U.S. Bans Hezbollah TV Network

(December 17, 2004)

Al-Manar, one of the most popular television networks in the Arabic-speaking world, has been removed from U.S. airwaves after the State Department designated it a supporter of terrorism.

State Department officials placed the satellite television network, run by the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, on its Terrorist Exclusion List on December 17, 2004, because of its incitement of terrorist activity. The designation means foreign nationals who work for the network or provide it any support can be barred from the United States.

"It's not a question of freedom of speech," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said. "It's a question of incitement of violence. We don't see why, here or anywhere else, a terrorist organization should be allowed to spread its hatred and incitement through the television airwaves."

Earlier this month, French officials prohibited the network from broadcasting in France, citing what it called al-Manar's anti-Semitic content and appeals to violence. French officials cited al-Manar programs reporting that Jews spread AIDS around the world and that they seek children's blood to bake into Passover matzoh.