''Al Jadeed'' (, ) is an independent Lebanese TV station. Based in
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
it was launched in 1992 and closed in 1997 due to Syrian intervention, and then relaunched in 2001.
On 9 May 2005, ''Al Jadeed'' was also launched in
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
, reaching Arabic-speaking immigrants in the United States, Canada,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and Australia.
As of 2012, it has become available for viewers in South America through
over-the-top technology on
myTV.
In 2007, a copyright issue arose with the name "New TV" and the channel Arabized its name, to which it became Al Jadeed TV. The station is owned by Tahsin Khayat.
History
From 1991 to 1996: New TV
Up to 1996, New TV was regularly in conflict with the ruling leaders. At the end of 1996, the Lebanese Ministry of Information decided to shut many TV stations, including New TV, the only secular broadcaster in Lebanese. Only five channels then got the right to broadcast, chosen according to match religious communities’ demands.
Since 2001: ''Al Jadeed TV''
From 2000, New TV received a licence again and it became ''Al Jadeed'' TV in 2001.
Attacks, threats and intimidation attempts against ''Al Jadeed'' TV
Broadcasting suspended in 2003
In January 2003, Information Ministry
Michel Samaha ordered to hold the broadcasting of ''Al Jadeed'' TV's programs. This decision involved the Bila Rakeeb weekly program that had been advertising on revelations about
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
.
Chairman arrested in 2003
On December 7, 2003,
Tahseen Khayat, ''Al Jadeed'' TV's Chairman was arrested at home and held in custody for two days. The channel's offices and Tahseen Khayat's home were searched.
Threats against a female anchor in 2003
In July 2003, ''Al Jadeed'' TV broadcast a new documentary involving the Lebanese General
Jamil El Sayed in a corruption case with
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Most of the channel's managers were summoned to the Tribunal of Beirut. Among them was Dalia Ahmad, a famous anchor. As a non-Lebanese, her work permit was withdrawn and she was then told she could work for any other Lebanese TV station but not ''Al Jadeed''. She finally resigned in December 2003. She then worked in the United States for
Al Hurra and eventually came back to ''Al Jadeed'' TV after Jamil Al Sayed's arrest in October 2005. Independently from this case, she resigned again in 2018 and came back to the station in 2019.
El Suddik case in 2006
In December 2006, three ''Al Jadeed'' reporters were arrested following their investigation into the former Prime Minister
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.
Hariri headed fi ...
’s assassination and their lead on Muhammad Zuhair El Suddik, one of the
false witnesses
False or falsehood may refer to:
*False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic
*Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement
*False statement, aka a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a state ...
. They were jailed for 45 days and released after their report was broadcast.
Attack against the Chairman's house
In March 2010, a hundred members of the
Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
community surrounded Tahseen Khayat’s house and threatened to set fire to it. Although they did some damage to the house, they eventually withdrew after the Druze leader
Walid Jumblat
Walid Kamal Jumblatt (; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese politician who was the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party from 1977 until 2023. A Druze and former militia commander, Jumblatt led the Lebanese National Resistance Front, allying ...
intervened.
Murder of an ''Al Jadeed'' cameraman
On April 9, 2012, an ''Al Jadeed'' crew went to northern Lebanon along the Syrian border. They were then fired at by the Syrian forces. Ali Shaaban was killed while Hussein Khreiss and Abed Khayat were seriously injured.
Assault against Al Jadeed headquarters in 2012
In June 2012, masked men set fire to tires in front of ''Al Jadeed''’s office’s main door after the channel had released an interview with
Ahmed al-Assir, a Sunni Sheikh. ''Al Jadeed''’s security team arrested one of the men.
Grenade attack against Al Jadeed headquarters in 2019
In February 2019, the TV station was attacked with a hand grenade thrown out of a car. The suspects were affiliated with the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party, to which the party’s leader
Walid Jumblatt
Walid Kamal Jumblatt (; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese politician who was the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party from 1977 until 2023. A Druze and former militia commander, Jumblatt led the Lebanese National Resistance Front, allying ...
later allowed authorities to arrest them and had a dinner with the channel’s owner Tahsin Khayyat.
Legal: Prosecution by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
In January 2014, the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...
(a
UN mandated tribunal set to judge
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.
Hariri headed fi ...
’s murderers) issued an order in lieu of indictment against the journalist Karma Khayat and ''Al Jadeed'' TV for whom she was the information programs director at the time of the incriminated facts. The Lebanese journalist and the channel are accused of contempt charges and justice obstruction after they released compromising information regarding the witnesses’ protection system of the tribunal.
In August 2012, ''Al Jadeed'' TV had broadcast a 5 episodes documentary showing serious failures inside the tribunal related to the anonymity of the witnesses and their protection. Beside, the channel's teams had taken all the necessary measures to keep the interrogated persons anonymous (blurred faces, no name given).
A year and a half later, Karma Khayat and ''Al Jadeed'' TV were indicted and prosecuted for "undermining the confidence of the public in the ability of the tribunal to protect confidential information related to the witnesses or alleged witnesses" and to have disobeyed the order given by the Judge to stop broadcasting the reportage. They appeared in the court first in May 2014 for the pre-trial. The trial began on April 16, 2015, in
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. Karma Khayat could have been sentenced up to 7 years in jail and fined €100,000 if found guilty. Moreover, despite the tribunal's contradictions, this is the first time an organisation is prosecuted by an international tribunal which could make a precedent.
Special Tribunal for Lebanon acquitted the station and Khayat of all charges on 18 September 2015.
Programming
Talk shows
* ''Kawālīs al-Madīna''
* ''’Ūl Nshālla''
Soap operas
* ''
Gümüş''
Political Satire
* ''Douma Qrattiyeh (دمى قراطي)''
See also
*
List of journalists killed during the Syrian civil war
References
External links
*
{{Television in Lebanon
2001 establishments in Lebanon
Television channels and stations established in 2001
Television stations in Lebanon
Mass media in Beirut
Companies based in Beirut
International broadcasters
Arabic-language television stations