By Hussein Da’sa
Albawaba.com - Amman
A number of Arab politicians, artists, intellectuals and clerics will be hosted by both MBC and Abu Dhabi satellite channels on telethons to raise funds for the Palestinians, who are fighting a battle in defense of Jerusalem and the their native land, according to officials at both stations.
The MBC fund raising campaign will start at noon Thursday in a live open-ended broadcast, said an official at the station’s offices in Amman.
The MBC will also host Jamal Durra, whose son Mohammad was killed in his hands by the Israeli forces on September 30. A videotape showing the killing in cold blood the 12-year-old Mohammad shocked the world, and the slaughter has become a symbol of the Israeli atrocious crimes against the defenseless Palestinian people. Mohammad’s mother will also be on the show.
According to Madani Ammar, editor-in-chief of Abu Dhabi satellite channel, the telethon organized by the station will start immediately after Friday prayers, which the TV will broadcast live from the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Madani said that key figures from more than 30 Arab and Muslim countries will be receiving donations from the viewers.
The station’s correspondents in the different countries will be conducting interviews with people who will encourage the Arabs and Muslims to call the telethon and offer donations to be sent to the families of martyrs and the injured in the Aqsa Intifada, according to the chief editor.
Participants from politicians include Palestinian Information and Culture Minister Yasser Abd Rabbo and Faisal Husseini, who is in charge of the Jerusalem file at the Palestinian National Authority.
Nour Sharif, Duried Lahham, Muna Wassef, Fardous Abdul Hamid and Palestinian singer Ahmad Qabour, among other celebrities, will represent Arab artists in the humanitarian campaign.
Poets Ahmad Fuad Najm and Abdul Rahman Abnoudi, along with intellectuals like Fahmi Howeidi and Mahfouz Nahnah will also join the rally, which will be launched under the banner “For You, Jerusalem.”
Madani concluded that the blood that the Palestinians are sacrificing in their defense of their national soil is priceless, and the campaign is but an attempt to show Arab and Islamic solidarity with their brothers.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
