Al-Manar; Channel of Resistance, Arab and Free people

Al-Manar; Channel of Resistance, Arab and Free people
By Hanan Awarekeh

26/05/2008 - May 25, 2000, is not only Resistance and Liberation Day, it is also the 8th anniversary of Al-Manar broadcast via satellite and the 17th anniversary of Al-Manar as a local channel.

Al-Manar satellite channel was launched in 2000 in correspondence with the Resistance and Liberation Day. It was projected as the “Resistance and Liberation Channel." The goal of broadcasting via satellite was to introduce the resistance as a practice and a culture to the world, to promote the concept of victory in the wake of the 2000 Israeli withdrawal and to support Palestinians in occupied territories.

"Four months after the beginning of Al-Manar's satellite broadcast, the second Intifada started in occupied Palestine. Al-Manar considers the Palestinian cause as its central cause and dedicates itself to it. The main objective in 2000 was to promote the notion of victory, since it was the first victory on Israel. The role Al-Manar was playing infuriated Israel as well as Zionist and Jewish lobbies across the globe," Yusuf Wehbe, the head of the Al-Manar's internet department said.

With success after success, the channel faced many obstacles to prevent it from reaching some countries or even continents. The Zionist lobby exerted tremendous efforts to label the channel as anti-Semitic and as a result Al-Manar was banned in France and other parts of Europe. Later on, the USA labeled al-Manar as a terrorist organization; an unprecedented move against a media outlet.

As determined as ever, Al-Manar continued to broadcast and make the peoples around the world hear its voice and the voice of the oppressed Palestinians and Iraqis. In 2006, the channel faced its hardest challenge yet; Israel launched its barbaric aggression against Lebanon. The Zionist lobby failed to silence Al-Manar through international corridors, so US-Zionist bombs sought to literarily destroy the channel once and for all.

Israeli warplanes bombed Al-Manar TV building in Haret Hreik during the first days of the July war and the building collapsed entirely. However, the broadcast of the local and satellite channels never stopped and continued to defy the Israeli aggression from substitute studios. Al-Manar played a significant role during the war that eventually ended in a shameful defeat to the Israelis and their allies.

To confront anti Manar TV campaigns, the channel's management enhanced Al-Manar's fledgling internet site which was transmitting minute by minute news of the war. The Israeli targeting of Dahyieh and south Lebanon did not prevent Al-Manar's technicians from activating the live streaming service on the internet.

"The site has been operating since 1996, but back then, it was just a site for Al-Manar. By 2005, Al-Manar.com.lb was becoming a news site because the satellite channel was blocked in some countries. In 2006, the live streaming service was activated and since then Al-Manar can be watched and read anywhere and anytime," Wehbe said.

Seventeen years on, Al-Manar continues to be the beacon of Arabs and Muslims, the channel of the resistance, the channel of the free people in the world and the channel of truth.

Source: Al-Manar

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