Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

Local officials are not expected to intervene with Hizbullah’s Al-Manar Television to stop it from airing the series entitled Al-Shatat ­ Arabic for The Diaspora ­ on the history of Zionism over a period of 136 years. It starts in 1812 and outlines what has been described as a Jewish plan to dominate the world, political sources said Thursday.
The TV station began airing the first episode of the Syrian-made mini-drama on Monday and the following day the US complained to the Lebanese and Syrian governments for allowing the series to be aired.
According to sources, should US Ambassador Vincent Battle call on officials to stop the series from airing, the request would be turned down for several reasons, including that the TV station was a private enterprize which enjoys press freedom.
Another reason would be that such a response infringes upon the freedom of opinion, sources said.
Sources also asked why Washington came out in defense of the history of the Zionist movement and demanded an end to a television series that did not even touch upon US history.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, commenting yesterday on the series, said that the US was “strongly opposed to any and all displays of anti-Semitism” and viewed the program, which included “scenes recognizing the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which is an anti-Semitic forgery,” as unacceptable.
The complaint followed a Jewish group describing the series as anti-Semitic.
Al-Manar’s program director, Nasser Akhdar, said Wednesday that the series was “purely historical” and that it was based on some 250 sources written by Jews.
He also said that US complaints were an attempt to “misguide public opinion.”