Robert Bandanza
January 13th, 2009, 02:57 PM
Posted January 13th, 2009
BEIRUT, January 13, 2009, MENASSAT - The French broadcasting authority Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) has issued a broadcast ban on Hamas’ television channel Al-Aqsa TV.
The order was carried out only 24 hours after Hamas announced on Monday that it would start airing programs to Europe from Wednesday via a Eurobird European telecoms satellite operated by Eutelsat, a Paris-based company governed by French law.
According to the gag order, France argued that Al-Aqsa TV incites hatred and violence, saying its broadcasts “violate article 15 of the French media law of 30 September 1986 which prohibits all forms of incitement to hatred or violence on the ground of race, religion or nationality.”
Meanwhile, a Eutelsat representative reportedly denied the company ever had a contract with Hamas and that the organization had instead rented space on its sister satellite, the Bahraini Noorsat, which had begun airing broadcasts from Al-Aqsa.
Eutelsat told AFP that once it received the warning, it sent a message to Noorsat, asking it “to respect all international and national laws regarding channel content.”
In Europe, Al-Aqsa is best known for its graphic anti-Israeli content. The channel was vilified outside the Palestinian territories after airing a show in which a human sized pink rabbit named ‘Assud’ called on children to champion martyrdom and threatened to eat Jews.
Several organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and the European Foundation for Democracy have praised the decision taken by the French, saying it will limit the reach of ‘terrorist’ broadcasts into Europe.
"By moving against Al-Aqsa TV - a propaganda arm of Hamas that has carried the terrorists' call to violence and hatred into homes across Europe - the French authorities defended French and European values," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris in a statement. "This was an important step against incitement to terror."
This is not the first time Eutelsat gets tangled up with the French legal authorities.
In May 2005, France’s highest judicial body demanded Eutelsat to stop airing broadcasts from Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel due to anti-semitic content of its programming.
On December 29, 2008, Israeli fighter planes destroyed the offices of Al Aqsa Television in Gaza. According to IFEX, the studio was completely ruined and one cameraman was injured, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit.
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned Israel for the strike.
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/alerts/5720-france-pulls-plug-al-aqsa-tv-broadcasts-europe
BEIRUT, January 13, 2009, MENASSAT - The French broadcasting authority Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) has issued a broadcast ban on Hamas’ television channel Al-Aqsa TV.
The order was carried out only 24 hours after Hamas announced on Monday that it would start airing programs to Europe from Wednesday via a Eurobird European telecoms satellite operated by Eutelsat, a Paris-based company governed by French law.
According to the gag order, France argued that Al-Aqsa TV incites hatred and violence, saying its broadcasts “violate article 15 of the French media law of 30 September 1986 which prohibits all forms of incitement to hatred or violence on the ground of race, religion or nationality.”
Meanwhile, a Eutelsat representative reportedly denied the company ever had a contract with Hamas and that the organization had instead rented space on its sister satellite, the Bahraini Noorsat, which had begun airing broadcasts from Al-Aqsa.
Eutelsat told AFP that once it received the warning, it sent a message to Noorsat, asking it “to respect all international and national laws regarding channel content.”
In Europe, Al-Aqsa is best known for its graphic anti-Israeli content. The channel was vilified outside the Palestinian territories after airing a show in which a human sized pink rabbit named ‘Assud’ called on children to champion martyrdom and threatened to eat Jews.
Several organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and the European Foundation for Democracy have praised the decision taken by the French, saying it will limit the reach of ‘terrorist’ broadcasts into Europe.
"By moving against Al-Aqsa TV - a propaganda arm of Hamas that has carried the terrorists' call to violence and hatred into homes across Europe - the French authorities defended French and European values," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris in a statement. "This was an important step against incitement to terror."
This is not the first time Eutelsat gets tangled up with the French legal authorities.
In May 2005, France’s highest judicial body demanded Eutelsat to stop airing broadcasts from Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel due to anti-semitic content of its programming.
On December 29, 2008, Israeli fighter planes destroyed the offices of Al Aqsa Television in Gaza. According to IFEX, the studio was completely ruined and one cameraman was injured, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit.
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned Israel for the strike.
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/alerts/5720-france-pulls-plug-al-aqsa-tv-broadcasts-europe