Lebanon said that it was considering the possibility of retaliating against French and U.S. media after they banned Hezbollah's Al Manar TV broadcasts.
| "Awright! That's it! Gilligan is toast!" |
Lebanese Information Minister, Elie Ferzli, said that "at the recommendation of parliamentary foreign affairs committee, we are studying the possibility of taking retaliatory measures against the U.S. and French media,"
He noted that "careful study is needed and any decision has to be in Lebanon's higher interests. This is an attempt to shut all voices that oppose Israel and describe it as a terrorist state."
| Lemme try to 'splain it to you: the world is slowly taking sides. We're on this side, even the Frenchies, when they're not trying to construct a third side. You're on that side. |
Farif Abboud, Lebanon's ambassador to the U.S., said that "It is unacceptable to censor a media just because it defends positions in which it believes by taking a stand in the Arab-Israeli conflict." He accused Washington of "seeking to liquidate a media by accusing it of being the voice of Satan". Their statements came after Washington classified Al Manar TV channel as a "terrorist organization" and after France banned the broadcasts of the station. Al Manar management said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. decision was a "blatant attack on free media, an obvious attempt to repress freedom of expression and thought terrorism to stifle the voices that do not agree with the American and Israeli policies." The statement also accused the U.S. of "intellectual terrorism", saying that Al Manar was under an "orchestrated Israeli campaign," but vowed to "defend its voice and picture by all legal means available, whether in the United States or elsewhere."
| "Intellectual terrorism" is an interesting concept, isn't it? What do intellectual terrorists do? Blow up trains of thought? Brutally chop off flows of ideas? |
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