Coalition Against Terrorist Media
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The Coalition Against Terrorist Media (CATM) wages a campaign to remove terrorist outlets from the airwaves. Its members includes Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and secular organizations in America and Europe. CATM has initially targeted what they claim to be terrorist controlled-and funded media—such as Hezbollah’s al-Manar Television and al-Nour Radio, and Hamas’ al-Aqsa TV—which are believed to promote hate, incite violence, recruit suicide bombers and other terrorists, and conduct operational surveillance. CATM states that it is confronting the communications tool between terrorist leaders and their followers.
Before CATM launched its education campaign against Al-Manar Television, the station reached a daily worldwide audience of 10 to 15 million viewers with its 24/7 broadcasts. Al-Manar is controlled and financed by Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for more American deaths, pre-9/11, than any other group, including al-Qaeda. CATM reminds its web site visitors that "It was Hezbollah that claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983."
CATM claims that its ongoing campaign against Al-Manar includes briefings conducted for more than 800 lawmakers, national security officials, diplomats, and private-sector executives in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. CATM officials have appeared dozens of times in the media in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
As a direct result of CATM’s educational campaign, it states that the following goals were achieved:
- The U.S. State Department in 2004 added Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and al-Nour Radio as well as their parent company, the Lebanese Media Group, to its Terrorism Exclusion List. This important first step allowed the U.S. government to deport or deny entry to any alien contributing to the ventures.
- In 2005, the European Commission and the authorities responsible for regulating the communications industry of individual European countries agreed that al-Manar violated the governing European Union directive opposing hate broadcasting.
- Eight of the original 10 commercial and government-owned satellite companies (two French, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Australian, Barbadian, and Brazilian) stopped their worldwide broadcasting of al-Manar.
- Al-Manar was taken off the air in the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, Asia, Australia, and parts of Africa.
- Multinational corporations withdrew more than $2 million in annual ad revenue for al-Manar.
- In 2006, the U.S. Treasury Department designated al-Manar, al-Nour, and the Lebanese Media Group as Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities.
The Coalition Against Terrorist Media is a project initiated by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
