France's highest administrative court will decide on Monday whether to ban Al Manar, the popular Arab-language channel run by the Hezbollah militia from Lebanon. Despite opposition from the French government, the country's broadcasting authority in November granted Al Manar a license to continue its operations in France as long as it abided by French law. However four days later, the channel, which regularly transmits anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Israeli broadcasts, broke its agreement, by broadcasting a report claiming that Israel had spread AIDS and other diseases throughout the Arab world. A second report called for war against Jews and the destruction of Israel.
Al Manar is available in dozens of countries around the world through a network of international satellite providers. It is broadcast in Europe via Eutelsat, based in Paris, as part of a package of nine channels put out by Arabsat, based in Saudi Arabia. It is also available by satellite in the US. The American Jewish Committee has recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow asking that Al Manar be shut down in the United States under existing counterterrorism laws and executive orders.
