5 Nablus Stations Silenced & the latest Hurra

Yesterday's army raids on Nablus have provoked international ire. When the IDF rolled into the West Bank and confiscated computers and broadcasting gear from five radio and tv stations, Reporters Without Borders called for restraint, and said there was no justification for this heavy-handedness.

Israel Defence Forces insist they target the media only on the basis of their use for military or strategic purposes and not because of their hostile programme content. (Farfur, the pernicious Mickey Mouse clone on Hamas kiddie tv which recently squeaked out slogans demanding the annhilation of Jews, notwithstanding.)

Raids hit the pro-Hamas TV stations Al-Afaq and Sana TV plus two radio stations linked to the Islamist movement, Jabal Al-Nar and Koran Radio. Television stations Gama TV and Nablus TV were also overrun by soldiers. None of the Palestinian TV stations has so far been able to resume broadcasting.

In light of all the Middle East communications fiascos funded by United States tax dollars, which recently saw live mikes handed to pro-Hizb speakers on Al Hurra tv who exhorted viewers to commit violence against Jews, the Levantine airwaves are pretty hard to fathom.

On Wednesday, a US congressional hearing about the botched $63m outreach programme to moderate Muslims produced some classic lines.
"How does it happen that the terrorists take over?" Representative Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcomittee, demanded. "Is there no adult supervision?"

Er, well.....Joaquin Blaya, on the board of Al Hurra, conceded that the head honchos in the network's chain of command spoke no Arabic and could not understand what was being said in broadcasts.

This all was happening while air strikes inside Gaza blazed and scores of rockets menaced Sderot. Israeli volunteer ambulance crews were rushed to Ashkelon after rumours that longer-range missiles were expected to strike there. The Hamas/Fatah situation is spiralling down.