Last update - 00:00 02/08/2007
Hamas bans Gaza TV program, angering journalists' union
By Reuters
Hamas has ordered a Gaza television station to take a political affairs show off the air, a move the Palestinian journalists' union Thursday called an attempt by the Islamist group to suppress freedom of the press.
The weekly "Red Line" is broadcast by Palestine Television, which moved to alternate studios in Gaza after Hamas seized its main facility after taking over the Strip six weeks ago.
Hamas took control in Gaza after days of violent clashes with security forces allied to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.
Hassan Abu Hasheesh, deputy minister of information in a Hamas-led government in Gaza, said the decision to ban the program was not related to its content.
Abu Hasheesh said broadcasts of "Red Line," hosted by an unaffiliated political commentator, would not be allowed because Palestine Television "ignored the government in Gaza to which it must report", a reference to the station's refusal to recognize Hamas's authority.
After the ban was issued, Palestine Television did not broadcast the program during its regular slot Wednesday.
Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, a Fatah member who chairs the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, said "the actions of the de facto authority in Gaza" represented "suppression of press and media freedoms."
Gaza-based human rights groups have accused Hamas fighters of a string of arrests of Fatah activists and alleged informants for Israel since taking over the territory.
Hamas has said arrests were not politically motivated but aimed at putting common criminals and "collaborators" with Israel behind bars.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said members of Hamas' armed wing Iz a-Din al-Qassam assaulted one of its lawyers two days ago.