Israel Matzav

Al-Manar: We interrupt this broadcast...

YNet reports this morning that London-based Arabic Daily al-Sharq al-Awsat is wondering how al-Manar is continuing to broadcast despite several IAF hits on its facilities.

According to a report in the London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, no one knows where Hizbullah television station al-Manar is being broadcast from since it went underground after Israeli attacks.

Apparently not even guests interviewed on al-Manar programs know where the headquarters are, “in keeping with complicated regulations which prevent them from knowing the precise location,” the pan-Arab newspaper reports.

Phone calls to the station are not a simple matter either, as all its employees have changed their phone numbers. Therefore, the newspaper reports, to reach senior al-Manar employees by phone, one must pass through a complex chain of communications, mostly cellular. Thus, the location from which Hizbullah TV broadcasts remains a riddle even to some of its employees, and broadcasts are done from numerous locations to maintain secrecy.

A spokesman for the station, Ibrahim Farkhat, said al-Manar had prepared protocol for broadcasting during emergency situations. He noted the station was in a “terrific” state, despite the “difficult circumstances on the ground.” Al-Manar’s broadcasts were somewhat disrupted, however, by Israeli Air Force strikes on the station, which can be felt in its simplified broadcast schedule and hasty and meager news reports.

Maybe. On the other hand, they may not be in such a terrific state. The Jerusalem Post is reporting (in the paper edition - I have not seen this online) that over the weekend, Israel managed to interrupt al-Manar's broadcasts:

The Israeli material showed a clip from one of Nasrallah's own recent TV broadcasts in which he acknowledged that Israel's air force was too strong for Hizbullah to grapple with. This was followed by footage of the IAF destroying Hizbullah targets.

The Israeli-introduced material also featured a photo of Nasrallah with a gunsight superimposed on his features. A third clip featured an Arab-language voiceover warning that Nasrallah was dragging Hizbullah to disaster and that he was lying about what was happening on the battlefield.

This is all very nice and I know that the 'propaganda war' is important, but I wish we were hitting them as hard from the air as we are hitting them with this 'cute' stuff.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:35 AM