In These New Times

PressTV

20th February, 2009

Hezbollah has condemned an Israeli TV channel for airing a blasphemous show that offends Christianity, Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary (PBUT). 

In a Thursday statement, the Lebanese resistance movement described the incident as an ‘offense against the rights of a holy messenger of god’, IRNA reported from Beirut. 

It was not surprising to see ‘Zionists’ broadcast such sacrilegious material, given their history, which is filled with ‘the massacre of prophets, destruction of mosques and churches and offensive behavior toward Islamic and Christian sanctities,’ the statement said 

Hezbollah called on all ‘advocates of human rights and freedom of speech’ to condemn the move and force Israel to abandon the notion that it is allowed to ridicule religious beliefs of different faiths. 

The statement came after Israel’s Channel 10 aired ‘like a virgin’ — a show hosted by comedian Lior Shlein, containing offensive material against Jesus and the Virgin Mary (PBUT). 

The provocative show has sparked outrage among Christian leaders, who have described it as it ‘hurtful and humiliating to Christianity.’ Believers around the world have called on Pope Benedict XVI to cancel his upcoming trip to Israel. 

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Israel in May. This is while the relations between Tel Aviv and the Vatican have deteriorated following the decision to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson who denied the Holocaust. 

Shlein promised to apologize on air, only after a group of Christian attorneys said they were building a case against the comedian.