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Saturday, December 18, 20041103398724
Republic of the Gag
"France Blocks Hizbollah Network," World Screen News, http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=manar1215, 15 December 2004 (from Google News).
France continutes its suicidal Ashcroftian attack on immigrants, Islam, and freedom
PARIS, December 15: A French court has ordered Eutelsat to cease broadcasting al-Manar, a satellite television station owned by the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah, citing the channel's anti-Semitic slant.
Eutelsat said in a statement today that al-Manar has voluntarily withdrawn itself from the Hot Bird-4 satellite.
The ban on the network came after a guest on one show claimed that Zionists were trying to spread diseases such as AIDS to Arabs. According to local reports, the French authorities first took al-Manar to court after its series Al-Shatat depicted a Zionist conspiracy to rule the world.
This same network is available in the United States to anyone with a satellite receiver.
Can you imagine the outcry if the Bush administration made it a crime to reproduce speech like this? CNN routinely transcribes the entirety of speeches by bin Laden and others, while other sources (such as MEMRI and Kuro5hin) argue over this-or-that word.
Free nations embrace freedom. Hateful states, such as France, muzzle opposition, persecute faith, segregate immigrants, and guarantee the rage and alienation felt all across the Fifth Republic.
13:38 Posted by Dan tdaxp (Webmaster) in Europe | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Comments
"Free nations embrace freedom. Hateful states, such as France, muzzle opposition, persecute faith, segregate immigrants, and guarantee the rage and alienation felt all across the Fifth Republic."
Yes, free nations embrace freedom. But they do not and should not embrace and allow the hate of others to be publicised through them.
CNN publishing Osama Bin Ladens speeches isn't quite the same as a channel dedicated to anti-semetism. Osama bin Laden is a recognised criminal throughout the western, free world and is connected to the Bush administration, or to CNN in no way.
A television programme which is in France, or any country for that matter, which spews forth racist ideas frequently is connected to the French media kingdom, as it tolerates such a channel to operate and broadcast out of its borders.
Imagine what the reaction of the world would be if Osama bin Laden appeard as a guest on some Arab TV place, and actively encouraged Muslims to kill more westerners, for example. Would that be acceptable?
I see youre quick to call France a "hateful state" and yet dont even mention that the very foundations of the Hizbollah movement is one of hate.
Posted by: DJ | Tuesday, December 21, 2004