Forecast Highs

Just spoke to Google, who said that after my request for comment, they’ve removed their AdSense program from Hamas’ new AqsaTube website.

Here’s the story published here yesterday:

Hamas, the terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip, recently launched a new Internet site called “AqsaTube“. It is a file-sharing site enabling users to upload videos. Its format and design are similar to the American YouTube’s. Its name and logo are also similar to YouTube’s, and without a doubt were inspired by them, although the format of the site has similarities to other video-sharing platforms on the net. Emails to YouTube were not returned.

According to the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, the Hamas site is devoted entirely to propaganda and incitement. Its contents, like those of other Hamas websites, are a reflection of its ideology and strategy. They include videos inciting against Israel , glorifying terrorism (the “resistance”) and preaching the doctrines of radical Islam. There is also a link to Hamas’s satellite channel, Al-Aqsa TV, which increases the number of its viewers and enables it to bypass restrictions on its broadcasts, according to the Ramat Hasharon-based ITIC, a think-tank closely associated with Israel’s intelligence community.

AqsaTube, until Tuesday, sold advertising space to commercial companies through Google’s AdSense advertisement serving program , which automatically displays ads according to page content. Some of the ads were for Israeli companies. After being contacted for a response, Google removed their software from AqsaTube and said the following: “”Google employs strict terms and conditions when it comes to the content of our website partners.

“If we discover our ads are showing on sites that violate our policies we will
remove them from our content network and the ads will no longer show,” the statement said.

Using Google’s AdSense program, companies can present their online text and picture advertisements according to site contents. The system automatically scans a site’s contents and shows ads relevant to the target audience. The site is paid when the ad is clicked (information from Google advertising material). That, until the program was removed, enabled Hamas to exploit Google’s technology to make money from advertisements.

According to the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, AqsaTube joins a long series of websites, more than 20, in eight languages, managed and directed by Hamas.

According to Alexa traffic statistics, most AqsaTube users come from Saudi Arabia, followed by Iraq and Germany.

The ITIC report says AqsaTube is listed under the name of Abu Nasser Skandar from Dubai , and its Internet service provider is the French firm, OVH. Emails to OVH were not returned.

In addition, Hamas also makes direct use of YouTube by uploading videos glorifying terrorists and terrorism, the intelligence center asserts. These include commemoration of shaheeds [martyrs], songs and the glorification of operatives from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military-terrorist wing.

The overwhelming majority of AqsaTube videos come from Hamas , but it is possible to find those of other Palestinian terrorist organizations . The videos are divided into subheadings: the Hamas movement, Fatah, the children of Al-Aqsa (i.e., children motivated by Hamas ideology), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and others.

The site has many videos produced by the information office of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades , Hamas’s military-terrorist wing, documenting terrorist attacks and training. They include masked operatives firing rockets and training with weapons. One of them is devoted to one of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades special units, and is accompanied by a song encouraging suicide attacks: “Oh suicide bombers’ unit, oh heroes of the [terrorist] attacks…Our great hope is death for the sake of Allah”.

Like this one.