No sooner than the invading Israeli armed forces entered Ramallah causing havoc and destruction all over, tanks and armored carriers were everywhere and snipers took positions on rooftops. They occupied, among other targets, most of the private local radio and TV stations.

After arresting the stations’ staff, the Israeli armed forces took over and started to broadcast pornographic material from the TV stations. This sick and offensive act was met with anger and disgust by the besieged population who watch these stations. Since the Israelis had imposed a very strict curfew onto the totality of the population at the risk of getting killed should any one venture out, thousands of families with their children caged in their living rooms were exposed to these pornographic films. Child abuse, disrespect and an affront onto all decent behavior were pushed down the throat of a population confined to their houses where their TV set is the most important source of information about what is happening to their city and country, in addition to some entertainment to their kids.  

Entertainments for the kids, in fact, were essentially the programs broadcast on our TV station: Al Quds Educational television ("Al Quds" in Arabic means Jerusalem) in addition to public and medical service information, addresses and telephone numbers. We also broadcast short informative films to help parents deal with the trauma, fear and stress experienced by their children as well as first aid short films. These were the clear directives of Professor Sari Nusseibeh, the President of Al Quds University to which Al Quds Educational Television belongs.  A children cartoon film was on air when the Israeli army barged into our studio a couple of days after it had occupied the other stations (by which time it had stopped broadcasting the porno films and all the stations were off air), occupied our station and held our two staff operators for many hours before they were released and warned not to come back. Tanks and armored carriers occupied the faculty compound. The station was off air but we did not know exactly what happened.  

On Friday the 5^th of April, the curfew was lifted for a couple of hours for the second time in eight days of total confinement. I jumped into my car and drove to our station dodging all the carnage, destruction, barbed wires, Israeli tanks, debris, fallen electricity, telephone and lighting poles. As I was driving up the hill where our TV is, there was a huge tank blocking the entrance and a mean looking soldier pointing his gun at me and indicating to me with his hand to turn back and go away. I promptly did.  

As I was driving away, I met the two ladies who run our cafeteria and who were there when the Israeli army occupied our university compound. They told me of the amount of hateful destruction they inflicted onto their cafeteria and that they heard all kinds of sounds of smashing, shattering, breaking, crushing and destroying everything starting from the ground floor upwards before they were pushed out. Our TV station and studio are on the third floor and we still do not know the exact amount of damage. 

Destroyed stations: On the way back, I called Mr. Ammar who owns Al Nasr TV and Manara radio stations, as well as Mr. Bakri who owns Ajyal and Angham FM radio stations, all in the same building near the town center. Mr. Ammar had managed to get into his station with difficulty to a most ugly sight. The Israelis used a sledgehammer to literally smash every thing. All the equipment was on the floor totally and irreparably brutalized. Microphones, tapes, CD’s, monitors, mixers, players/recorders, etc were spread all over the floor of the station. The investment and the work of a lifetime were in ruins. I tried to go to the building but by the time I got there, the curfew was about to be imposed again and had just enough time to get home.  

Mr. Bakri told me a similar story based upon the doorman of the building who had to open the door of the station to the Israelis who used three sledgehammers to destroy the two studios, the internet  streaming and editing computers, the 10 Kw and 3 Kw transmitters and all the music and program library. Again, the destruction was total. Our own 40 watt relay TV transmitter along with our microwave receiver, located at Bakri because of its high altitude, were also transformed into useless junk. 

As for Mr. Bseiso who owns one of the first FM radio stations, ironically called "Love and Peace". His radio was licensed even before the peace process of Madrid and Oslo. He saw the total destruction of his station using the same highly effective sledgehammers. Another FM radio station, Al Quds radio, is located in one of the buildings that were bombarded and set ablaze. No one was able to get into the building to report the amount of the damage. 

Above carnage was repeated in different scenarios for Amwaj TV, Amwaj radio and Watan TV stations.  

I am now certain that our TV studio, the only one with cold lighting, super quiet air conditioning system, cameras, audio and video mixers, players/recorders, two AVID suites, a computer lab, microwave studio link and our new 250 watt TV transmitter, a UPS, a comprehensive children, social and cultural library of films, computers for the staff complete with audio, video and data networks, office machines, etc. has suffered the same fate. Six years of steady and hard work, a lot of dedication and love by all our staff, all gone. I dread the moment I will see the ruins once the tanks leave our university compound.  

There are 5 private TV stations and 5 private radio stations in Ramallah alone, not to mention the official Palestinian authority radio and TV stations. Most of these stations are located in and around the town center, an elevated area most suitable for maximum broadcasting coverage. In the totality of the Palestinian Authority areas there are almost 50 TV and radio stations, far more than in Israel or anywhere else in the region. This is a unique situation in all the Middle East where most or all of the media is state owned and controlled. In Palestine, there is no censorship. These stations, in their own way, were helping to build a civil society with appreciation of the media, training of all types of people, better reporting, more local programming, more experience and more innovation.

Numerous generous grants and support from various countries and organizations were directed specifically towards this important sector. Their involvement and support were instrumental in the development of the Palestinian media.  

What a contrast between the Israeli barbaric sledgehammer and the civilized attitude of the rest of the world.

We have a huge task of rebuilding everything from scratch again. With the help of our friends, our dedication and love for life and freedom, we hope to have a better, more modern and especially more lasting free Palestinian media.  

Wassim F. Abdullah

Technical Director

P.O.Box 2000

Ramallah – Palestine

Tel. Office        972 2 2959273/4

Fax Office        972 2 2959275

Mobile             972 52 562564

Mobile             972 59 562564

Wassim@planet.edu