Uncle Hazim's Neighborhood

Via BagNewsNotes, one of my favorite blogs, I found a story that provides an interesting bookend to the previous post.

First, a word about bagnewsnotes. it's a blog run by Michael Shaw, a psychotherapist and MFA in creative writing candidate. The blog interrogates images that appear in the media, most often in newspapers and newsmagazines. It's a good, thought-provoking site.

Back to the matter at hand. BagNewsNotes links to a New York Times article about a children's show run by Hamas. Hamas is, in fact, following the lead of Hizbollah, which runs Al Manar TV, a station that is viewed throughout the Middle East and, if I understand correctly, has been broadcast selectively in the US.

Most Americans understand Hamas as a terrorist group, but it is not only that. Like Hizbollah, it is a political and social movement. The fact that it isn't just a wrecking ball organization makes it harder to destroy, more a part of the permanent landscape of Palestine.

It's hard to know exactly how to read the development of Hamas as a media organization- is this a stab at respectability? Merely an attempt to indoctrinate? I don't know enough about Hamas to say, but it certainly is interesting.