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Al-Manar
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Al-Manar (; The Beacon) is the satellite television station of Hezbollah, broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon and offering a "rich menu" of high production news, commentary, and entertainment in the service of what Hezbollah believes is Islamic unity and resistance. The self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy," i.e. the state of Israel,<
and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world.
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Encyclopedia
Al-Manar (; The Beacon) is the satellite television station of Hezbollah, broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon and offering a "rich menu" of high production news, commentary, and entertainment in the service of what Hezbollah believes is Islamic unity and resistance. The self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy," i.e. the state of Israel,<
and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world. ,
Currently, programming is geared towards coverage of the Palestinian cause, and the US coalition's occupation of Iraq, encouraging armed resistance against the US and elimination of "the Zionist entity" (i.e. Israel).
The station was launched by Hezbollah in 1991
with the help of Iranian funds,
by 2004, Al Manar was estimated to hold 10-15 million viewers daily worldwide. Critics argue al-Manar's agenda is strongly influenced by Iran by virtue of the "significant portion" of Hizbollah's budget shortfall that is covered by Iran, via some of the "$100 and $200 million a year" Iran provides to Hezbollah itself. Al-Manar officials strongly deny this, saying they are subsidized by the Hezbollah party and donations from other Muslims, not by Iran.
Al-Manar was designated a "terrorist entity", and banned by the United States in December 2004.
It has also been banned by France and Spain,
and has run into some service and license problems abroad, making it unavailable in the Netherlands, South America, Canada and Australia while it has not officially been banned in any of these regions.
History
Al-Manar is a Lebanese TV station, and it beamed its first terrestrial signal to Beirut, Lebanon on 3 June 1991 and it began broadcasting via satellite in the year 2000. The cost was a couple of million dollars. The station was located in the Shiite-controlled neighborhood Harat Hurayk in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the Hezbollah is also headquartered. Originally, the station employed only a few men that had studied media in London during the mid-1980s. But almost a year later, Al-Manar was employing over 150 people.
Initially, al-Manar would broadcast only five hours per day. Yet shortly before the 1992 election, it began broadcasting regular news bulletins in order to help Hezbollah attain more votes and spread its message to more people. In 1993, the station expanded its broadcasting to seven hours a day and extended its signal to the southern part of the Bekaa Valley. Ahead of the 1996 Lebanese parliamentary elections, additional antennas were erected in northern Lebanon and throughout the Mount Lebanon range, so that the station could be viewed not only in Lebanon, but also in western Syria and northern Israel. Broadcasting was extended to 20 hours in 1998 and to 18 hours in 2000.
In 1996, the Lebanese government granted broadcasting licenses to only five television stations, not including Al-Manar. Approximately 50 stations were forced to close at the time. Several stations appealed the government's decision, but only four of them were finally granted licenses, one of which was Al-Manar. On September 18, the Lebanese Cabinet decided to grant Al-Manar a license after having been requested to do so by the Syrian president Hafiz al-Asad. Al-Manar received the license in July 1997.
Satellite broadcasting
During the 1990s, the popularity of satellite broadcasting greatly increased in the Arab world and in Lebanon. The first Lebanese station to use this technology was Future Television, launching Future International SAT in 1994, while LBCI and the Lebanese government followed by launching LBCSAT and Tele-Liban Satellite respectively. In order to compete with these emerging stations, and in order to find an international audience, Al-Manar announced its intention to launch a satellite channel on 9 March 2000. Muhammad Ra'd, a Hezbollah member of parliament and al-Manar's largest shareholder, submitted the request to the minister of transmission, which was approved in April 2000. Although the launch of the satellite station was originally planned for July, the date was moved up in order to coincide with the end of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon on May 25. This success led other television stations to follow in launching satellite stations, including Murr TV in November 2000, but it was shut down for "violating an election law prohibiting propaganda" — a fate which al-Manar did not meet, although its programming was also considered propaganda by many analysts. ArabSat, a leading communications satellite operator in the Middle East, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was at first wary about collaborating with al-Manar, because of the station's Shi'a agenda — the two companies agreed, however, that the programming would be adapted to the pan-Arab audience, leading to a slight difference between the local broadcast and the one via satellite. At first, only three hours of satellite programming were broadcast per day, but by December 2000, the station was broadcasting around the clock.
Al-Manar was soon carried by many satellite providers. However, starting with the removal of the station from TARBS World TV in Australia in 2003, many satellite television providers stopped featuring it. Until then the station was featured by the following providers at one time or another:
- Intelsat, broadcasting to North America
- New Skies Satellites NSS-803, Africa and parts of Europe
- ArabSat, Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe
- Hispasat, South America
- AsiaSat, Asia
- Nilesat
- Eutelsat, Europe, North Africa, and Middle East
- SES Astra, Europe
According to the BBC on July 26, 2006, Al-Manar had three satellite signals:
- ArabSat 2B at 30.5 degrees east
- Badr 3 at 26 degrees east
- NileSat 102 at 7 degrees west
Al-Manar during 2006 Lebanon War
Israeli Air Force strike
The Israeli Air Force struck Al-Manar buildings on Thursday, July 13, 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War. The attack on Al-Manar's facilities shortly followed another terroristic strike against the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut earlier that morning. Despite the attack, the station remained on air, broadcasting from undisclosed locations.
The IDF bombed Al-Manar's Beirut complex again on July 16 causing fire in the complex and surrounding buildings. The station's signal disappeared briefly several times, then continued normal programming.
Criticism of bombing
The bombing of media outlets violates international law when they are not being used for military purposes ("it is unlawful to attack facilities that merely shape civilian opinion; neither directly contributes to military operations"), according to Human Rights Watch.
This incident has been condemned by the International Federation of Journalists. The Israel Association of Journalists withdrew from the federation due to this criticism, claiming that Al-Manar employees "are not journalists, they are terrorists".
The New York based Committee to Protect Journalists, has also expressed alarm over the incident as "it (Al-Manar) does not appear based on a monitoring of its broadcasts today to be serving any discernible military function, according to CPJ’s analysis."
Content
Al-Manar's programming consists of 25% music videos and fillers, 25% series and dramas, 25% talk shows, and finally 25% news and family shows. Most of the programming is self-produced. The point-of-view of the programming is strongly anti-Israel and anti-US. "Appearing on al-Manar, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah frequently calls for `Death to America`" and the Statue of Liberty is depicted "as a ghoul, her gown dripping blood, a knife instead of a torch in her raised hand."
Programs
The news programming includes much footage from the international press, especially the Israeli. Additionally the station subscribes to the following wire services: Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France Presse, and Deutsche Presse Agentur. The station airs eight news bulletins a day in Arabic in addition to one in English and one in French.
Several talk shows are regularly aired on al-Manar. The best known of these is Beit al-ankabut (The Spider's House); its title alludes to a metaphor, Hassan Nasrallah often employs to describe Israel. It is dedicated to uncovering the "weakness of the Zionist entity", i.e. Israel. It attempts to convince the Arab world that Israel could easily be destroyed, for example, by an increase in the Arab population and the implementation of the Palestinian right of return. Further talk shows include Hadith al-sa'a (Talk of the Hour), Matha ba'ad (What's Next?), Milafat (Files), Al-din wa al-hayat (Religion and Life), and Nun wa al-qalam (The 'Nun' and the Pen). Guests include well-known journalists, analysts, writers, Lebanese politicians, spokespersons of terrorist groups, and Islamic scholars, who then discuss current religious, political, and cultural, regional and global topics.
Al-Manar often airs music videos and fillers in between full-length programs and during commercial breaks. The music videos are generally dedicated to the following seven purposes: the promotion of the Hezbollah, highlighting the importance of militant resistance against Israel, the glorification of martyrdom, spreading of anti-Americanism, denunciation of Israel and Zionism as the embodiments of terrorism, the appeals for the destruction of Israel, and the depiction of the future of Arab youths. The videos are on average three minutes long. The videos are usually professionally produced by the station itself and each usually takes about three to four days to make. The filler material usually consists of appeals to donate money to the Hezbollah, lists of demonstrations taking place worldwide, and slogans in English, Hebrew, or Arabic.
The station also offers sports broadcasting - such as the programs Goal and Tis'in daqiqa (Ninety Minutes) -, family programming - such as Al-mustakshifoun al-judud (The New Explorers), Al-Muslimoun fi al-Sin (Muslims in China), and Ayday al-khayr (Hands of Benevolence) -, game shows - including Al-mushahid shahid (The Viewer Is the Witness), where contestants attempt to guess the names of Israeli political and military figures, and Al-muhima (The Mission) -, and even a children's program called Al-manr al-saghir (The Little Manar), which is in the style of the US show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, targeting three- to seven-year-olds.
During Ramadan, al-Manar features special programs, many of which are self-produced. In 2001, Izz al-Din al-Qassam: Qisat al-jihad wa al-muqawam (Izz al-Din al-Qassam: A Story of Jihad and Resistance), a four-part drama based on the life of Izz al-Din al-Qassam, an early-twentieth-century Arab, after whom the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades are named. It was considered a success among Palestinians. The 2002 program Faris bi la jawad (A Knight without a Horse), which was produced by an Egyptian, was based on the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an old Russian anti-Semitic text claiming a conspiracy of Jews control the world, like many programs of the station. The 29-part series Al-shahat (The Diaspora), which was aired in 2003, was also based on The Protocols and produced in Syria; it led to the banning of al-Manar in France.
Religion and politics
Its primary message is the promotion of "resistance" and "jihad". It regularly legitimizes violence against the United States, Israel, and other enemies, not only by Hezbollah, whom it generally glorifies, but also by Palestinian militants. It always glorifies martyrdom in the fight against its enemies. The station regularly broadcasts speeches by Hassan Nasrallah and conveys statements from the Hezbollah. Islamic tradition is often invoked to justify suicide bombings, which Nasrallah called "a modest weapon and does not warrant that a world war be waged against it." Fatwas justifying this type of violence are often broadcasted and Muslim clerics such as Sheikh Babil al-Halbawi, imam of the al-Sayida Rikiyya Mosque in Damascus, explain their morality with quotes from the Qur'an. Suicide missions themselves are often aired on al-Manar as well as the video tapes made by the bombers hours before the attack. The station often asserts that it is not impossible to destroy Israel.
Until the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, al-Manar's programming political focus was mainly against the Israeli presence in Lebanon. While the withdrawal in May 2000 left a void in the station's programming, Hezbollah and al-Manar consider the Shebaa Farms to be Lebanese territory occupied by Israel, and this became a focal point for political programming. In September of that year, the al-Aqsa Intifada broke out, and al-Manar began to cover the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more extensively, overtly propagandizing to support the Palestinian militants.
Journalistic standards and neutrality
According to Al Manar's news director, Hassan Fadlallah, Al Manar does not aim to be neutral in its broadcasting, "Neutrality like that of Al Jazeera is out of the question for us," Fadlallah said. "We cover only the victim, not the aggressor. CNN is the Zionist news network, Al Jazeera is neutral, and Al Manar takes the side of the Palestinians...He said Al Manar's opposition to neutrality means that, unlike Al Jazeera, his station would never feature interviews or comments by Israeli officials. "We're not looking to interview Sharon," Fadlallah said. "We want to get close to him in order to kill him."
Accusations and restrictions
Designation as a 'terrorist entity'
Al-Manar has been sanctioned by the US for ties to terrorism.
Lebanon's ambassador to the United States, Farid Abboud, protested: "If you want simply to demonize or eliminate one side, you're not going to advance the issue. If you are going to focus on one side simply because of the political message, it's unacceptable and it's a grave breach of the freedom of speech.".
Allegations of antisemitic programming
One of the satellite providers which have transmitted Al-Manar has been the French satellite Hot Bird 4, owned by the Eutelsat Satellite organisation. On December 13, 2004, the French Conseil d'État, the highest administrative Court in France, ordered the French-based Eutelsat Company to shut down Al-Manar broadcasts following accusations that its programmes were anti-Semitic and could incite hatred.
Al-Manar claims the French decision was political and not legal, influenced by Israel and Jewish lobbies.
Al-Manar TV was one of the first media outlets to run the rumor that 4,000 Jewish employees did not attend work at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the allegation that the attack may have been masterminded by the Israelis.
Banning of broadcasts
Al-Manar's broadcasts have been banned by the U.S., France, and Spain.
After the U.S. Department of State placed Al-Manar on the Terrorist Exclusion List on 17 December 2004, transmissions to North America via Intelsat's satellites were blocked. Javed Iqbal, a resident of New York is the first person to charged under this law. Iqbal, 45, a Pakestani who had been living in the U.S. for more than 25 years, was charged by federal prosecutors with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization by broadcasting Al Manar to U.S. customers, in exchange for thousands of dollars payment. In a 2008 plea bargain, he agreed to serve a prison term of up to 6 1/2 years. Saleh Elahwal, who also operates HDTV, was also charged and will go on trial January 5, 2009. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, says it's constitutional for the government to outlaw businesses with direct operational ties to terrorist organizations, and media outlets that directly incite and direct violent action, but in this case, the government is trying to stop the spread of ideas. Mark Dubinsky, who founded the Coalition Against Terrorist Media to in part stop Al-Manar, said Al-Manar was shouting fire in a crowded theater.
The Dutch Media Authority "discovered that a satellite owned by New Skies Satellites was carrying Al-Manar and has ordered the company to stop doing so, because the channel did not have the required Dutch licence." Many, including Radio Netherlands Worldwide Media Network consider this to be a ban.
"The Spanish authorities banned the retransmission of Al-Manar by Hispasat on Wednesday,
30 June 2005 (which effectively prevents its reception not only in the Iberian Peninsula but
also in South America)".
The lack of transmission from Intelsat had the effect of making Al-Manar unavailable in Canada, which some have interpreted as a "ban". While Al-Manar is not approved for distribution in Canada, there is no record of application for approval having been made.
TARBS World TV voluntarily stopped broadcasting al-Manar in Australia on 5 November 2003, 15 days into an investigation by the ABA regarding accusations of "broadcast programs that are likely to incite or perpetuate hatred against or gratuitously vilify any person or group on the basis of their ethnicity, nationality, race or religion". The report for this investigation was never finalised as TARBS had gone into receivership by that time. Al-Manar is not currently licenced for broadcast in Australia.
Al-Manar provides a live feed of its programming on the Internet through its . This effectively circumvents the bans as Al-Manar is still available in all the areas it does not broadcast to via satellite.
See also
External links
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- Andrew Exum, Arab Media & Society (February, 2007), re-published in WINEP
- Al-Manar slams 'Siniora's "ties" with Israel' after misinterpreting article by Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea
- - covering AL-MANAR role in the rise of conspiracy theory about 9/11
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