Islam Channel's coverage of Palestine angers UK pro-Israel groups

Mohamed Ali Al-Harrath, head of the UK-based satellite television station, Islam Channel, has accused British pro-Israel entities of leading a campaign against the channel to isolate it and discourage political figures from interacting with it. However, Al-Harrath played down the ability of such a campaign to impact on the channel’s work and popularity in the UK and other English-speaking countries.
 
In a statement to Quds Press, Al-Harrath stressed that attacking Islam Channel’s general editorial line reflects a political stance on the channel’s adherence to UK laws, as well as the channel’s professional coverage of world events, including the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.
 
He said that there were extremist, right-wing British think tanks that attack Islam Channel adding that these institutions, which have political and media wings, are influential within the city of London and are close to London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson.

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He said; “They attack us primarily for our coverage of the latest Israeli war on Gaza, and they accuse us of bias for the Palestinian side and of not giving full opportunity to the Israeli side. We don’t fear these accusations because we adhere to the laws enforced in the UK, which guarantee a wide scope of freedom of speech and expression.”
 
Al-Harrath highlighted that the channel’s relationship with London’s mayor is not clear cut; “Yes, London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, made statements on Islam before being elected as mayor, however since becoming  mayor, he has opened communication channels with Muslims. His statements on Muslims are positive, but the administration surrounding him have negative positions on Islam, which affects the municipality’s performance – but this impact is limited, because we also have strong relations with many friends in the House of Lords and inside the parliament and the cabinet, besides the fact that our channel is one of the 5% of leading channels in Britain from among 800 TV channels.”
 
We are a purely British channel, in terms of language, approach, and performance. We work with great professionalism, and we have managed to break the Zionist lobby’s monopoly over the media in Britain, which is the reason behind all the attacks we are being subjected to. But we broadcast our programs on 7 satellite channels and to almost all the English-speaking world. This reflects positively on our stable financial position,” Al-Harrath said.

Source: Quds Press