Dropping Al-Alam meant to 'silence resistance'
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:52:04 GMT
After two Arab satellite operators took Al-Alam off air, growing number of intellectuals and politicians are lending their voice to the chorus of criticism against the move.

Egyptian parliamentarian Mustapha al-Bakri said the decision to drop Al-Alam was an effort to choke the voice of resistance in the Arab world.

Saudi-based Arabsat and Cairo-based Nilesat stopped Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam in a move widely seen as its stance on regional issues, especially when it comes to the Saudi-backing of the Yemeni forces in a crackdown on Shiite Houthi fighters in north of the country.

Meanwhile, Egyptian scholar Rafiq al-Habib also told of the heavy toll of the regional disputes on the news network.

Hafiz Abu Saeeda, head of the Egyptian Human Rights Organization, described the Arab companies move as "unjustifiable".

Citing Egyptian and Arab Legal System, he said the operators were not entitled to move without providing convincing reasons.

Al-Alam officials say the decision to take the network off air breached the contract with the Arab satellite providers which stipulated that any disputes should be settled at a competent court of law.

Political motive behind Al-Alam ban 
Some regional and international media and political foundations condemned the Saudi-based Arabsat as well as Cairo-based Nilesat's moves to ban Iran's al-Alam from broadcasting on the air, saying that this initiative will serve Zionist regime.

The Arab media described Al Alalm as one of most outstanding network in exposing the crimes committed by Zionist against Palestinians particularly in recent Gaza war, stressing that some political motives are behind this initiative supported by some Arab leaders.

After a few days of silence, Arabsat and Nilesat authorities claimed that the main reason behind dropping Al-Alam, was the network's continuous criticizing of some figures in the Arab world.

They also claimed that Iran's Arabic-language news channel abused rules of broadcasting by violating some religious and political issues.

However Al-Alam has called on the operators to mention the exact time and date of the programs which they have found offensive.

According to al-Alam authorities, the Iran-based television network was taken off the air by both Arabsat and Nilesat on Tuesday without prior notice.

The channel authorities say the move is in violation of initial rights of media freedom as well as previous contracts with the two satellite companies.

They also noted that lack of explanations in official remarks of theses two Arab satellites reaffirms a political motive behind the case.

Reactions against this act are still coming in by human rights organizations as well as Arab and international media in several countries including Lebanon, Britain, Turkey and Sudan.

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