HIZBALLAH T.V. TO AIR IN FRANCE

Al-Manar allowed to air in France.
In a move that angered French Jews, the French broadcasting authority (CSA) announced on its site Friday that it has finalized an agreement with Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television, allowing the controversial anti-Israel broadcaster to remain on the airwaves in France.

The CSA had threatened to ban Al-Manar from broadcasting in France following an advisory sent by the French Ministry of Interior on July 12 recommending that al-Manar’s transmission via the Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat be ‘immediately terminated’ because of its anti-Semitic content. The French government made the recommendation after members of the Council of Jewish Organization in France (CRIF) expressed outrage at a series of anti-Semitic programs broadcast through Europe by the Beirut-based television channel.

On Tuesday representatives of Al-Manar in France were given a license they requested to carry on broadcasting in France and parts of Europe.

In January 2003, over the Muslim festive season of Ramadan, Al-Manar broadcast Al-Shatat, meaning Diaspora, which portrayed the history of Jews and Zionism from 1812 till 1948. Based on the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the Syrian-produced program alludes to a Jewish conspiracy for world domination, inspired by the Talmud, and shows, among other incitement-charged scenes, a group of Jews, acting on the orders of a rabbi, killing a Christian toddler to use his blood in baking matzots for Passover.

CSA director Dominique Baudis, in a letter issued with the license, warned that the license would be violated if Al-Manar broadcasts hate messages as it did in the past.

Here’s more information about Al-Manar: Al-Manar TV: Marketing Terrorism.