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Hezbollah-Linked Network Ordered to Comply
France's highest administrative body on Friday ordered a Lebanese TV network linked to the anti-Israel group Hezbollah to adhere to broadcast regulations or face being banned from French airwaves. The Council of State said a decision rests with France's media watchdog, the CSA, about whether to give Al-Manar network a license it needs to beam programs through a Paris-based satellite broadcaster. The CSA had taken legal action to try to force Al-Manar to halt broadcasts through the satellite operator Eutelsat after Jewish groups complained the network had aired an anti-Semitic series. The council decision means the door remains open for Al-Manar to show that it will follow French law. If the agency ultimately rejects the newtwork, Eutelsat will be forced to stop transmitting the network's programs.The 29-part series, "Al-Shatat," was produced in Syria and broadcast throughout the Middle East by Hezbollah. Based on "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," it depicts among other scenes the killing of a Christian child on the orders of a rabbi so the blood can be baked into matzos for Passover. An Al-Manar lawyer on Thursday acknowledged the broadcast was unfortunate. "Al-Manar broadcast a series that everyone recognizes was of an inadmissible nature," said attorney Denis Garreau. But Lebanon's Foreign Ministry has defended the network, saying the station's programs condemn the policies of Israeli governments but are not racist or critical of Jews or their faith. Posted by: Fred 2004-08-21 |
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