Israel shutters Palestinian radio station over "incitement to terrorism"

Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 15:48:27|Editor: Song Lifang

MIDEAST-HEBRON-PALESTINIAN RADIO STATION-SHUT DOWN

Israeli security forces raid the al-Huriya ("the Freedom") radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Aug. 31, 2017. Israeli forces shut down a Palestinian radio station in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and arrested a popular wedding band over charges of "incitement to terrorism" overnight Thursday. (Xinhua/Mamoun Wazwaz)

JERUSALEM, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces shut down a Palestinian radio station in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and arrested a popular wedding band over charges of "incitement to terrorism" overnight Thursday.

A military statement said that troops raided the al-Huriya ("the Freedom") radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron, after it allegedly broadcast a song chanting a deadly knife attack that a Palestinian carried out in the Israeli settlement of Halamish in July.

The traditional Bedouin-style song was performed during a wedding, with improvised lyrics saying "they said the (Israeli) army has all the power, (but) he burned Halamish, you bunch of settlers ... we just want to live."

The singer, Mouhamad Barghouthi, and some of his band members were arrested and taken into custody.

"The station broadcast inciting content encouraging terror activities on a regular basis," the military statement read.

Israel's Channel 10 TV news quoted the director of the radio station, Ayman Kawasmeh, saying that it was not the first time that Israel had closed the station, but this time it was carried out in a "barbaric way."

Israel accuses the Palestinian National Authority of inciting terror against Israelis, resulting in a deadly wave of attacks that started in mid-September 2015 and have claimed the lives of at least 293 Palestinians, 48 Jewish Israelis, two U.S. nationals, a British tourist, and two African asylum seekers.

The Palestinians say it is the result of the 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, home to more than 5 million Palestinians.

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