PARIS, 18 August 2003 — The French government’s broadcasting watchdog, the Conseil superieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), says it will be calling for questioning the local representative of Egyptian satellite channel ESC to protest against “Horseman Without a Saddle,” an Egyptian-made mini-series that the CSA says is anti-Semitic. The program was broadcast last month.
A spokesman for the CSA, which authorizes all broadcasts of TV programs in France or over the French airwaves, said numerous complaints had been filed over the series, which, says the spokesman, “derives from the ‘Protocols of the Sages of Zion,’” a book originally published in France in the 19th century that is considered a classic anti-Semitic text.
The Egyptian satellite channel local representative will be called in to be told of France’s objection to the broadcast of such programs, the official said.
He said the representative would be warned by the watchdog CSA that if similar material is broadcast by ESC, the satellite channel could well be prohibited from using the country’s cable and satellite TV channels.
