Orakel
20-08-04, 01:40
Paris court weighs Arab 'hate' TV
Al-Manar is available through satellite in France - for now
A top French court is due to decide on Friday whether a Lebanese-based Arabic channel should be banned in France.
The country's broadcast watchdog body wants al-Manar TV removed from satellite transmissions for allegedly airing anti-Semitic views.
The move follows a complaint by French Jewish groups over a programme entitled the Criminal History of Zionism, which they say incited hatred.
The proposed ban has drawn protests from Al-Manar and Lebanon's government.
The Higher Broadcasting Council (CSA) is seeking approval from the Council of State - France highest administrative court - to have al-Manar temporarily suspended.
The CSA says the Criminal History of Zionism - broadcast in late 2003 - quoted extensively from the discredited 1997 publication the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, alluding to "Jewish ritual killings".
The channel denies the charge of anti-Semitism, saying the programme "depicted reality" and did not incite hatred.
Al-Manar Foreign Editor Ibrahim Mousawi told BBC News Online that the proposed ban result from "political pressure by the Jewish lobby".
He added that the station wanted to "solve the problem through negotiation".
The Beirut government has also criticised the CSA's decision.
Lebanese media quoted a letter from the foreign ministry to the French government arguing that the broadcast was a criticism of "the Zionist ideology and practices at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict", not an attack on Jews.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3581514.stm
Al-Manar is available through satellite in France - for now
A top French court is due to decide on Friday whether a Lebanese-based Arabic channel should be banned in France.
The country's broadcast watchdog body wants al-Manar TV removed from satellite transmissions for allegedly airing anti-Semitic views.
The move follows a complaint by French Jewish groups over a programme entitled the Criminal History of Zionism, which they say incited hatred.
The proposed ban has drawn protests from Al-Manar and Lebanon's government.
The Higher Broadcasting Council (CSA) is seeking approval from the Council of State - France highest administrative court - to have al-Manar temporarily suspended.
The CSA says the Criminal History of Zionism - broadcast in late 2003 - quoted extensively from the discredited 1997 publication the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, alluding to "Jewish ritual killings".
The channel denies the charge of anti-Semitism, saying the programme "depicted reality" and did not incite hatred.
Al-Manar Foreign Editor Ibrahim Mousawi told BBC News Online that the proposed ban result from "political pressure by the Jewish lobby".
He added that the station wanted to "solve the problem through negotiation".
The Beirut government has also criticised the CSA's decision.
Lebanese media quoted a letter from the foreign ministry to the French government arguing that the broadcast was a criticism of "the Zionist ideology and practices at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict", not an attack on Jews.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3581514.stm