Al-Jazeera has often been called the terrorist network for its way of stirring up militants and inciting violence. “Al-Jazeera stokes the fires” I still find it hard to believe that Al-Jazeera International is being permitted to build offices in our nation’s capital. The station has been banned in some countries. One of its correspondents was sentenced to seven years in prison for being an agent of al Qaeda and another is in prison at Guantanamo Bay. Its first managing director, captured on film singing the praises of Uday Hussein, had functioned as an agent of the Saddam Hussein regime. The channel is still banned from Iraq. However, Al-Manar is one step ahead of Al-Jazeera in that they have made it to the terrorist list. It’s no wonder that Israel took out the Hezbollah run Al-Manar television station in Lebanon. Unfortunately the station was up and running again in a short time. It’s no wonder Hezbollah knows how to manipulate the world media. It has its own media propaganda machine.
The long war against radical Islam is a war of ideas as much as a war of arms. For decades, America, Israel, and other democracies have ignored the incitement and violent propaganda emanating from extremist regimes and organizations in the Middle East. Now democracies are starting to fight back.
In repeated aerial attacks, the Israeli air force bombed Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station in Beirut and its broadcasting infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold. The bombing of al-Manar is part of an Israeli counteroffensive against Hezbollah and its Lebanese assets precipitated by the firing of hundreds of missiles by Hezbollah into Israeli cities and towns, the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others by Hezbollah guerillas. According to sources, while the IAF destroyed part of the al-Manar infrastructure, the station continues broadcasting.
Al-Manar television is the communications arm of Hezbollah, owned and operated by Hezbollah guerillas and financed by the Iranian regime. No mere propaganda tool, al-Manar is used by Hezbollah to broadcast its message of hatred, recruit suicide bombers, raise money for its terrorist activities and those of its Palestinian affiliates, conduct operational surveillance, and incite attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and American soldiers in Iraq. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, used al-Manar to first announce the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers and recently appeared on al-Manar to declare open war against Israel.
Established in 1991, and responsible for more American deaths before 9/11 than any other terrorist organization including al-Qaeda, Hezbollah was the first terrorist organization to create a television station to be used as an operational weapon. One high-ranking al-Manar official revealed its purpose with chilling clarity: to “help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission.” At its height, al-Manar reached an estimated 10-15 million viewers daily with 24/7 worldwide coverage through a network of ten satellite providers and advertising sponsorship from numerous western corporations.
Its programming includes children’s shows glorifying suicide bombers, videos calling for jihadists to kill Coalition soldiers in Iraq, and vile anti-American and anti-Semitic material—including the infamous “blood libel” falsely accusing Jews of slaughtering Christian children to make food for the Passover holiday. (I saw a clip of this while researching for this blog entry and it was extremely disturbing, or should I say sickening. It kind of reminds me of some of the Roman propaganda against Christians two thousand years ago that led to countless deaths in the Roman arena.)
The Israeli aerial attack at what is effectively Hezbollah’s and Iran’s communications ministry in Lebanon follows a March 2006 decision by the U.S. government to designate al-Manar as a terrorist organization. In that decision, the U.S. Treasury Department placed al-Manar on the same terrorism list as Hezbollah itself, al Qaeda, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said that al-Manar is an “entity maintained by a terrorist group” and therefore “as culpable as the terrorist group itself.”
In the past three years, appalled by the station’s incitement to violence and racist and anti-Semitic programming, the European Union and the governments of France, Spain, and Holland have determined that al-Manar violated European law. This led four European satellite providers to discontinue transmission of the station. Four other satellite providers, based in Hong Kong, Australia, Barbados, and Brazil, also terminated their broadcasting of al-Manar. And, after being alerted to their advertising on the terrorist station, some of the world’s best-known multinationals discontinued almost $2 million in annual corporate advertising.
Despite the Israeli air strikes, al-Manar continues broadcasting in Lebanon through its terrestrial infrastructure as well as throughout the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, thanks to the continued transmission of the station by ARABSAT, a satellite company that is majority owned by the Saudi government, and Nilesat, majority owned by the Egyptian government. Despite numerous entreaties from U.S. government officials, these supposed U.S. allies in the global war on terrorism have refused to end the broadcasts. Arabic speakers in the restive suburbs of London, Paris, Madrid, Brussels, Berlin, and other centers of jihadist activity have full and free access to Hezbollah’s messages of hate and incitement.
http://www.stopterroristmedia.org/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=16689
*******************************************************
March 23, 2006
JS-4134
U.S. Designates Al-Manar as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist Entity
Television Station is Arm of Hizballah Terrorist Network
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 al Manar, a satellite television operation owned or controlled by the Iran-funded Hizballah terrorist network. Additionally designated today were al Nour Radio and the Lebanese Media Group, the parent company to both al Manar and al Nour Radio.
{e;bullet}Al Manar and al Nour are the media arms of the Hizballah terrorist network and have facilitated Hizballah’s activities.
“Any entity maintained by a terrorist group – whether masquerading as a charity, a business, or a media outlet – is as culpable as the terrorist group itself,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
Al Manar has employed multiple Hizballah members. One al Manar employee engaged in pre-operational surveillance for Hizballah operations under cover of employment by al Manar.
Al Manar and al Nour have supported fundraising and recruitment efforts by Hizballah.
Al Manar raised funds for Hizballah through advertisements broadcast on the network and an accompanying website that requested donations for the terrorist organization.
As recently as late 2005, Hizballah-affiliated charities aired commercials on al Manar, providing contact information and bank account numbers for donations. Moreover, Hizballah Secretary General Nasrallah publicized an invitation for all Lebanese citizens to volunteer for Hizballah military training on al Manar and al Nour.
In addition to supporting Hizballah, al Manar has also provided support to other designated Palestinian terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, notably transferring tens of thousands of dollars for a PIJ-controlled charity. PIJ is listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Government, and is also named on the European Union’s list of terrorist entities.
Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah, along with Hizballah’s Executive Council, managed and oversaw the budgets of al Manar and al Nour.
The Lebanese Media Group is the parent company of both al Manar and al Nour. Prominent Hizballah members have been major shareholders of the Lebanese Media Group.
Background on Hizballah
Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist group. Until September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world, including the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Hizballah also executed the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome and assumed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992. It also attacked the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994.
On January 25, 1995, the Annex to Executive Order 12947 listed Hizballah as a Specially Designated Terrorist. The Department of State designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. Additionally, on October 31, 2001, Hizballah was designated as a Specially Designated Global terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
Today’s action prohibits transactions between U.S. persons and the designated entities and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
The U.S. Department of State added al Manar to the Terrorism Exclusion List (TEL) in December 2004.
*******************************************************
http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/js4134.htm
Soon after the fighting began here, Israeli jets were dispatched on a mission: Take Al-Manar Television, the satellite news channel run by the militant group Hezbollah, off the air. The jets destroyed the station’s five-story headquarters in a southern suburb of the city, then returned to strafe the rubble in case the network was broadcasting from underground, say Al-Manar executives.
Hezbollah is the first organization of its kind to establish its own television station and use it as an operational weapon. In addition to al-Manar, Hezbollah maintains a number of media properties including a newspaper, a radio station, and various websites. Terrorist media organizations differ from private or state-owned newspapers, broadcasters, and on-line news sources and should not be granted the same free speech considerations. Hezbollah uses al-Manar to incite violence, recruit suicide bombers, and communicate with its soldiers in the field. In other words, al-Manar is just one tool, like car bombs or assassinations, by which Hezbollah operates.
Funded and controlled by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based worldwide terror organization, Al-Manar is a television station with global reach.
Each day, it is viewed by 10-15 million people around the world.
Al-Manar’s stated purpose is to wage “psychological warfare” against its enemies, including the United States.
According to on al-Manar official, its programming is meant to “help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission.” (THAT’S WARPED.)
Many of al-Manar’s videos aim to recruit terrorists. Viewers are told that “the path to becoming a priest in Islam is through jihad.” (AT THE RISK OF REPEATING MYSELF….THAT’S WARPED.)
Al-Manar is more than a propaganda tool. It is the communications arm of a known terrorist organization that has sleeper cells in the United States and throughout the world.
Spreading Hatred, Recruiting Terrorists, and Inciting Violence:
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah uses al-Manar to call for “Death to America!” and denounce America as the “Great Satan” and a “beast that is hungry for power and hungry for blood.”
Al-Manar programming has called on Jihadis to kill American soldiers in Iraq. One video, set to martial music, proclaims: “Down with the mother of terrorism! America threatens in vain, an occupying army of invaders. Nothing remains but rifles and suicide bombers.” The video ends with an image of a suicide bomber’s belt detonating.
In one al-Manar video, the Statue of Liberty transforms into a knife-wielding ghoul dripping blood. It concludes: “America owes blood to all of humanity.”
Al-Manar ran videos during afternoon television glorifying suicide bombing to children.
Al-Manar ran a shockingly anti-Semitic movie falsely and viciously accusing Jews of killing children to make Passover Matzah. (IT’S SICKENING AND INFURIATING.)
Al-Manar’s worldwide presence:
Al Manar maintains a correspondent in Washington, D.C. It also has correspondents in France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Iraq and other nations.
Al-Manar is currently broadcast throughout the Middle East, Europe and North Africa by two satellite providers: ARABSAT, owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, and Nilesat, whose largest shareholder is the government of Egypt. The Coalition Against Terrorist Media has been instrumental in removing al-Manar from seven satellite providers. As a result, al-Manar is no longer broadcast to North America, South and Central America, Asia, Australia, and much of Africa.
Al-Manar receives advertising from global companies. Until recently, al-Manar even had American sponsors.
Al-Manar raises money for Hezbollah on its broadcasts – viewers in the past have been directed to four Lebanese banks to make their contributions.
http://www.stopterroristmedia.org/TerroristMedia/
It sounds to me like Hezbollah has a lot of experience with manipulating the media. It runs Al-Manar as its own propaganda weapon, and Al-Manar is one of the first networks I have heard of to be designated a terrorist organization…one step ahead of Al-Jazeera.
Posted by jpfarris9 