Is showing ‘Hezbollah TV’ aiding terrorism?
Steve Safran August 27th, 2006
A New York businessman from Pakistan is facing conspiracy charges for distributing Al Manar, a television outlet generally accepted to be from the Hezbollah. 42-year-old Javed Iqbal enabled New York customers to receive Al Manar via satellite. The government arrested him for violating a law that bars direct financial aid to terrorists. It’s a First Amendment case, to be sure. Those who support Iqbal say he’s entitled to free political speech. Those opposed cite precedence for outlawing speech that advocates or incites violence.
4 Comments Add your own
1. thebeirutchannel | August 28th, 2006 at 6:09 am
the timing of this ban is suspect; march of THIS year???
hezbollah’s been around for over 20 years, no?
i’m hearing their reconstruction efforts are far better than fema’s in n.o. .
maybe that’s the reason for the ban, you wouldn’t want to incite the poor folks in new orleans!
2. thedetroitchannel | August 28th, 2006 at 6:14 am
everyone should know that dearborn, mi has a much larger middle eastern population than new york.
my hunch is there is a whole lot of al manar goin’ on in the fine city of dearborn.
just a hunch.
3. aidian | August 28th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
al-manar is absolutely protected by the first amendment, and we have a right to see it.
When/if this gets litigated out, I have to believe that the courts will rule that way. Otherwise, this country has become a very scary place.
Probably a moot point, because the satellite installer doesn’t have the resources to really challenge the law.
4. lucy | January 19th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Wow, thanks for the excellent information!
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