A New York state assemblyman and Marine Corps veteran is calling on Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network to drop “the notoriously anti-American, anti-Semitic and misogynistic” Al-Jazeera network from their basic cable package.
Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor is calling for a boycott of the cable providers if they do not drop Al-Jazeera by Sept. 11, his office said in a press release Monday.
“Al Jazeera is the anti-American, anti-Semitic, misogynistic propaganda wing of a foreign government,” Mr. Lalor, a Republican who represents a Hudson Valley district, said in a statement. “The network has celebrated brutal terrorists and ‘reported’ as fact anti-Semitic 9/11 truther conspiracy theories. American TV viewers shouldn't have to subsidize Al Jazeera through a part of their basic cable bill.”
Mr. Lalor, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he’s outraged “to have this propaganda piped into my home.”
“To be clear, this is not a First Amendment issue, continued. “The free press clause of the First Amendment does not protect foreign powers who wish to broadcast propaganda into our country and our homes. Moreover, at this time my constituents and I are not objecting to the existence of the channel. We object to Al Jazeera America’s inclusion as a basic cable channel that subscribers are forced to pay for and receive rather than as an a la carte channel that can be added to a basic package.”
