by Barbara Crook and Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Media Watch
In response to many requests, PMW is resending the video clip of a young Palestinian girl who blames Hamas for her sisters’ deaths in Gaza. We are including the seconds before and after the girl’s words to clarify that PMW released the full, unedited interview that ran on the Palestinian Authority TV news report.
The interview is very significant. At a time of extreme stress and grief, the girl blames Hamas and not Israel -- likely echoing a sentiment she has heard from adults. If this sentiment is representative of growing anger among Gaza residents at Hamas for the destruction it has caused, it has major significance and could have ramifications on the long-term position of Hamas in Palestinian society.
Given the significance of the girl’s accusation, it is surprising that some media outlets have run the interview, without including the quote in which the girl blames Hamas.
See comments at:
http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/2008/12/necn-skewed-coverage-of-israelgaza.html
The following is the full transcript of the interview.
Please note that the interview was on PA TV (Fatah), as is shown on the video, and not Hamas TV, as was mistakenly reported in the text of yesterday’s bulletin.
Click here to view full interview with girl
Transcript of the full interview:
Girl: We were sleeping seven girls in the room.We were asleep and didn’t know what was happening. In the morning all the bricks were on top of my head, and the heads of all my sisters. My four-year-old sister next to me was dead.
Interviewer: How many were you?
Girl: Seven. In the other room were my mother, my father, my younger brother and another sister, who is 13 days old.
Girl: I say Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars, it’s Hamas.
[PA TV (Fatah), Dec. 29, 2008]
