New Yorker arrested for broadcasting Hizbollah TV

spike

spike

New Member
Free speech. No need fot that.

New Yorker arrested for broadcasting Hizbollah TV
Thursday August 24 9:20 PM ET


U.S. authorities have arrested a New York man for locally broadcasting Hizbollah television al-Manar, which the U.S. Treasury Department has branded a terrorist entity.

Javed Iqbal, 42, was arrested on Wednesday on allegations that his Brooklyn-based company HDTV Ltd. was providing New York-area satellite customers with the Hizbollah-operated channel, federal prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

Defense lawyers said Iqbal had done no wrong, branded the arrest as a violation of his free-speech rights, and linked it to the recent fighting between Israel and Hizbollah in which al-Manar broadcast news and propaganda for Hizbollah and was attacked by Israeli air strikes.


A fragile U.N.-brokered truce between Israel and Hizbollah came into effect on August 14 after a month of fighting that killed more than 1,300 people, mostly Lebanese civilians.

Iqbal, who moved to the United States from Pakistan when he was 18, has been charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Federal authorities searched HDTV's Brooklyn office and Iqbal's Staten Island home, where he was suspected of maintaining satellite dishes, the statement said.

The U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of al-Manar in March, saying it supported fund-raising and recruitment activities of Hizbollah, a Shiite Muslim group backed by Syria and Iran.

At that time al-Manar was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity, making it a crime to conduct business with al-Manar, prosecutors said.

"It's like the government of Iran saying we are going to ban the New York Times because we think of it as a terrorist outfit, or China saying we will ban CNN," said Farhan Memon, a spokesman for the law firm Ndanusa and Davis, which is representing Iqbal.

"America would be hopping up and down crying freedom of speech and freedom of the press," Memon said.

On July 12, the Israeli military destroyed the channel's five-story Lebanese headquarters but al-Manar quickly returned to the air, the station's head of public relations said.

Al-Manar devoted wide coverage to the Israeli-Hizbollah war, broadcasting exclusive footage shot by Hizbollah guerrillas.

The European Union decided to take the channel off European satellites last year.

Reuters/VNU
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http://tv.yahoo.com/news/va/20060824/115647964700.html;_ylt=AqQQK1_E7WfX7HAfCdnv3euRsVoB
 
spike said:
Possibly. Not really sure if he's guilty of that offense from the article.
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rebroadcasting without a license, big no-no, now what he should have done is gotten the rights from hezbollah TV, applied for a license, been denied, and then sued, to prove that the right to free speach is being eroded do to the state of paranoia that exists.
 
Gonz said:
It's illegal to trade with terror groups.
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Yeah, I read that part too.

At that time al-Manar was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity, making it a crime to conduct business with al-Manar, prosecutors said.

"It's like the government of Iran saying we are going to ban the New York Times because we think of it as a terrorist outfit, or China saying we will ban CNN," said Farhan Memon, a spokesman for the law firm Ndanusa and Davis, which is representing Iqbal.

"America would be hopping up and down crying freedom of speech and freedom of the press," Memon said.
 
chcr said:
Free speech. What society have you ever lived in that had it?
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Real or make believe? Cause if having a dream counts....





And why broadcast Hezbullah television anyway? They are terrorists, the guy would be helping them by giving them attention, not to mention make himself look like a terrorist. Free speech sure but that would have been a bad idea
 
freako104 said:
And why broadcast Hezbullah television anyway? They are terrorists, the guy would be helping them by giving them attention, not to mention make himself look like a terrorist. Free speech sure but that would have been a bad idea
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Only a few countries classify them as terrorists. Regardless, re-emptively censoring dissenting ideas based on who is talking is the the free speech ideal you were probably dreaming about.

If the speech violates the law by advocating illegal acts it's a different story.

Listening to differing ideas is the best way to validate your own. Hell, I turn on Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh once a month or so for a laugh and it doesn't hurt me.
 
Listening to differing ideas is the best way to validate your own. Hell, I turn on Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh once a month or so for a laugh and it doesn't hurt me.
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That part of it I can agree with. But again they are classified as terrorists (even Lebanon is classifying them as such). Also again it isn't a good idea to broadcast their propoganda anymore than broadcasting any other .
 
freako104 said:
That part of it I can agree with. But again they are classified as terrorists (even Lebanon is classifying them as such). Also again it isn't a good idea to broadcast their propoganda anymore than broadcasting any other .
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I don't know what their propaganda is or even if the staion was propaganda.

I know what Limbaugh's propaganda is because I can check it out on occasion.

I don't see censoring information pre-emptively. If the content turns out to be illegal than that's another story.

There's plenty of hate groups that get a voice and there's no reason to be afraid of that either.
 
or it is 24/7 hate TV.

Al-Manar devoted wide coverage to the Israeli-Hizbollah war, broadcasting exclusive footage shot by Hizbollah guerrillas.

The European Union decided to take the channel off European satellites last year.
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even the Eurospansies thought it too much. (of course, they'd also pull Rush & Air America)

wiki said:
As of 2002, Al-Manar was regularly airing self-produced "patriotic music videos" composed of video footage from the West Bank mixed with Hezbollah fighting songs which are aired after news reports of suicide attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. According to the producer of one of these videos, they are intended to encourage Palestinian youth to become suicide bombers[6]. Other content includes the groundbreaking satire show al-qijkfatr, which regularly features suicide bombings gone wrong.
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nice content
 
spike said:
I don't know what their propaganda is or even if the staion was propaganda.

I know what Limbaugh's propaganda is because I can check it out on occasion.

I don't see censoring information pre-emptively. If the content turns out to be illegal than that's another story.

There's plenty of hate groups that get a voice and there's no reason to be afraid of that either.
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Their propoganda is just that: Propoganda to get their point across. Hate groups have a voice yes but many times they will voice it in the right situations. Same case with this. Had he left it to himself he would not be looked at as a terrorist or a supporter. Note that once again I reiterate: I did not say he should not be allowed to, rather that it is not a good idea to broadcast terrorist ideals
 
He should be allowed to broadcast enemy propaganda. We will all be much safer then. I bet my folks loved The Hirohito Hour on CBS in 1942.
 
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