Move to prosecute heads of Palestinian television

AN ISRAELI NGO is preparing to file a complaint to the International Criminal Court against the heads of the main Palestinian TV station, whom they accuse of inciting viewers to kill Jews.

Shurat HaDin, a law centre based in Tel Aviv, is gathering complainants from around the world to strengthen its case against Palestinian TV bosses Riyad Al-Hassan and Ahmed Assaf, who they want arrested.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan are among those who have blamed Palestinian incitement for the increased rate of terrorist attacks in Israel over the past five months.

Shurat HaDin, whose Facebook experiment in January showed the social media giant removing an antiPalestinian page but leaving an antiIsraeli one, is aiming to attract thousands to the cause.

The group’s president, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, said that this wave of attacks was “not a terrorism of individuals — it is clearly a television terrorism.

Accusing Palestinian television of “brainwashing viewers with the message that they need to kill Jews”, she explained that her organisation was finding a new way to challenge old tactics.

“We used to confront the extremist incitement in the mosques and town squares. Today we need to stop the heads of Palestinian Broadcasting.

“If we do not do this, the next murder is only a matter of time, and not only in Israel.”

Last week, the PA news channel described the murderer who stabbed American student Taylor Force to death as a “martyr”, while in January, the 15-year-old terrorist who killed motherof-six Dafna Meir said he was inspired by PA TV.

Mr Al-Hassan has denied that his programming is biased.