Slap for Hezbollah

Beirut

France banned the Beirut-based Arabic TV station Al Manar from broadcasting via a French satellite after the station broke a promise to stop airing anti-Semitic propaganda. The station, funded by the Iranian-backed Islamic militant group Hezbollah, ran a commentary accusing Jews of conspiring to spread AIDS. Al Manar was already on probation for airing a Syrian series showing Jews seeking the blood of children so they could make Passover matzos. The station said that being cut from the French satellite network was only a minor setback, because it would continue to reach French viewers over other satellites.