France’s Council of State ruled on Monday to ban television transmissions by Al-Manar, the mouthpiece of the Lebanon-based terror movement Hizbullah. The Council of State is France’s highest administrative court.
The ban comes after months of heated debates in France concerning whether to ban Al-Manar (‘the beacon’), which has been scrutinized for messages of hatred and anti-Semitism.
The channel is known for its diatribes against the United States and Israel and its pro-terrorist propaganda and has been facing legal pressures in the past few months after French Jewish organizations, with Israeli backing, pushed for a law that will empower the French media watchdog CSA to block the channel’s signal in France.
The station was in the limelight last year when it broadcast a Syrian-produced series during the month of Ramadan called Diaspora which contained clear anti-Semitic content.
In November the station also caused an uproar when it aired commentary accusing Jews of spreading the AIDS virus.
The French court said on Monday that Al-Manar has violated the country’s hate laws.
The French satellite company which carries Al-Manar’s programs, Eutelsat, will now be obligated to stop beaming Al-Manar within 48 hours after which it will face a daily fine of more than $6,000 until it complies with the order.
Al-Manar is popular in the Middle East and outside the region and has been described by experts as a channel whose impact is second only to that of the satellite media giant Al-Jazeera. Al-Manar claims it has some three million viewers in France, although this number has not been confirmed.
Eutelsat is one of three satellite companies that carries the Al-Manar signal in Europe.