French authorities have ordered a local satellite carrier to end broadcasts of an Egyptian television station due to its anti-Semitic content, Arutz Sheva has reported.
The French State Audiovisual Council (CSA) has told the carrier, Eutelsat, to block the Al Rahma channel which the regulator said violated French laws prohibiting “incitement to hatred or violence based on religion or nationality.”
CSA identified an October 2009 broadcast an the channel that depicted Jews in a “demonizing and degrading fashion.” It featured an Egyptian cleric, Hazem Shuman, warning his viewers against Jews.
“Your turn has come at last, you offspring of apes and pigs, you most accursed creatures created by Allah, you people have harmed the Prophet again and again,” the cleric said. “It has been proven that the Jews are like a cancer—if they are not removed from the body of the nation, they will kill the entire nation.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s national director Abraham H. Foxman released a statement praising the French government’s decision.
“The Egyptian media has no shame when it comes to anti-Semitic media portrayals of Jews. Al Rahma has a long history of spreading the most vile anti-Semitic incitement, and the decision taken by France is an important step in combating it,” he said.
“We urge the European Union to follow the French lead and expand the ban to all member states, just as EU regulators did after France took action against Al Manar, Hizbullah's media arm.”
As for message boards discussing the French decision, reactions from the Arab world have ranged from the practical to the insane. Some have pointed out that brutal anti-Semitic criticisms against Israel have done little to promote a pro-Palestinian agenda. Others have attacked the French authorities for blocking anti-Semitic Arab media while permitting Jewish and Israeli media to continue their broadcasts. Of course, were Jewish or Israeli media to launch racist braodcasts against Muslims, they too would face penalties from French regulators.
Click here to view MEMRI’s collection of anti-Semitic clips featured on Al Rahma.
