A music video recently released by a Gaza band glorifies terrorist attacks on Jews, warning them to flee before Palestinians “burn down” Tel Aviv.
The al-Wa’ed Band for Islamic Art, which is affiliated with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, produced the animated clip and posted it on its YouTube channel last month. It has since been shared on other social media outlets, including the Facebook page of the Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency, where it was viewed some 72,000 times.
The video, which opens with an image of a keffiyah-clad man holding an AK-47, depicts a Jewish character with a hooked nose and kippah packing his possessions – including an Israeli flag and a menorah — while fleeing his home.
“Gather your things, collect your children, and flee on the first plane you catch,” the song warns, “or else your body parts will be collected and you will go to Hell to be roasted in its fire.” (The translation was originally done by the Middle East Media Research Institute)
“Oh Zionist, you will never get to sleep again,” the singer continues as the Jewish figure cowers before a Palestinian child on a rocket. “My rockets long for you, and they will rain down on you… from the tunnels below, I’m coming to grab you by the legs.”
When the Jewish figure runs out to the street, where he is accosted by a volley of weapons, the singer threatens: “Oh Zionist, when you walk, look to your right and to your left. I’m coming for you with a gun, or with an axe and a knife. Or I could run over you with my car. Or you could waste your life hiding in shelters during a war.”
The animation then shows the Jewish man diving into a sewer, only to be met by a gun-wielding man. “You have nowhere to hide but in the sewage, pal, or else we could take you captive, pal.”
“Hurry up and flee before we burn down Tel Aviv. Hear it from me and believe that your time is up,” the singer continues.
“Say goodbye to your family before you ride a bus or a car. Underneath you, a bomb will explode, or a martyrdom-seeker will detonate himself,” the video warns as a bus explodes. “I’m a Muslim – nobody can shake me, and al-Aqsa will never be dishonored. You shall never be safe in brave Palestine.”
The band released a separate song and video in February that praised bus bombings and called for the resumption of suicide attacks against Israelis. “Make the fire engulf them. Turn them into body parts, roast them, bringing joy to the hearts of the steadfast people,” the band sang in that video. “We want the dead to fill the streets, and the blood to intensify the pain. Make the Zionist withdraw from the wrath of my avenging people.”
The New York Times reported last October that violent, “nationalistic” tracks were dominating Palestinian airwaves, with one young listener saying the tunes make him “boil inside” and prepare him to throw stones at Israeli soldiers. The songs feature lyrics such as “stab the Zionist and say God is great” and “say hello to being a martyr,” and their accompanying videos often contain graphic imagery.
Israeli officials have accused Palestinian incitement, both by leading officials and on social media, of fueling terrorist attacks. The aunt of an Arab teenager who stabbed an Israeli security guard in February said the girl may have seen and been influenced by online videos encouraging attacks. The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, attributed a stabbing attack in which an Israeli mother of six was killed by a Palestinian teenager in January to similar incitement. “On the day of the murder, while under the influence of the programs he had been exposed to on Palestinian television, the minor decided to commit a stabbing attack with the goal of murdering a Jew,” the agency said in a statement.
[Photo: Al-Wa’ed Band for Islamic Art]