The Saudi-owned MBC network has reportedly dismissed its news director, Musaed Al-Thubaiti, following backlash over a report in which slain Resistance leaders were described as “terrorists”.
The controversial segment, titled ‘The Millennium of Deliverance from Terrorists’, was broadcast on October 17 and has since been removed from the company website, according to the Middle East Monitor (MEMO).
The report sparked protests with hundreds of protesters storming and damaging equipment, as well as setting fire to the channel’s offices, in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
⚡️BREAKING:
Protesters in Baghdad, Iraq are now attacking the headquarters of the Saudi MBC channel after the channel insulted the leaders of the Palestinian resistance.
Thy ended up setting the Saudi MBC headquarters on fire. [Video3] pic.twitter.com/F3qDdKgc0L
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) October 18, 2024
Following the segment’s airing, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Media Regulation summoned MBC officials and announced an investigation for breaching the kingdom’s media regulations, reported MEMO. The regulatory body reportedly said it “will not be lenient towards any violation” of its policies.
License Revoked
Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission revoked MBC’s license and closed its Baghdad office, said MEMO.
The report equated resistance figures such as the late Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq with Osama Bin Laden.
🔴 A sign posted at the gates of MBC TV offices in Iraq says:
“Closed by order of the people.”Many in the region are removing MBC & all its affiliated channels from their TV menus & calling for others to boycott the channel. pic.twitter.com/kpaEldw0yw
— Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) October 19, 2024
Haniyeh’s successor, Yahya Sinwar — killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on October 16 — was also characterized as “the new face of terrorism.” The late deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units’ Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and Iran’s Quds Force general Qasem Soleimani were referenced negatively as well, the MEMO report said.
“Given the MBC satellite channel’s violation of media broadcasting regulations via its repeated violations and its attacks on the martyrs, leaders of victory, and heroic resistance leaders who are fighting the battle of honour against the usurping Zionist entity, we confirm taking all necessary legal measures and suspending it from operating in Iraq,” the Iraqi regulator reportedly said in a statement.
بيان |
الهيئة العامة لـ #تنظيم_الإعلام تحيل مسؤولين في إحدى القنوات التلفزيونية للتحقيق بسبب تقرير إخباري مخالف للأنظمة والسياسة الإعلامية للمملكة. pic.twitter.com/bZHWErEI65— الهيئة العامة لتنظيم الإعلام (@Gmedia_SA) October 19, 2024
‘Malicious Editorial Approach’ – Hamas
Hamas condemned what it called “a dark and inflammatory report” against the resistance movement.
“It is a professional, media, and moral downfall that is consistent with the zionist propaganda and narrative that seeks to demonize the resistance and its symbols,” Hamas said in a statement.
The movement demanded an apology as well as the “malicious editorial approach” by the channel “be amended,” and that “attention be paid to the crimes and atrocities that our people are being subjected to at the hands of the criminal zionist entity.”
(PC, MEMO)
