“To deny the Iranian aid issued to Hezbollah would be like denying that the sun provides light to the earth.”

– Hezbollah’s original secretary-general, Sheik Subhi Tufeili

On February 16, 1985, Hezbollah released its manifesto bearing a picture of “our leader,” the Ayatollah Khomeini on the back cover. A Washington Post article from that year reported on, “Iranian Revolutionary Guards carrying out their missionary work, indoctrinating the Lebanese Shiites in the spiritual and political teachings of Khomeini.”

Iran’s ideological and financial support of Hezbollah was detailed in Hala Jaber’s 1997 book on the terror organization: “Hezbollah is coy about revealing the sums it has received from Iran.” She added, “reports have spoken on figures ranging from $5-$10 million per month.”

Hezbollah’s most important tool in spreading its ideology of death and celebration of martyrdom – heavily influenced by the Iranian theocracy – is the TV channel Al-Manar. With a multimillion-dollar headquarters in Beirut and as the Christian Science Monitor has reported, a budget that grew tenfold between 1991 and 2001 (some estimate its current annual budget to be between $10-$50 million), that the Iranian government is backing Al-Manar should come as no surprise. According to an article published by in the Transnational Broadcasting Studies’ winter-fall 2002 issue, “Iranian ayatollahs backed and helped to launch Al-Manar” and the channel’s first broadcast was of the 1989 funeral of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

In a June 2, 2002, interview on Al-Manar with the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheik Na’im Qasem, the sheik quoted the Iranian regime in explaining his organization’s position on Israel and jihad: “Muslims should annihilate Israel. … Imam Khomeini said, ‘The goal of this virus [Israel] that was planted in the heart of the Islamic world. … The danger is to the whole Middle East… and the solution is in annihilating the virus.'” Mr. Qasem also described how good it was to see “a mother saying goodbye to her son, awaiting his return as a shahid [suicide bomber]”

Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nassrallah, gave a speech on February 19, broadcast live on Al-Manar containing both a threat to America and a salute to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: “If America … stops its aggression … we will have no problem with it. We don’t want to go to Washington to fight America.” He added, “How can death become joyous … sweeter than honey? Only through conviction, ideology, and faith … as the Leader Imam Khamenei said … the most honorable killing and the most glorious martyrdom is when a man is killed for the sake of Allah, by the enemies of Allah, the murderers of the prophets [i.e. the Jews].”

Ms. Jaber’s book also detailed how Hezbollah TV instructs Muslim youth to terrorism: “Al-Manar … is dominated by religious programs. Pictures and names of martyrs are screened, supported by verses from the Koran which glorify such deaths. The aim is simple, to indoctrinate the minds of the young … with the idea that those seek martyrdom will be rewarded with more pleasure than can ever be achieved during this earthly lifetime.”

Al-Arabiya TV aired a program on the celebration of martyrdom by Hezbollah and Al-Manar on August 19. In one scene, a young boy is shown viewing footage of a suicide bomber in a car that exploded. The boy said: “I love to watch him,” explaining it was his father.

The mother of martyr Bassel Al-Din appeared on Al-Manar on May 22. She cried in happiness when telling the channel: “Bassel had a wish. … Whenever I told him I wanted to marry him off, he would say, ‘Yes, mother, you’ll marry me off like this in paradise.’ And indeed, the martyr Bassel got married in paradise. I congratulate the black-eyed virgins who took Bassel from me.”

A November 11, 2004, “Mother’s Day Special” on Al-Manar featured comments from many mothers of martyrs. One stated, “All I want is martyrdom. I’m willing for all my children to become martyrs.” Another said, “It’s true I sacrificed a son, but others have sacrificed two or three. I hope more of my sons will become martyrs.” The Al-Manar moderator praised them and explained, “The reward of … all martyrs’ mothers is not in vain. … Not only locally, this is an experience that is now shared by all societies.”

Just this past week, Dutch authorities blocked the transmission of Al-Manar for spreading hate and stated the channel encourages the radicalization of Muslims and glorifies terrorist attacks. Next week’s column, the conclusion of this series on Al-Manar, will explore Western reaction to Hezbollah’s attempt to incite Muslims in the West via its TV channel.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.