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Wed, Sept 01, 2010 | The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center [2]
The Iranian series "The Christ," broadcast by Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV and the Lebanese Shi’ite channel NBN-TV, affiliated with the Amal movement (Picture from the Al-Manar TV website, August 13, 2010).
For the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV and the Shi’ite Amal NBN-TV broadcast “The Christ,” an Iranian-produced series rife with an anti-Christian anti-Semitic expressions. The Lebanese Christians protested the program’s airing and it was taken off the air
Overview
The series “The Christ” (Al-sayid al-masih in Arabic) was broadcast at the beginning of August 2010 in Lebanon both by Al-Manar TV, Hezbollah’s satellite channel, and the Shi’ite Lebanese channel NBN-TV, affiliated with the Amal movement and Nabih Berri. It was broadcast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time when the rate of television viewing is particularly high in the Muslim world. It was also broadcast by the Iranian Arabic-language channel Al-Kawthar TV.
The Christian community in Lebanon strongly protested the program, and after broadcasting the first few episodes Al-Manar TV and NBN TV were forced to announce they were taking the series off the air. Despite the storm raised by the broadcasts in Lebanon, the Iranian channel Al-Kawthar TV continued airing it.
This is not the first time that Hezbollah has broadcast a blatantly anti-Semitic series for Ramadan. In November 2003 it broadcast the Syrian-produced series Al-Shatat (“Diaspora,” i.e., the exile of the Jewish people from their homeland), and from Lebanon it was distributed to many other countries. The series presented an anti-Semitic, pseudo-historical survey of the history of the Jewish people and Zionism, and included the anti-Semitic blood libel (i.e., that Jews baked the Passover matzo with the blood of Christian children).[1]
Al-Manar TV is very popular in the Arab world. Arab satellite companies (dominated by Egypt and Saudi Arabia) and others (European and Indonesian) provide the channel with technical services, allowing it to be received by many target audiences in the Middle East and throughout the world (including Muslim communities in the West). The United States and European countries recognized the negative influence Al-Manar TV’s hate propaganda and incitement programs had on their Muslim communities (the religious incitement in “The Christ” illustrates that well) and so far imposed limitations on its broadcasts. The limitations are ineffective and both Hezbollah and Hamas circumvent them.[2]
The subject matter of “The Christ”
Produced in Iran in 2008, the series tells the story of the life of Jesus. The plot of the story shows the Muslim point of view that he was a prophet, but not the most important one (that distinction is reserved for Muhammad). In addition, according to Islam, there is no foundation for the Holy Trinity.[3]
Examples follow of offensive elements (from the first two episodes, which were uploaded to YouTube):
1. In the first episode Satan appears before Jesus and tries to keep Him from fulfilling His mission as prophet. He tells Jesus that He is the son of God, but Jesus “passes the test” and does not accept what Satan says.
2. In the same episode Jesus says “I am far less important than [others who] serve God” [which infers that Jesus has less stature than other prophets, especially Muhammad].
3. At the end of the first episode one of His disciples asks Him, “Shall we go catch fish?” and Jesus responds, “No, we’ll go hunt men.”
In addition to the offensive treatment of Jesus, in the first two episodes there are clear examples of anti-Semitism. The Jews are depicted as conspirators, liars, traitors, cowards, evil, ugly greedy and Satanic. The Jewish residents of Jerusalem are represented as crooked merchants. [Note: This analysis is based on the first two episodes of the series. It is reasonable to assume that later episodes, which deal with the betrayal of Jesus to the Romans, contain similar and more blatant examples of anti-Semitism]. For example:
Left: Jews in the series: A Jew informs on plotters againt the Roman authorities. Right: Jews in the series: Jews counterfeit coins to build the next Temple
Left: Jesus calls the Jewish priests "sons of snakes" several times (the snake is a familiar anti-Semitic motif). Right: A priest says the Israelites have sunk to the depths.
Left: The Jews are worried by Jesus' success, and one says, "This may destroy our profits." Right: Jesus again calls the Jews "sons of snakes."
Jesus to his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: "Among the Israelites are many devils who stir up terrible civil wars."
Broadcasts stopped in Lebanon following strong Christian protests
The first episodes of the series broadcast in Lebanon were perceived as insulting Christianity and led to strong protests by Christians. The Catholic Information Center said that the series contained “offensive deception.” The pastor of the Maronite Church in Byblos (Jbeil), Beshara Raii, called the series a sectarian civil war violating the National Pact[4] and the [principle of] living in cooperation (Dostor.org [3]).
It was reported that following the protests, Lebanon’s general security apparatus, which is responsible for censorship, ordered Al-Manar TV and NBN-TV to stop broadcasting the series because if infuriated the country’s Christians (Nowlebanon.com [4] and Al-Nahar, August 13, 2010). In response, on the same day the two channels said in a joint announcement that they had decided to stop broadcasting the series “in respect of some sensitivities and to avoid any attempt for negative exploitation.” However, they said, the series “reflects, with full honor and glorification, [Jesus’] life, picture, role, pain and sacrifices.”
Despite the protests in Lebanon which led to ending the broadcasts, the Iranian Arabic-language channel Al-Kawthar TV continued airing the series. It even used its website to ask viewers what their opinion of it was. The responses posted praised it.
From the Arabic-language website of the Iranian Al-Kawthar TV; the surfers considered it an excellent series.
Notes:
[1] At the time the United States protested the program. Following the protest the Lebanese foreign minister defended Al-Manar TV’s right to broadcast it as “freedom of expression.” This time, when “freedom of expression” offended the Christians in Lebanon, the Lebanese took the series off the air.
[2] For further information see the August 18, 2010 article, “Hezbollah and Hamas Television [5]”.
[3] Dostor.org [6].
[4] The National Pact was an unwritten agreement forged in Lebanon in 1943 among the various ethnic sects which divided positions of political power and determined the modus vivendi for the internal Lebanese arena and the principles of the country’s foreign policy.