pro-violent, anti-Israel programming, the administration has yet to adopt a formal stance on the issue.

Since 1994, the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which also runs a radio station, has received about $500,000 from various U.S. federal agencies. Initially founded as a separate entity, the television station has been considered by the U.S. government to be a direct arm of the Palestinian Authority since 1995 and since that time has not been able to receive U.S. funds directly.

In 1997, the United States Information Agency renewed its relationship with the network after Israel agreed that the Palestinians should receive satellite- receiving equipment to broadcast American television shows. Other than supplying two satellite dishes, U.S. officials have nothing to do directly with the network, but individual reporters can attend U.S.-sponsored workshops.

The State Department is now focusing on developing independent media centers to train Palestinian journalists. U.S. officials plan to open a West Bank center later this year in addition to one in Gaza opened last year.