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How to Block Hizballah's Al-Manar Television

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy)Avi Jorisch - Al-Manar, the official television station of Hizballah watched by fifteen million viewers daily, defines its public enemy as the U.S. and Israel. Although it is impossible to bring its programming to a halt, it is within Washington's reach to lessen its scope and availability. Until 2002, the four biggest Western corporate advertisers on al-Manar were Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Procter and Gamble, and Western Union, until an op-ed appeared in the Los Angeles Times exposing their business with the network, and the companies pulled the advertisements immediately. Al-Manar's numerous European advertisers have not followed suit, however. The station also runs announcements of bank accounts to which donations for suicide bombing and other terrorist acts can be sent. The U.S. Treasury Department should use the full weight of the law to forbid transactions with any bank that maintains such accounts. In addition, the U.S. should urge France and Saudi Arabia, the countries that host al-Manar's two major satellite providers, to remove the station from these satellites. That would block al-Manar programming from reaching 95% of the globe.
2004-11-25 00:00:00
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