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A Staten Island man will spend nearly six years (69 months) in prison for selling a satellite TV package to New York customers that included the Hezbollah television channel Al Manar (pictured), which the feds call "a terrorist organization masquerading as a TV channel." In December, Javed Iqbal, who emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan as a teenager, agreed to a plea deal to settle the case, which could have landed him in prison for up to 15 years. At yesterday's sentencing, he said he was "deeply sorry" for what he calls a mistake, and his lawyer tells the Times the channel was just one "narrow aspect" of a TV package that was "180 degrees from Islamic fundamentalism." But federal prosecutor Eric Snyder called Iqbal "Hezbollah’s man in New York City. He did all this to bring the Hezbollah operations to our shores, to allow Hezbollah to have their operations here in New York City. That’s a very dangerous thing." The NYCLU had defended Iqbal on First Amdendment grounds, and the trial highlights the ongoing debate over how far the government can go in coping with terrorism: Is this censorship, or just keeping America safe?
Hezbollah TV Channel Gets S.I. Man Almost 6 Years in Prison
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It's the same media that NEVER mentioned Muslims' hatred of Israel as a possible motive for 9/11.
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You can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre and you can't yell "Kill all the Jews and wipe Israel off the map!" in NYC.
First off, if this is a satellite channel, then the shit is already on our shores so the prosecutor can cut the hyperbole.
I also don't really like the government's argument here. They're basically saying that they can't prosecute you for what you write in a newspaper, but they can prosecute you for producing the physical paper, since that is 'material support'.
wow, I am shocked. Since when is dissemnating information about ANYTHING illegal in America. Since when can it get you 6 years in prision?!
Thats insane.
It bears reapting that Hezbollah (that was founded after Israel PRE-EMPTIVELY attacked Lebanon) IS NOT even an ENEMY OF America. In fact today its a reconized part of the DEMOCRATICALLY elected Lebanese goverment.
This country is becoming bizarro land. Land of the free my ass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
"In fact today its a reconized part of the DEMOCRATICALLY elected Lebanese goverment."
Yeah, so, Hamas is a recognized part of the democratically elected Palestinian government... Doesn't mean the U.S. trusts them or likes the situation...
So they're going to keep this network off the air that glorifies martyrdom, teaches you how to build a bomb belt, and has a children's program complete with a mouse-like mascot who tells kids that suicide-bombers are heroes. Yeah, I'm really upset that the general public won't get that beamed directly to their TVs... they'll just have to go the extra step and look it up on the internet.
This sets a very dangerous precedent. How is this different from the internet censorships in China?
So let me get this straight for my retarded self.....
Man sells TV channels..... goes to jail!?
Regardless of whatever awful stuff the Government says is or is not on that channel they have no place in telling someone what they can and cannot watch....
This actually scares me alot
How many times does Ben Franklin's quote of giving up liberty for false security have to be invoked before our government begins to understand? Sounds to me like they are scared of what this channel has to offer the American people. Governments are scared of two things: Truth and Intelligent Citizens.
oh, im always so confused about this.
if the guy sells a TV channel on satellite TV, he is doing something illegal
but if I link Al Manar's website which broadcasts streaming news and a selection of videos, thats AOK?
actually i didnt mr. homeland security agent,
John Del Signore of Gothamist did...
see you in six years Johnny....
no really this makes no sense since i can actually download Hezbollah speeches and all that stuff and make xeroxes and thus bring hizbullah to our shores??? HUH, im getting more confused?
no really, please explain, i can watch TV, but i cant sell the tv service beaming from a satellite, but its OK to print out books or sell books or read books by hezbollah, or would i also be in trouble for telling a guy how to find those banned illegal books?
how can a tv channel be illegal?
please help me understand this, i dont want to go to jail with John and this iqbal guy for 6 years, im just askin you know, im not a camel jockey, just an armchair lawyer...
she is a snappy dresser.
Martyred Mickey Mouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2J3my3pOIc&feature=related
and the Jew Eating Rabbit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeii225G-HM
...which are not Hizbullah. Nice try
You have got to be kidding me. If we're going to start throwing people in jail for TV programs, let's just give up this whole War on Terrorism. The terrorists don't have to win, we're destroying ourselves for them.
I agree, except for people responsible for reality TV shows. They definitely belong in a federal supermax prison.
I hate fundie assholes as much as anyone, no matter the religion, but this is BS. Next step is shutting down anyone the government disagrees with.
Why dont one of you Gothamist journalists spend some time researching this story instead of all the 'hipster/grifter' stories
Here is a story about unamerican propganda
This orgnization was founded by Neo-Cons a few years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Defense_of_Democracies
They claim they are about supporting democracy in the world - but really like many other orgnization of thier type
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_Fund
they are about making sure American see Islam and Arabs as terrorists
One way to do this is to supress what Americans learn about the world to as few sources as possible. Al Manar is a television station with ideas from the other side.
A director at that Mark Dubowitz from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies - 'somehow' had the State Dept place the station on a list of terrosist orginazations.
Now you can charge someone as a TERRORIST from making IDEAS available in America.
Sadly this is all being done in the name of freedom, democracy, safety but really is another piece of the battle to control US opinion about our forgein polciy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_lobby_in_the_United_States
So come on Jen, John - heres an outline, why dont you spend a few hours and give us an exclusive story?
"they are about making sure American see Islam and Arabs as terrorists" in coordination with islamists across the world, you might add.
"So come on Jen, John - heres an outline, why dont you spend a few hours and give us an exclusive story?"
Only real journalists who practice real journalism and pound the pavement do that kind of shit, not bloggers, come on.
I think the programming on public access stations is far worse that what may land this guy in the can
Is there any evidence of this man's terrorist involvement besides selling a TV service that included this channel? I've watched YouTube videos made by Islamic terrorist groups, does this make Time Warner, which provides my cable Internet service, guilty? It is shocking and obscene that someone can be jailed for nothing more than providing access to a cable television channel.
IMO, really sad. Words are words, opinions are opinions. Whether it's Moran's opinion on marriage, AIPAC's sponsored ads, Rev. Billy's consumer satire, PETA's antics or the Schneersonmobile blasting music outside my office right now. I can listen or not, agree or not, comment or not. My right, their right. When quill was put to paper a coupla hundred years ago, this is just what those guys were trying to protect us from. Maybe that's why it was the FIRST Amendment. Whatever one's interpretation of the Second, the Fourth, etc, I think the First is pretty clear. And this case was prosecuted contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the document which outlines the basis for our country. Shame.
actually a link to the NYTIMES opinion might be helpful
its OK because FOX news (HAHAHHAHA) get this...AIRS EXCERPTS,,,,HAHHAHAHA
but TIMEWARNER, AOL, CABLEVISION AND EVERYONE ELSE ALLOWS YOU TO ACCESS THE PAGE AND VIDEOS ONLINE.
HEY TIMEWARNER YOUR GOING TO JAIL!!!!@ HAHAHAAAAA
the government says you can talk over it (aka DISS IT)
but you cant BROADCAST IT? HAHHAHA
I LOVE IT....AMERIKKKA THE STUPID.
WHO THOUGHT OF THIS, OH YEAH I KNOW WHO....
“There is a vast difference,” the government responded, “between airing excerpts of footage from Al Manar to illustrate a news event and providing equipment and facilities which allow for the uninterrupted transmission of Al Manar’s broadcasts.” Fox News, moreover, “did not fully broadcast the audio” and “talked over the video.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/us/22bar.html
also only one news article - the daily news - out of 200 even mention that that Al Manar is connected to Anti-israel crimes.
Its important to note that the 'terrrorists' this guy is convicted of helping are not even our enemies - using 9/11 as a pretext - Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran - Israels enemies are becoming, as a matter of policy, our enemies - the existence of all these lobbying groups shows this is a cordinated effort by people who benifit if america goes to war in the middle east, as we did in Iraq, as we're being pushed to do in Iran.
So, you are all Constitutional scholars? Wow. Great school systems. The truth is, as someone clearly pointed out early in this wank-fest, the Constitution does not give you the freedom to yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Or to remove the metaphorical confusion for the simplistic amongst you, it does not give you the freedom to say anything you want anytime you want and anywhere you want. Al Manar has been allegedly used to broadcast organizational messaging to Islamic extremist terrorist organizations. Further, if any funds used to pay for the airing of this channel end up back in the hands of Hamas or any other organization on the US terrorist watch list, then a law has been broken. This is much more complex than your "I wanna say anything I want" and "I wanna help organize the annihilation of Israel in any vile way I want 'cause I live in America" whining going on here. Do some research and learn that as great a document as the constitution can be, it guarantees nothing absolutely. There are limits on everything. It will allow you to criticize the nation but not organize its destruction (on the world stage, this includes our allies as well which Israel IS and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are NOT). Many of the unedited speeches given by some of the extremists broadcast of Islamic extremist sponsored stations are known to carry rallying, organizational and instructional information for the violent destruction of, well... you. If you want to defend the broadcast of this station, prove it no longer carries these broadcasts.
Fuck you for being a pompous ass about this whole thing. There's a HUGE difference between yelling FIRE in a crowded theater and broadcasting this crap. And yes, I can call it crap and still believe that it has the right to be broadcast. This is the same thing as Rush Limbaugh inciting neo-cons to do their best to make sure Obama fails.
So, you are all Constitutional scholars? Wow. Great school systems. The truth is, as someone clearly pointed out early in this wank-fest, the Constitution does not give you the freedom to yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Or to remove the metaphorical confusion for the simplistic amongst you, it does not give you the freedom to say anything you want anytime you want and anywhere you want. Al Manar has been allegedly used to broadcast organizational messaging to Islamic extremist terrorist organizations. Further, if any funds used to pay for the airing of this channel end up back in the hands of Hamas or any other organization on the US terrorist watch list, then a law has been broken. This is much more complex than your "I wanna say anything I want" and "I wanna help organize the annihilation of Israel in any vile way I want 'cause I live in America" whining going on here. Do some research and learn that as great a document as the constitution can be, it guarantees nothing absolutely. There are limits on everything. It will allow you to criticize the nation but not organize its destruction (on the world stage, this includes our allies as well which Israel IS and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are NOT). Many of the unedited speeches given by some of the extremists broadcast of Islamic extremist sponsored stations are known to carry rallying, organizational and instructional information for the violent destruction of, well... you. If you want to defend the broadcast of this station, prove it no longer carries these broadcasts.
"He did all this to bring the Hezbollah operations to our shores, to allow Hezbollah to have their operations here in New York City"
PULL YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR AZZ AMERICAN WAR CRIMINALS. SIX years of jail for simply including a godam stupid cable channel in a package deal? Now THAT is REAL TERRORISM! What's next? A TWENTY year jail sentence for using that cute little checkered scarf that Hezbollah uses too? You people are DEMENTED and EVIL.
there is some merit to the jewish conspiracies after this.
There is a television channel that the US government has banned???? I find that hard to believe!!! Whatever happened to our freedom of speech, which everybody speaks so freely about.
i see no comparison to 'shouting fire in a crowded theatre'
you can diseminate the speeches of Westbrook Pegler
you can register a site like marinlutherking.com if your david duke,
how about Schenck v. United States,
or maybe Flag Desecration...
mmm,,, how about reading the previously mentioned material
the guy provided satelite tv service for dish network, he allowed people to choose channels, including the hizbolah channel, he did not collect fees, transmit$, support or send money to another country,
no you cant yell fire in a crowded theatre, but you can say kill all n*ggers, you just cant say kill all n*ggers to a roomful of white supremists you just riled up and point to the brother in the front row and suggest that they start there,
(this is a famous case...the guy won, since he did not incite...it was a speech, not a riot)
you can read bomb making manuals online, you can buy a book called How to Kill for Fun&Profit, you can buy books on how to make silencers (which are Illegal) but its freedom of speech, information is free, unless you cant to watch almanar...DUH! you people are dumb....
THE DUDE INCLUDED THE CHANNEL IF PEOPLE ASKED, HE DID NOT PUSH IT DOWN PEOPLES THROATS,,,
again, you can make all the outcries about destroying israel, or post 911. etc etc.
but information is free, and when you silence reprehensible speech, you only drive it underground, people should be able to listen to and make decisions by themselves, thats why the idea of "BOOK BURNING" is outdated, its more than censorship, it creates thoughtcrime and decides that you are not reasonable enough to make moral choices after evaluating differing ideas...
hahhahaa, im getting sick of this country everyday,....
if some guy in Iran was hanged for hooking up people with the evil american satan tv channel called FOXNEWS,
we would all scream thats UN-AMERICAN
except we are the ones acting UN-American,,,
HAHHAHA, i love this stuff
Even those of us who have a reasonable understanding of the Constitution (despite Mercury's denigration of our schooling) realize that the Constituion (even on the "world stage") has nothing to do with the US's friends or enemies of the day. It has to do with the United States. Period. The Constitution predates, supercedes, and outlasts (hopefully) the alliances of this day. We fought the British, the Germans, the Italians, the Spanish, the hell, we even dropped nukes on the Japanese. We fought alongside the Russians, then almost nuked each other in a decades-long Cold War.
They are now our allies. Today. The United States Constitution has nothing to do with Israel, or Iran, or those that like or dislike them. Aside from providing a framework for our government, it also was meant to provide protection from an overreaching government. Those who were born here or have been accepted by this country have the expectation that these protections will not be subjectively removed. PACs, contributions, lobbyists and all other interests aside, we should not follow the slippery slope of other nations in restricting speech for political expediency. Unpleasant at times, but vital to a free society.
If the Lebanese government arrested and imprisoned a Lebanese citizen for selling a satellite package that included Fox News Channel, we'd be all up their asses about free speech and democracy. This is absolutely pathetic.
But then, who in the US government gives two shits about a bunch of comments on a blog?
So, this guy got 6 years in the federal pen FOR HOOKING UP A CABLE CHANNEL FOR SOMEBODY?
That is insane!
Isn't there something called The First Amendment?
Apparently not....
I hear some guy installed Fox News, which says torture is OK. Which tree to we hang him from?
when will a librarian be jailed for harboring and loaning dangerous publications on our shores...
SOON,
it will certainly be a foreigner with dark skin who doesnt speak english, will be sentenced to 451 months...sounds familiar? even in our 'great school' systems we know what that means...
Are you guys kidding me? You don't see why this channel would be banned? It's not a world news channel, it's propaganda from people who are currently our enemies. I know the situation in Israel/Palestine is jacked, but if some fool that is beefing with your family killed your cousin, would you let him call your house and share your opinion? No. Come off that soft stuff.
No it doesn't mean the govt will start banning anything they disagree with. No it's not just that the guy hooked up any cable channel. No, enemy's propaganda doesn't fall under protection of free speech.
Yes you can see it on the internet or satelite, but you don't see the difference between this and making it easily accessible?
ps. just watched a bunch of the clips on youtube of their kids show. shit is crazy and hate filled, and murder promoting. Why would you want that aired here?
There's Liberal and there's "Liberal Wingnut". Gothamist and most of it's commenters are "Liberal Wingnuts", the kind of Liberals that give Liberalism a bad name. I'm not saying being a Liberal is bad, and I'm not defending Conservatisim, not by a long shot. I hate Conservatives and the "Right", but there is also such a thing as bad Liberalism, and Liberalism that goes too far, and you'll find that many of the commenters here of that ilk.
great argument 'gotohell' - what was it?
here is a better summation
http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/25/absurd-prison-sentence-for-new-yorker-over-hezbollah-tv.htm
here too is another example of the forces behind making stuff like tv stations critical of israel illegal:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/jane-harman-weighs-in-on_b_189803.html
What's your point? That the people who wrote those pieces are just as bad as you?
Definitely over the top. The guy should maybe receive a fine & a slap on the wrist, but prison time? C'mon. I never would've even known (or cared) what the hell Al Manar was before this, but now some douchebag hate channel gets free publicity thanks to some hysterical overreaction by a self-serving federal prosecutor. Thanks Mr. Snyder!
This is has to be one of the dumbest things I've heard of! Not that I agree with a terrorist station, but if the US allows Neo-Nazi racists and anti-semits to have their radio stations, CD's, spewing their hate...how the hell can this man get arrested and charged for hooking up a "terrorist" radio station?? That is some real BS!! Neo-Nazi's have rallies spewing hate, insighting riots, encouraging killings of all non-whites, homosexuals and jews and we allow them the freedom of speech.
Much like McArthyism in the 60's this country is going to selectively persicute people who they believe are associated with the Middle East. The US Govt thinks its people are really stupid...as if we wont see through the hypocracy of this case!! Its such a shame that the US, before the eyes of the world, continues to sidestep our own laws and beliefs all in the name of fighting terrorism.
I cant wait to see what our history books say 30 years from now about this era!!!!