Al Hiwar

Al Hiwar / قناة الحوار
Launched January 1, 2006 (2006-01-01)
Network Middle East Broadcasting Center
Picture format 16:9 (576i, SDTV)
Country United Kingdom
Language Arabic
Broadcast area Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Website alhiwar.tv (Arabic)
Availability
Satellite
Nilesat 102 10911 V, SR: 27500, FEC: 3/4
Arabsat 4B 12073 H, SR: 27500, FEC: 3/4
Hot Bird 9 10949 V, SR: 27500, FEC: 3/4

Al-Hiwar (Arabic: الحوار) is an Arabic language satellite TV channel broadcasting from London. Al-Hiwar (meaning "Dialogue" in Arabic) was set up by a number of Arab intellectuals and businessmen from Britain and the Arab World.[1] It is associated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK and has been called the Brotherhood’s “main medium”.[2]

History

Al-Hiwar was founded in 2006; its founding managing editor is Azzam Al-Tamimi.[3]

Programs

Ties to Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups

Al Hiwar’s founding managing editor, Azzam Tamimi, is known as Hamas’s “special envoy” in the UK[4] and has also come under suspicion for helping to finance terrorism.[4][5][6]

Additionally, insiders from the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which has been identified as a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate, have acknowledged that MAB maintains an office within Al Hiwar.[2]

Al Hiwar’s registered address is in the Westgate House which has been accused of serving as a hub for Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas operations in Western Europe.[7] Westgate House is also home to a number of Islamist media outlets[8] that according to Tamimi use Britain’s liberal press freedom laws to broadcast their message all over the world.[2]

Censorship attempts

The TV station was the target of several censorship attempts; in May 2009, it was taken off Hotbird after repeated and deliberate jamming of its signals. This happened while the channel was airing interviews with exiled Libyan opposition leaders.[9]

Egypt

Al-Hiwar was unexpectedly taken off Egyptian-owned satellite operator Nilesat in April 2008. This move came just weeks after the signing of the so-called "Principles for Regulating Satellite TV in the Arab World" which was adopted unanimously by the Arab League during a meeting in Cairo on February 12, 2008. However, the Egyptian authorities and Nilesat denied that the new charter on Arab media had anything to do with this.[3][10][11]

The United Arab Emirates

In June 2008, Emirati authorities seized tapes and recordings of Al-Hiwar journalists in Dubai Airport, who were leaving for London after they had filmed an episode of "Khaleeji Dimensions" that deals with the national identity in the United Arab Emirates. The material seized was later sent to Al-Hiwar headquarters in London and the original airing schedule for the episode was postponed.[12]

References

External links

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