The Command Post
Global War on Terror
« Barghouti submits candidacy for PA chairman election | Main | Sharon: If PA keeps the peace, so will Israel »
December 01, 2004
Al-Manar stirs uproar in France after accusing Israel of spreading AIDS

Well, that didn't take long...

MAARIV: Al-Manar stirs uproar in France after accusing Israel of spreading AIDS

Less than ten days after Hezbollah’s "al-Manar" television station was permitted to broadcast in France, one of its commentators has stirred uproar after he accused Israel of "repeated attempts in the past several years to spread AIDS throughout the Arab world".

The commentator, who was defined as an expert on the "Zionist entity", described at length how Israel has been trying to spread dangerous diseases, including AIDS, in the Arab world.

The French regulatory body, which granted "al-Manar" permission to broadcast in the country, announced on Tuesday it would demand the French parliament to immediately cease its transmissions.

President of the regulatory authority, Dominique Bodis, accused the Lebanese station of violating the rules of the broadcasting license. "It must be taken off the air. Its broadcasts are filled with hatred, violence and racism", he said.

Hezbollah's/Al-Manar's response in Dar Al-Hayat:

In a statement, Al-Manar said it had respected a pledge to unbiased reporting that staved off an earlier ban, and told the council not to bend to pressure to block its broadcasts. "The channel affirms its commitment to the agreement and is surprised by the decision since it is intent on carrying out the agreement", it said, calling CSA to "stick to the agreement and not submit to the political pressure being exercised upon it."

Oh, and Happy World AIDS Day!

Posted by Laurence Simon at December 1, 2004 04:58 PM | TrackBack
Comments

And the French were SURPRISED?

Posted by: Achillea [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 2, 2004 01:05 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse … it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we’re sorry it didn’t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.


Remember me?