>>513470839>>513477567The Ramallah pornography controversy occurred on 30 March 2002 as part of the IsraeliโPalestinian conflict during the Second Intifada,[1] as Israel Defense Forces occupied the town of Ramallah in the Palestinian Authority as part of Operation Defensive Shield. Palestinian residents, speaking to the Agence France-Presse stated that Israeli soldiers took over three of the four Palestinian television stations, including Al-Watan, Ammwaj, and Al-Sharaq and began broadcasting hardcore pornography from a pornographic TV station in Europe[2] at 3:30pm to Palestinian homes in the West Bank.[1][3] and that the broadcasting equipment for the station was destroyed.[3] Israeli Army spokespersons denied the reports.[4]
The AFP reported that the incident caused outrage among Palestinian residents, as families were stuck in their homes with their children because of the armed conflict outside and the Israeli enforcement of a 24-hour curfew.[2] Some Palestinians described the incident as "not healthy," that "the Israelis want to mess with our young men's heads,"[1] and as a "the deliberate psychological damage caused by these broadcasts."[1] Rita Giacaman, a professor of public health at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, West Bank, wrote that "on the second day of this onslaught, I turned on to watch Watan Televisionโs reporting of what was happening around us and was shocked to find a pornographic film instead."