Mediocrates
03-03-2004, 04:10 PM
http://www.meforum.org/article/583
Al-Manar: Hizbullah TV, 24/7
by Avi Jorisch
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2004
http://www.meforum.org/article/583
Al-Manar (the beacon) is the official television station of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah, the Iranian-supported Shi‘ite movement that appears on every U.S. terrorism list. Many political movements and organizations in the Arab world publish in print, and some even have clandestine radio stations. Terrorist groups such as al-Qa‘ida have been especially adept at manipulating television through the release of videos. But Hizbullah is unique in its operation of a full-fledged television station, offering a rich menu of news, commentary, and entertainment.
Al-Manar beamed its first signal on June 3, 1991. Since then, Hizbullah has exploited its privileged position in Lebanon—a position fortified by its successful guerrilla war to end the Israeli occupation—to create a mass media outlet with global reach. With access to continuous funding from Iran, the station has grown by leaps and bounds from a clandestine, ramshackle operation to a comprehensive satellite station.
The significance of the station goes far beyond Lebanon. Calling itself the "station of resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), al-Manar has become an integral part of Hizbullah's plan to reach the entire Arab and Muslim worlds. As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, al-Manar has an impact second only to al-Jazeera. It has become a potent instrument in what Hizbullah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy,"[1] keeping the Arab world focused on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the station has been using the same methods to undermine the U.S. occupation.
In the debate over al-Jazeera, there are arguments on both sides as to whether its content informs or propagandizes the Arab viewing public. (It does both.) In the case of al-Manar, there is no space for debate. Al-Manar is propaganda in its most undiluted form. Every aspect of al-Manar's content, from news to filler, is fine-tuned to present a single point of view: that of a militantly Islamist sponsor, consistently urging the recourse to violent "resistance" as the only legitimate response to Israel's existence and the U.S. presence in the Middle East.
Al-Manar thus represents the darker side of the media revolution in the Arab world. It is one more example of how new technologies, born of the West, may be exploited to promote profoundly anti-Western agendas. At the same time, it is the product of unique circumstances. This article examines the particular genesis of al-Manar, the nature of its message, and what the United States should do to mitigate its effects.
<the article continues for 15 pages>
Note the American advertisers on al-Manar.
"Al-Manar officials reported that as of July 2002, their biggest American commercial advertisers included Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union. Other corporate sponsors include the German chocolate Milka, the American washing powder Ariel, Nestle's Nido milk, German Maggie Cubes, Finnish Smeds cheese and butter, French Picon cheese, Austrian Red Bull, the French cigarette company Gauloises, and the German Henkel's Der general detergent. Following an op-ed that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union ceased advertising on al-Manar, but the other European companies continue to do so."
Al-Manar: Hizbullah TV, 24/7
by Avi Jorisch
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2004
http://www.meforum.org/article/583
Al-Manar (the beacon) is the official television station of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah, the Iranian-supported Shi‘ite movement that appears on every U.S. terrorism list. Many political movements and organizations in the Arab world publish in print, and some even have clandestine radio stations. Terrorist groups such as al-Qa‘ida have been especially adept at manipulating television through the release of videos. But Hizbullah is unique in its operation of a full-fledged television station, offering a rich menu of news, commentary, and entertainment.
Al-Manar beamed its first signal on June 3, 1991. Since then, Hizbullah has exploited its privileged position in Lebanon—a position fortified by its successful guerrilla war to end the Israeli occupation—to create a mass media outlet with global reach. With access to continuous funding from Iran, the station has grown by leaps and bounds from a clandestine, ramshackle operation to a comprehensive satellite station.
The significance of the station goes far beyond Lebanon. Calling itself the "station of resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), al-Manar has become an integral part of Hizbullah's plan to reach the entire Arab and Muslim worlds. As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, al-Manar has an impact second only to al-Jazeera. It has become a potent instrument in what Hizbullah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy,"[1] keeping the Arab world focused on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the station has been using the same methods to undermine the U.S. occupation.
In the debate over al-Jazeera, there are arguments on both sides as to whether its content informs or propagandizes the Arab viewing public. (It does both.) In the case of al-Manar, there is no space for debate. Al-Manar is propaganda in its most undiluted form. Every aspect of al-Manar's content, from news to filler, is fine-tuned to present a single point of view: that of a militantly Islamist sponsor, consistently urging the recourse to violent "resistance" as the only legitimate response to Israel's existence and the U.S. presence in the Middle East.
Al-Manar thus represents the darker side of the media revolution in the Arab world. It is one more example of how new technologies, born of the West, may be exploited to promote profoundly anti-Western agendas. At the same time, it is the product of unique circumstances. This article examines the particular genesis of al-Manar, the nature of its message, and what the United States should do to mitigate its effects.
<the article continues for 15 pages>
Note the American advertisers on al-Manar.
"Al-Manar officials reported that as of July 2002, their biggest American commercial advertisers included Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union. Other corporate sponsors include the German chocolate Milka, the American washing powder Ariel, Nestle's Nido milk, German Maggie Cubes, Finnish Smeds cheese and butter, French Picon cheese, Austrian Red Bull, the French cigarette company Gauloises, and the German Henkel's Der general detergent. Following an op-ed that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union ceased advertising on al-Manar, but the other European companies continue to do so."