A music video, available on the internet platform ‘YouTube’, with a song sung by a children's choir endorsing martyrdom in the fight against Israel, is becoming increasingly popular in the Arab world. The children sing: "When we die as martyrs, we will go to heaven" and "Without Palestine, what does childhood mean?" The choir is reportedly becoming one of the most popular children's groups in the Arab world.
The songs are broadcast over the ‘Birds of Paradise’ TV channel that began operating in the Gulf emirate of Bahrain in January 2008. It was established by the Jordanian-Palestinian businessman Khaled Maqdad, who formed the children’s band in 1994. He has since raised funds to set up the TV station, which specializes in broadcasting the band's clips. In addition to the children's songs, there are also an abundance of love songs to the homeland and songs praising "heroes like Ahmad Yassin," the wheelchair bound founder of Hamas whom Israel killed in March 2004.
"This is a private low-budget project," Maqdad said in a past interview with the Arab newspaper ‘Al-Shuruq’. "The channel has captured the hearts of millions of children. It succeeds where the educational system has failed, such as multiplication table songs. It helps teachers work on it with the children."
