Joel Mowbray reports: Free speech for terrrorists?
Joel Mowbray (jdmowbra@erols.com) files the second of his reports with us this morning, following up on his investigation of the government-funded Al Hurra television netowrk. Joel writes:
For two months, the people charged with overseeing Al Hurra have stressed that airing interviews with and speeches from terrorists were "mistakes," all the while pledging that the network would once again be committed to promoting freedom and democracy, not Islamic terrorists and Holocaust deniers.Now it seems that a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Joaquin Blaya, is advocating that the U.S. taxpayer-funded network should air terrorists' speeches in the name of freedom of the press.
In an interview with the New York Times, Blaya went so far as to assert that not giving air time to Islamic terrorists would be tantamount to censorship. He even implied that it would be hypocritical of the U.S. "to promote American values like democracy and a free press" while not broadcasting terrorists' propaganda.
This is the first indication Blaya has given that he supports the controversial broadcast decisions of Al-Hurra's embattled news director Larry Register, who has aired speeches from the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and personally ordered an interview with an "ex" al Qaeda operative who said that 9/11 brought him joy because it "rubbed America's nose in the dust."
Here's the relevant section from the Times article:
Mr. Blaya also contended in an interview on Wednesday that Al Hurra would lose all credibility if it did not give air time to people who disagree with American policy. He said that complaints about air time for Mr. Haniya were unjustified because he legitimately holds the post of Palestinian prime minister.Assuming Blaya's remarks were not mischaracterized by the Times -- he refused yet another request for comment -- then he is out of step with Congress and at least one of his fellow BBG members.Mr. Blaya also said it was ironic that the government was seeking to promote American values like democracy and a free press while at the same time trying to censor what is shown in the station.
“That’s the difference between a free media and propaganda,” he said.
Two recent congressional letters have blasted Register's "new" Al-Hurra, with one even calling for the news director to be fired. Fifteen Congressmen, mostly from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, last week sent a letter to Secretary of State Rice demanding an investigation, calling Register's decisions to promote Islamic terrorists "unacceptable and inexcusable."
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) earlier this month spearheaded an even stronger letter, also to Rice, signed in all by nine members out of the 13 who sit on the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, the panel responsible for funding Al-Hurra. It called for Register to be fired.
Middle East Subcommittee Chairman Gary Ackerman, who held hearings last Wednesday looking into the "new" Al-Hurra, was unequivocal about terrorists receiving airtime on the U.S. taxpayer-funded network: "It just should not have happened." He explained to witnesses representing Al-Hurra that the network is not supposed to provide "equal time" to terrorists. "You are the equal time. You are the alternative voice," Ackerman reminded them.
The other BBG member who testified at the hearing, Jeffrey Hirschberg, was refreshingly candid and contrite. In stark contrast to Blaya, who was sitting next to him, Hirschberg didn't offer excuses for Register, nor did he state that Al-Hurra's woes were over. And he certainly didn't maintain that Al-Hurra should be in the business of providing a platform to Islamic terrorists and Holocaust deniers.
Assuring Congress that he shared lawmakers' concerns, Hirschberg said, "If there was ever a doubt about the sensitivity of the issues, there shouldn't be now."
But shouldn't there be doubt? Especially now that Blaya appears to have endorsed U.S. taxpayers underwriting terrorist propaganda?
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