The French government has ordered a local satellite carrier to halt broadcasts by an Egyptian TV channel due to anti-Semitic content. The carrier, Eutelsat, was told by the French State Audiovisual Council (CSA) this month to block the Al Rahma channel, which it said violated a law prohibiting “incitement to hatred or violence based on religion or nationality.” The Council cited in its decision an October 2009 program broadcast on the Al Rahma channel that showed Jews in a “demonizing and degrading fashion.” The broadcast featured Egyptian Islamic cleric Hazem Shuman exhorting his viewers against Jews: “Your turn has come at last, you offspring of apes and pigs, you most accursed creatures created by Allah, you people who have harmed the Prophet again and again... It has been proven that the Jews are like a cancer – if they are not removed from the body of the nation, they will kill the entire nation.” The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), noted the Egyptian channel often justifies murdering Jews and has blamed the Holocaust on Jewish “corruption.” The organization's national director, Abraham H. Foxman, immediately issued a statement of strong praise for the decision by the French government. “The Egyptian media has no shame when it comes to anti-Semitic media portrayals of Jews. Al Rahma has a long history of spreading the most vile anti-Semitic incitement, and the decision taken by France is an important step in combating it,” said Foxman. “We urge the European Union to follow the French lead and expand the ban to all member states, just as EU regulators did after France took action against Al Manar , Hizbullah's media arm,” he added.