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Israel Launches Arabic Channel to Counter Region’s Media
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| Sharon hopes new channel will correct Israel’s “distorted” image in Arab media.
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TEL
AVIV, June 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) –
Israel
is launching an
Arabic satellite channel, Ash-Shark Al-Awsat (
Middle East
), scheduled to kick-off Tuesday, June 25, in an
attempt to counter-balance other Arabic satellite channels in the
region.
The
new channel will target neighboring Arab countries.
Affiliated
to the Israeli broadcasting authorities, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, which
will target the Arabs of 1948 as well as the Arabs in the region, will
come out in both English and Arabic.
Programs
will include news, analysis of current issues, movies, documentaries
as well as other local programs. It could be received through
satellite dishes.
Egypt
, Jordan,
Syria
,
Lebanon
, the
Palestinian
Territories
, Gulf, the
Maghreb
states, as well as
Arabs in
Europe
, will be able to
receive the channel, Israeli officials said.
The
channel came as an Israeli response to dozens of Arab satellite
channels in the region, said Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharanot on its
website.
Rannan
Cohen, the Broadcasting Minister who thought of this channel, said
“the channel is not promotional. It is CNN in Arabic and will be
open and credible. It will be under the management of the Arabic
section in the Israeli television.”
Explaining
the reasons behind transmitting the channel, Cohen said: “Arab
countries have many channels such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Manar, which is
affiliated to Hezbollah, and these broadcast around the clock. We need
to have programs broadcast in good Arabic language to counterbalance
these channels.”
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the project and felt that it is an
important step in presenting his government’s stance to the Arab
world. It is an attempt to correct the “distorted” image of Israel
in Arab media, he added.
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