Al-Manar (Arabic: المنار; The Beacon) is a Lebanese satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah, registered as Lebanese Media Group Company broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon. It has an offering a "rich menu" of high production news, commentary, and entertainment.[3] The self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), in its psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy, i.e. the state of Israel, and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the Arab world.
Al-Manar was designated as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity," and banned by the United States in December 2004. It has also been banned by France, Spain and Germany and has run into some service and license problems outside Lebanon, making it unavailable in the Netherlands Canada and Australiawhile it has not officially been banned in any of these regions.
The Israeli Air Force bombed Al-Manar buildings on Thursday, July 13, 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War. The attack on Al-Manar's facilities shortly followed another strike against the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut earlier that morning. Despite the attack, the station remained on air, broadcasting from undisclosed locations.The IDF bombed Al-Manar's Beirut complex again on July 16 causing fire in the complex and surrounding buildings. The station's signal disappeared briefly several times, then continued normal programming.
ne of the satellite providers which have transmitted Al-Manar has been the French satellite Hot Bird 4, owned by the Eutelsat Satellite organisation. On December 13, 2004, the French Conseil d'État, the highest administrative Court in France, ordered the French-based Eutelsat Company to shut down Al-Manar broadcasts following accusations that its programmes were anti-Semitic and could incite hatred.
Al-Manar claims the French decision was political and not legal, influenced by Israel and Jewish lobbies.
