Press
Release
Media
Contacts:
Hesham
Tillawi Tillawi@currentissues.tv
Mark
Glenn mglenn@currentissues.tv
First nationwide Pro-Palestinian Television Program in the US is the latest victim of Jewish attack on Free Press.
It is just another example of the fact that in America freedom of speech has its limits, and particularly when the topic of discussion happens to be Israel. Fall on the ‘wrong side’ of the truth, and a person can lose his job or his platform for speaking his mind.
It
seemed as if nothing could stop it. It went from having 2 viewers a week to
hundreds and then thousands and then hundreds of thousands and then, once
it gained syndication on an American cable and a Satellite channel called
Bridges TV, millions. It was being aired 5 times a week for 5 months
on Bridges TV with nothing but praise from both executives and viewers
alike, and then, out of the blue came a call from Bridges informing
the show’s producer that they were coming under pressure from "Jewish Cable
Operators". Bridges’ Programs Director and the show’s producer set up
a system of rating for each program to inform Bridges if the content of the
show has ‘Jewish’ material or not. Apparently though, this was not enough,
as two weeks later the show was removed from the Bridges TV line-up.
The
program in question is called “Current Issues with Hesham Tillawi” and runs Live
every Thursday evening from 8-10 PM Central Time in the US
from Lafayette Louisiana. Besides running on cable, the program is also
streamed live and archived on the Internet where at present it is watched in
more than 63 countries around the world at www.currentissues.tv.
Tillawi, a Palestinian-American citizen is the host of the show and has
been making some impressive waves in the last year with some of the guests he
has interviewed, including members of the US Congress, high ranking officials
within the US military establishment, international figures such as ex-Israeli
nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu and many others.
More importantly though {and most likely the reason why the heat came
down from on high} is the fact that it is a program where there is no such thing
as political correctness when it comes to discussing the goings on in the Middle
East, and in particular how these items relate to the state of Israel.
Late in 2005 Bridges showed interest in broadcasting Current
Issues on their network that spans the US. Bridges TV is a Muslim--owned channel
whose theme is dedicated to the issue of Islam and to the current goings on in
the Middle East. In December 2005 Bridges agreed to start airing Current Issues
and by the end of May the following year, Current Issues was playing 5 times a
week and getting rave reviews by Bridges viewers. Then, in May 2006 Aasiya
Zubair, Director of Programming at Bridges TV informed Dr. Hesham Tillawi
that some of the “Jewish cable operators" located in areas of the country where
Bridges TV is broadcast had complained to them about the Current Issues program.
She also informed him that Bridges TV had fired one of their editors for not
editing some of Current Issues programs by taking out materials that in their
opinion was “offensive to Jews”. Two weeks later Bridges TV made the decision to
stop airing the show and in a letter to Dr. Hesham Tillawi Mrs. Zubair wrote the
following notice:
"Dear Hesham, I would like to inform you that we will no longer be airing
Current issues anymore. I have been getting a lot of complaints from our
viewers," and in a follow-up letter Mrs. Zubair wrote:
"Dear Hesham, It is not about the cable operator, it is about the
customers too who by majority are Muslim and who have complained about
the show. For now I would suggest it is best to part ways."
Tillawi response was "How could the majority of "Muslim customers" change
their mind overnight regarding a show that is presenting current events
from an Arab and a Muslim point of view?"
Tillawi asked Bridges TV to
produce those so-called complaints from viewers. As he tells, it, they were
unable to produce even one negative comment. In prior conversations with Ms
Zubair she stated that they were getting many emails in support of the
show.
“This
is censorship, plain and simple” claims Tillawi. “Its a shame that a channel
claiming to be friendly to Muslims would remove the only show being broadcast
nationwide that tells the truth about Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Islam, etc.
In its promotional material, it claims to be a channel dedicated to “building
bridges,” but we say bridges can only be built with the truth, as ugly as it may
be.”
When asked if he was surprised at this latest development, Tillawi’s
answer was “No…I knew that this would happen eventually, I just did not know
that it would happen this quickly. Unfortunately you cannot tell the truth about
Israel indefinitely in the United States, supposedly the freest country of the
world.” He continued his thoughts on the matter with “We feel this shameful
decision by Bridges TV management will go down in infamy because now Muslims are
censoring other Muslims from telling the truth to the world about the thousands
of Palestinian, Iraqi, and Afghani children who are being killed by the
Israeli-American War machine.”
The rest of us have to wonder what the reason was for this censure? Was
it the programs dealing with the use of Depleted Uranium in Iraq and
Afghanistan? Was it the interview with His Excellency Afif Safieh, the
Palestinian Ambassador to Washington telling the truth concerning the Israeli
atrocities against the Palestinians?
Was it the interview with the Syrian Ambassador revealing what America's
intentions were in the Middle East? Was it the interview with Dr Norman
Finkelstein exposing Zionism and what it is? Was it the interview with
Congressman Paul Findley exposing AIPAC and the Jewish control of congress? Was
it the interview with Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear scientist who
exposed the Israeli Nuclear capacity? Was it the interview with Israel Shamir
who exposed the racist policies of his country, Israel? Was it the interview
with Dr. Steven Sniegoski who stated that the war against Iraq was for Israel?
Or could it be the interview with Alison Weir exposing the reality of the
Palestinian-Israeli issue? Maybe it was the interview with Lt Col Karen
Kwiatkowski, who worked at the Pentagon and exposed the influence of the Neocons
and the Israelis at the Defense Department? The list goes on and on with
interviews that the Main Stream Media would not even touch due to the Jewish
influence over the media.
Tillawi added that “We always spoke out against this influence over the
media and now we ourselves have become victims of this influence. One thing that
hurts like hell is the fact that it was a Muslim who pulled the plug to stop the
show from reaching a nationwide audience.”
It is interesting but probably not coincidental to note that a short time
before Bridges TV ended its association with Current Issues, the ADL, domestic
branch of Israeli Intelligence operating in the United States, added Dr Hesham
Tillawi to its list of most ”notorious anti-Zionist,anti-Semites”. Those
who are familiar with the tactics of the ADL know that the typical way that they
do business is to threaten and intimidate anyone who is involved with the
business of exposing the truth as it pertains to Israel and the way that the
Jewish agenda works in the United States. Therefore it is not unreasonable to
expect that in some fashion Bridges TV was contacted by a representative of the
ADL and told to cease broadcasting episodes of Current Issues or face the
consequences.
When
asked whether this latest setback would affect the way that he and the producers
of Current Issues do business, he said. “Absolutely it will…Now the gloves are
coming off and we are not going to worry about whose toes get stepped on when it
comes to discussing the truth. There is a great lesson here about appeasement
and giving into the demands of a bully. Bullies never get enough, and even when
you give them everything they want they still aren't satisfied.”
This
is not the end, but the beginning. Current Issues will continue broadcast on Cox
Cable, Amazonas Satellite and the Internet, until we find a brave man or a brave
woman who will put us back on nationwide syndication.
Hesham
Tillawi, PhD International Relations is a Palestinian American writer, Political
Analyst and a TV show host. His program Current issues with Hesham Tillawi can
be viewed Live every Thursday evening between 9-11 PM Central Standard Time on
Cox Cable system Channel 5 in Louisiana, Nationwide on Bridges TV, and Worldwide
on Amazonas Satellite, as well as Live on the Internet at
http://www.currentissues.tv and can be contacted at Tillawi@currentissues.tv
Interviews
then archived for on demand viewing at www.currentissues.tv