IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1308 

Condemning the broadcasting of incitement to violence against Americans 

and the United States in media based in the Middle East, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2008 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 

Mr. ROYCE, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. POE, Mr. 

FORTUN ̃O, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

MCCOTTER, Mr. LINDER, Mr. KIRK, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. WELLER of Illinois, Mr. SALI, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. PORTER, Mr. TERRY, and Mr. SHAYS) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the broadcasting of incitement to violence 

against Americans and the United States in media based 

in the Middle East, and for other purposes. 

Whereas the freedom of the press and freedom of expression 

are the foundations of free and prosperous societies 

worldwide, and are among America’s most cherished values; 

Whereas the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression comes the responsibility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to violence; 


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•HRES 1308 IH 

Whereas for years, media outlets in the Middle East have repeatedly published or broadcasted incitements to violence 

against the United States and its citizens; 

Whereas Hezbollah, a Foreign Terrorist Organization based 

in Lebanon and sponsored by Iran and Syria, launched 

the television station al-Manar in 1991, and has funded 

and operated it ever since as a ‘‘station of resistance’’, 

intending to use it as a weapon to further its goals of violently combating the United States and Israel; 

Whereas al-Manar launched a satellite television channel in 

2000 and is estimated to be viewed by over 10,000,000 

people worldwide every day; 

Whereas al-Manar has, at various times, been broadcast on 

satellites viewable on every continent except Antarctica, 

and is reportedly presently viewable on the satellite providers ArabSat, NileSat, and reportedly, as of April 

2008, Indonesia’s Palapa C2, which is owned by Indonesia Telkom, a company controlled by the Government 

of Indonesia; 

Whereas Hezbollah leader Hassan Hasrallah and other 

Hezbollah officials frequently appear on al-Manar to call 

for ‘‘Death to America’’; 

Whereas al-Manar has broadcasted over 2 dozen video clips 

of insurgent attacks against American and Coalition 

forces in Iraq in 2008 to date; 

Whereas, on March 1, 2008, al-Manar correspondent Ali 

Shu’aytu compared the USS Cole’s deployment off the 

coast of Lebanon to the 1983 deployment of United 

States troops in Lebanon, stating ‘‘at that time, the 

[USS New Jersey] was safe off the Lebanese coast; however, it was forced to retreat after [the] targeting [of] the 


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United States Embassy as well as the Marines’ headquarters in Beirut and [the] killing [of] hundreds of the 

United States occupation soldiers’’; 

Whereas Rasim al-Marwani, an Iraqi supporter of the Shi’a 

militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, stated on April 9, 2008, 

in an al-Manar broadcast that he supported armed ‘‘resistance’’ against United States forces in Iraq, saying, ‘‘it 

is our highest priority to build up the resistance . . . we 

think that the armed resistance and military escalation is 

some kind of resistance, while believing the resistance is 

legal’’; 

Whereas the United States, France, the Netherlands, and 

Spain have banned broadcasts of al-Manar, and the 

United States has designated al-Manar as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global 

Terrorist; 

Whereas al-Aqsa TV, a television station that is run by the 

Foreign Terrorist Organization Hamas, is based in the 

Gaza Strip, began broadcasting in 2006 in Gaza, and 

began broadcasting internationally that same year via the 

NileSat satellite provider; 

Whereas, on March 30, 2008, al-Aqsa TV broadcast a puppet 

show that depicted an Arab child stabbing the President 

of the United States to death and turning the White 

House into a mosque; 

Whereas the Government of Iran, through its state corporation Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), controls over a dozen land-based and satellite television 

channels, including Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 3, 

Channel 4, Tehran TV, the Islamic Republic of Iran 

News Network, Tehran TV, Press TV, and al-Alam; 


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•HRES 1308 IH 

Whereas Press TV, Iran’s English language satellite television network, is transmitted via the satellite providers 

ArabSat, NileSat, AsiaSat, HotBird, HispaSat, IntelSat, 

and Galaxy, and is viewable in North America, South 

America, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa; 

Whereas al-Alam TV, Iran’s Arabic language satellite television network, is transmitted via the satellite providers 

ArabSat, NileSat, AsiaSat, HotBird, TelStar, and Galaxy, and is viewable in North America, the Middle East, 

Europe, Asia and Africa; 

Whereas many Iranian state-controlled television channels 

have broadcast incitements to violence against the United 

States and Americans, including coverage of rallies and 

speeches at which Iranian leaders, clerics, children and 

mass audiences have declared ‘‘Death to America!’’; 

Whereas, on March 6, 2008, al-Alam broadcast a warning 

from an Iraqi insurgent that if the USS Cole was not 

withdrawn from off the coast of Lebanon, his group 

would be ‘‘targeting all the United States interests, especially the warships [docked] in Umm Qasr beaches in 

southern Iraq’’; 

Whereas al-Zawra is a presently non-operational Iraqi satellite television channel that broadcast during 2006 and 

2007 and was last observed broadcasting in July of 2007; 

Whereas al-Zawra is owned and operated by Mishan alJaburi, a former Iraqi Member of Parliament who was 

expelled and fled to Syria in February of 2006, and has 

been sentenced in absentia by an Iraqi court to 15 years 

imprisonment for embezzling funds from the Government 

of Iraq; 


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Whereas the Government of Iraq banned al-Zawra in November of 2006 for inciting ‘‘violence and murder’’; 

Whereas, on January 9, 2008, the Department of the Treasury prohibited all transactions between any United States 

person and al-Zawra and al-Jaburi, under Executive 

Order 13438, ‘‘for threatening the peace and stability of 

Iraq and the Government of Iraq’’; 

Whereas al-Zawra broadcast videos of violent attacks against 

United States forces in Iraq that showed the destruction 

of United States humvees and armored vehicles, recruitment videos for the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq al-Salafi Battalion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and videos that feature prominently ‘‘Juba’’, a sniper that allegedly targeted Coalition 

forces, and called for viewers to engage in violence 

against Coalition forces in Iraq; 

Whereas, in 2007, al-Zawra aired a program widely nicknamed ‘‘Hidden Camera Jihad’’, a compilation of attacks 

filmed and executed by insurgents against Coalition 

forces in Iraq and accompanied by sound effects, scornful 

English language captions, and a ‘‘laugh track’’; 

Whereas multiple reports indicate that after being banned in 

Iraq, al-Zawra broadcast via a satellite uplink based in 

Syria; 

Whereas reports indicate that during its observed period of 

operation, al-Zawra broadcast on satellite providers including ArabSat, NileSat and EutelSat, and was available in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe; 

Whereas al-Rafidayn, an Arabic language satellite television 

channel based in Egypt, focuses on Iraq, is broadcast via 

NileSat to the Middle East and North Africa, and is afVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Jun 27, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1308.IH HR1308

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filiated with the Association of Muslim Scholars, an antiAmerican Islamist group based in Iraq; 

Whereas al-Rafidayn has repeatedly broadcast video clips produced by Sunni insurgent and terrorist groups in Iraq, 

and the channel’s news broadcasts have frequently broadcast videos, poems, and songs that praise those groups 

and their attacks on United States forces in Iraq; 

Whereas al-Rafidayn has repeatedly broadcast claims of responsibility for attacks on United States forces in Iraq by 

insurgent and terrorist groups; 

Whereas, on February 29, 2008, al-Rafidayn broadcast an 

interview with Nizar al-Samarra’i, a writer and political 

analyst, in which he called on all Muslims to engage in 

‘‘jihad’’ in Iraq; 

Whereas the ArabSat satellite provider was founded by the 

Arab League and is governed by a General Assembly 

comprised of the communications ministers, or their representatives, of Arab League member countries; 

Whereas the NileSat satellite provider is controlled by the 

Government of Egypt; 

Whereas television channels that broadcast incitement to violence against Americans, the United States, and others 

have demonstrated the ability to shift their operations to 

different countries and their transmissions to different 

satellite providers in order to continue broadcasting and 

to evade accountability; 

Whereas television channels such as al-Manar, al-Aqsa, alZawra, and others that broadcast incitement to violence 

against the United States and Americans, aid Foreign 

Terrorist Organizations in the key functions of recruitment, fundraising, and propaganda; 


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•HRES 1308 IH 

Whereas the broadcast of incitement to violence against 

Americans and the United States on television channels 

and other media that are accessible in the United States 

may increase the risk of radicalization and recruitment of 

Americans into Foreign Terrorist Organizations that seek 

to carry out acts of violence against American targets 

and on American soil; 

Whereas the use of media outlets by advocates of violence 

against American forces pose a clear and present danger 

to the security of United States service members and 

American civilians serving in the Middle East; and 

Whereas it is imperative for the United States to counter the 

threat to American service and civilian personnel that results from the control or use of media outlets by Specially 

Designated Global Terrorists and other entities that intend harm to our Nation’s interests: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns the broadcast of incitement to vi3 olence against Americans and the United States by 

4 media based in the Middle East; 

5 (2) urges governments throughout the Middle 

6 East, American allies, and other responsible nations 

7 to officially and publically repudiate purveyors of in8 citement to violence against Americans and the 

9 United States; and 

10 (3) calls on the President to— 

11 (A) designate al-Aqsa TV as a Specially 

12 Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT); 


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1 (B) designate as SDGTs satellite providers 

2 that knowingly and willingly contract with enti3 ties designated as SDGTs to broadcast their 

4 channels for providing financial, material, or 

5 technological support to terrorist entities; and 

6 (C) take into consideration state sponsor7 ship of anti-American incitement to violence 

8 when determining the level of assistance to, and 

9 frequency and nature of relations with, regional 

10 states. 

Æ 


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