The CRIF in action
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Published on 30 July 2004

FRENCH BROADCASTING AUTHORITY WANTS TO OUTLAW AL MANAR TV

Following a request made by CRIF, the French Broadcasting Authority has asked the Conseil d’Etat, the French equivalent of the Supreme Court to order the satellite operator company Eutelsat to stop relaying the broadcasts of the Lebanese-based Al Manar TV, a station operated by the Hezbollah.



In October 2003, during the Muslim month of Ramadan, Al Manar broadcast a series called “Diaspora”, a violently anti-Semitic TV version of the ancient blood libel against Jews.

Top ministers of the French government viewed the program and said they were horrified by what they saw. According to Al-Manar, 3 to 5 million people in France watch their programs.

Al-Manar operators indirectly threatened France of retaliation if their program was to be taken off the relay satellite. The Beirut daily “L’Orient – Le Jour” quoted managers of Al-Manar saying that France was selling lots of electronic equipment to Al-Manar and other Arab television stations and that a French TV program was being broadcast all through the Arab world without having the proper authorizations.

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