Juan Gonzalez has a column in today's Daily News about what happened to the only independent Palestinian public television station in the West Bank during Israel's recent invasion of Ramallah. The head of it, Daoud Kuttab is a respected figure and the first Palestinian journalist allowed exclusive interviews with top Israeli leaders, among them former Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. He has also been imprisoned in the past by Arafat for covering corruption investigations involving the Palestinian Authority.
Al Quds specializes in children's programming. Its most acclaimed effort, created with Israeli educational television, is a Middle East version of "Sesame Street."In the series, Israeli and Palestinian children learn to respect and appreciate each other's culture while playing on two sides of a divided street.
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When the soldiers left, station employees immediately returned. What they found, according to Kuttab, was heartbreaking. Six digital broadcast cameras, VCRs and computers had been stolen. Bullet holes were found in computer monitors. Hard drives, fax machines, video equipment and laser printers had been destroyed. Doors were smashed, furniture overturned.
Then there was the graffiti. "Instructions: 1. Eat, 2. Drink, 3. Destroy" wason one wall. Other graffiti included, "Palestine, Never" and "Death to Arabs."
