PARIS, August 21 (IslamOnline.net) - The ruling of the State Council, France's highest administrative tribunal, to grant the pro-Lebanese Hezbollah Movement Al-Manar channel a two-month respite to prove its non anti-Semitic attitude, was considered a virtual dismissal of the lawsuit filed against the channel, according to the Head of Arab Human Rights Commission in Paris.

Haitham Manna' Saturday, August 21, described the ruling as a "triumph" over the pressures practiced by the "Zionist Lobby" against the Arab channel.

The State Council gave Al-Manar until October 1 to declare its commitment to a charter of journalistic ethics. The charter is a document agreed with the Audio-Visual Higher Council (CSA), France's broadcasting watchdog, under which the TV channel would commit itself to abide by rules prescribed by the State Council on professional conduct and program content.

In a statement to IslamOnline.net, Manna', who doubles as a member of the Commission in Solidarity with Al-Manar channel, said, "The channel will manage within the two forthcoming months to find some 15 ways to prove its legal existence in France and Europe."

He said that the ruling of the French court actually means a convincing denial of the suspension in a smart way.

Al-Manar channel had resorted to the French State Council to pass a ruling on the decision taken by the CSA on July 9. The Suspension decision followed the campaign launched by several French Jewish organizations which regarded "The Diaspora" TV series, transmitted last Ramadan, as anti-Semitic.

Manna' said that the ruling of the French court is the outcome of the efforts exerted by the Lebanese government and the Commission in Solidarity with Al-Manar, as well as the support of several friendly French associations.

"The campaign launched against Al-Manar has not aimed to maintain the French values or fight anti-Semitism. It is rather a political campaign that attempts to silence a channel that is very influential among the Arab community in Paris," he said.

"One day before taking the decision, I felt that two parties are in dispute before the French State Council: The first represents the French national interests and the other is led by the pro-Israel institutions. Thanks to the positive ruling, the French national interest party finally triumphed," he added.

Commenting on the suspension of the channel due to transmitting the Diaspora TV series, Manna' said, "The problem has nothing to do with this TV series, as we watch almost daily racist TV materials that level all kinds of accusations against us without being punished."

Manna' set an example of double standard policies, saying, "There are several racist programs transmitted by the US Fox channel against negroes and Muslims and nobody requests to suspend them."

"We are against the culture of suspension, as it is the culture of dictatorship," he said, adding, "The battle waged by the Zionist Lobby in the West to suspend Al-Manar is a Medieval one, since that Lobby forgets that we currently live in an age of information."

In Beirut, Al-Manar station Saturday welcomed the French court's decision, with the management saying it was keen to comply with French law so that it could continue its broadcasts to Europe on the Eutelsat satellite, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The State Council's decision has put the affair back in a legal framework ... (and) scotched the arguments advanced by Israel through its embassy and the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France," a management statement said.