GAZA, (PIC)-- Director of Al-Aqsa satellite channel Hazem Al-Sharawi said that the channel will not be off the air and will continue broadcasting its programs and news to its viewers despite the arbitrary French decision.
In a statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC) on Wednesday, Sharawi added that France trampled on its alleged democracy when it decided to stop providing Al-Aqsa channel with satellite services, but this action will never cause the channel to disappear.
In the same context, journalists and representatives of satellite channels demonstrated outside the French consulate in Gaza on Wednesday morning to protest the French decision.
They demanded the French government and the satellite provider company Eutelsat to backtrack on their decision against Al-Aqsa channel.
Manager of programs at the channel Samir Abu Mohsen said that Al-Aqsa is committed to international broadcasting laws and its mission is only to reveal the truth and defend the Palestinian national rights and constants.
Abu Mohsen noted that the channel did not receive at all over the past years any comments or criticism from the French side, affirming that the decision was taken to stop the channel from debunking Israel's crimes and its inhuman blockade on Gaza.
He underlined that the French decision violated the international law related to the right of peoples to freedom of opinion and expression and stressed the need for activating the role of the media to condemn the French violation.
The decision was taken following Al-Aqsa's in-depth coverage of Israel's May 31 attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla aid convoy.
During the assault Israeli commandos killed nine people traveling aboard the ships to break the Gaza siege.
The channel gives a behind-the-scene look at the hardships suffered by the impoverished Gaza people under the crippling Israeli blockade.
It also provided a non-stop coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza in December 2008, which destroyed all the channel's studios but failed to take it off the air.
The Gaza-based channel, which was launched in 2006, has offices in Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of communications and information technology strongly denounced France's broadcasting watchdog and the administration of Eutelsat satellite provider for their decision to stop providing Al-Aqsa channel with satellite services.
In a press statement on Wednesday, minister of communications Yousuf Al-Mansi said that this decision cannot be legally and morally justified and it was only taken in compliance with Zio-American pressures.
Mansi added that this decision is part of the policy pursued by western countries, which is aimed to conceal the truth and impose media blackout on Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people.
The minister noted that France's broadcasting watchdog's decision against Al-Aqsa is not based on international laws related to satellite broadcast, public freedoms and global communications, which all stress the right of individuals to receive information without any obstacles.
Hamas condemns French decision on Aqsa TV, protest sit-in organized
France decides to take Aqsa satellite channel off air
GAZA, (PIC)-- Al-Aqsa satellite channel at a late hour on Monday night said that its France-based satellite provider Eutelsat decided to sever the station’s transmission within 48 hours.
In a statement, the channel slammed the decision as illegal and said it violated the international laws of public freedoms and media work.
The channel called on the council of Arab information ministers to hold an emergency meeting to discuss this serious violation and take action to protect the Arab media institutions.
It noted that it will never fail to convey its message to its viewers and will continue to expose Israel’s crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
Earlier this month the French government had ordered Eutelsat, which transmits Al-Aqsa through an agreement with Bahrain-based Noorsat satellite provider, to take the channel off the air after receiving a complaint from the European commission that it violated rules of broadcasting.
For his part, senior Hamas official Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil condemned the French decision to take Al-Aqsa off the air as racist and unjust, affirming that its aim is to cover up Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and kill the truth.
Dr. Bardawil said in a press release on Tuesday that France’s claims about democracy were proved to be all lies and media fabrications, urging the Arab information ministers to take action against this decision.
The Palestinian government’s information office, for its part, considered the decision part of a previous plan targeting all channels supporting the resistance option in the Arab world and exposing Israel’s Nazi practices in Palestine.
The office strongly denounced France for bragging about its commitment to freedom of opinion and expression and being an oasis of democracy while it is now muzzling Al-Aqsa channel and preventing it from defending its nation and the justice of the national Palestinian cause.
The Palestinian ministry of communication and information technology also deplored the French arbitrary decision and said it was taken in compliance with Zio-American demands for preventing the channel from revealing the truth of Israel’s violations.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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