In an interview that aired June 16, 2010 on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, Abdallah Qassir, head of Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, called France's bans on Al-Aqsa TV and on Al-Manar TV "media and ideological terrorism" and noted MEMRI's role in both bans.
This follows the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA), the French broadcasting regulator, posting of an announcement on its official website on June 9, 2010 about Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, which was broadcast via the Paris-based Eutelsat company. The announcement stated: "Since this channel [Al-Aqsa] has several times aired programs in disregard of the ban [i.e. European regulations banning incitement on television], the CSA has requested that Eutelsat end the broadcasting of this channel [Al-Aqsa]…" The process of banning Al-Aqsa TV began in 2008, with MEMRI TV's posting of translatird clips from the channel that included incitement. All subsequent moves to ban the broadcasting of Al-Aqsa TV have been based on MEMRI research.
For more on France's ban of Al-Aqsa TV, see MEMRI Special Announcement No.115, "The Banning of Al-Aqsa TV in France Based on MEMRI Research," June 13, 2010, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4370.htm.
"The Same Thing That Is Happening to Al-Aqsa TV Today Happened to Al-Manar TV in the Past – I Consider This... Media and Ideological Terrorism"
Abdallah Qassir: "The truth is that the same thing that is happening to Al-Aqsa TV today happened to Al-Manar TV in the past. I consider this measure to constitute media and ideological terrorism. This is part of Western policy, in which Israel and Zionism play an important role.
"It is no secret that the Zionist enemy has established a large group of lobbies in the decision-making centers in Europe and the U.S. Two of these lobbies specialize in monitoring what they call 'terrorist media,' which refers to the resistance media, of course."
"MEMRI Built the Case Against Al-Manar TV in France"
"One of these organizations, MEMRI, built the case against Al-Manar TV in France, and referred it to the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel.
"I believe that today, if we look into the background of what is going on, we will find that the same organizations are behind the resolution [against Al-Aqsa TV], and that they exert pressure on the European decision-making centers."
