al-Manar (TV station)

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Infobox radio tower icon
Al-Manar
TV station (private)
reception Satellite : Arabsat , Ekspress-AM6
Start of transmission 1991
owner Lebanese Communication Group
List of TV channels

Al-Manar or al Manar TV ( Arabic المنار al-Manār , "The Lighthouse") is a television station that has existed since 1991 and is based in Beirut . It belongs legally to the Lebanese Communication Group , the largest shareholder is Arabsat with 36 percent , and is received by around 50 million people every day via satellite in the entire Arab region as far as Europe. Like the radio program al-Nour , it is close to the radical Shiite Hezbollah . The station was banned in Germany as an anti-constitutional organization.

Al-Manar's funding is also associated with Hezbollah. During the Israeli war in Lebanon in 2006 , the broadcasting center building was attacked by the Israeli air force on July 13 and partially destroyed.

Program content

The main focus of the program is the propagation of “Islamic values” in the sense of the fundamentalist Shiite interpretation of Hezbollah. Hezbollah positions and speeches by Hassan Nasrallah are often published. The program makers of al-Manar are accused from various sides of spreading anti - Semitic agitation.

For Ramadan 2003 al-Manar started the 29-part early evening series asch-Shatat (" Diaspora "), in which Jews are held responsible for almost all political catastrophes of modern times in the style of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion . One of the consequences showed how rabbis carried out a “sacred Talmudic ritual” on a “Sabbath molester” : They tortured the man in chains, forced him to drink liquid lead, cut off his ear and finally severed his carotid artery . In another episode, a Christian child was slaughtered to use his blood to bake matzos . Credits were given to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Culture, the Archaeological Authority and the Damascus Police. Originally, the series was to be shown on Syrian state television and translated into Persian , English and Hebrew . In response to international criticism, the Syrian government withdrew this plan and denied that it supported the production. However, the director of Al-Manar emphasized: The series shows the truth and nothing but the truth.

Since al-Manar could also be received in Germany , he drew the attention of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Baden-Württemberg . Note was content that incitement , glorification of violence and hatred of Jews would promote; especially on cartoons for children from the age of three, "in which even the youngest children are taught the ideal of a martyr - a warrior of God".

Al-Manar also provides a forum for right-wing extremists like Ahmed Rami .

During the 2006 Lebanon War , IDF specialists hacked al-Manar's broadcast signal as part of psychological warfare and interrupted its messages for 90 seconds in order to broadcast a short program designed to undermine Hezbollah's morale.

Prohibitions

On December 18, 2004, the station was added to the list of terrorist organizations in the United States for broadcasts glorifying violence and anti-Semitic .

In France , where conditions were imposed on the station on November 19, 2004, al-Manar was banned by the Supreme Court on December 15 at the request of the French Broadcasting Authority (CSA), whereupon the satellite operator Eutelsat placed him in the main coverage zone ( Central Europe ) has been switched off. Particular reference was made to the anti-Semitic television series al-Shatat . Other satellites took over the downlink .

Broadcasting via European providers has been banned since 2004, but the station can be received via Egyptian satellites in Central Europe.

In January 2009 the German Federal Ministry of the Interior announced the incontestable ban on the television channel “al Manar TV”. Thus, the activity of al-Manar is prohibited in the entire area of ​​application of the German law on associations . It is also forbidden to use the transmitter's identification, especially the logo. The import and distribution of propaganda material of the transmitter is prohibited according to § 86 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 StGB . As of December 1, 2008, you can no longer see al Manar in German hotels, cafes and other public places. In addition, advertising and fundraising campaigns for the station are prohibited in Germany.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.bpb.de/politik/extremismus/islamismus/36407/medien
  2. ↑ Michael Borgstede: Hezbollah and Syria cooperate: hatred of Jews in the evening program
  3. ↑ Israelis hack Hezbollah TV . Heise Online, August 2, 2006
  4. ↑ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004 Published by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor , February 28, 2005
  5. ↑ Start of a west-east media war? Telepolis , December 21, 2004
  6. ↑ Schäuble bans Hezbollah channel Al Manar . Telepolis , November 25, 2008
  7. ↑ Federal Gazette No. 13 of January 27, 2009, page 340