World
Broadcaster commissions film on anti-Zionism and Jew-hate – but refuses to screen it
According to media reports, the German TV station found the film ‘provocative’
June 12, 2017 08:52
According to media reports, the German TV station found the film ‘provocative’
June 12, 2017 08:52A European broadcaster has refused to screen a documentary showing the antisemitism present in European Muslim communities, claiming that the film does not show a “multi-perspective” approach.
Arte, a Franco-German broadcaster, decided not to show the documentary called Chosen and Excluded — The Hate for Jews in Europe, despite having commissioned the documentary in the first place, according to the Sunday Times.
According to German media reports, editors at Arte rejected the film it because it is “a provocation”, “pours oil onto the fire” and is “anti-Protestant, anti-Muslim and pro-Israeli”.
Among other things, the film shows young French Jews talking about the regular antisemitic beatings they receive and the widespread desire in their community to emigrate to Israel.
The film’s director, Joachim Schroeder, told the Jerusalem Post that the network’s editors did not understand that “modern antisemitism is anti-Zionism”.
He also told the Israeli paper than European television networks were unwilling to mention antisemitism without putting the blame on Israel.
“You can’t make a film on antisemitism without saying every three minutes that the Palestinians are the victims of Israelis”, he said.
Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, had written a public letter to Arte, saying that the film was “extraordinarily important” and expressing distress at the network’s decision.
In response, Alain le Diberder, Arte’s director, said that “honourable and good reasons” had informed the network’s decision not to broadcast the documentary. He claimed the network had taken a “necessary procedural decision taken to ensure editorial responsibility and quality,"
According to the network, the documentary had been commissioned to focus on antisemitism in five countries - Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Greece. Arte claimed the documentary “concentrates primarily on the Middle East and does not address the five designated countries in any way."
However, the documentary did look at antisemitism in Belgium, France and Germany.
It included an interview with François Pupponi, the Socialist mayor of Sarcelles, a northern suburb of Paris which has been a flashpoint for antisemitic incidents.
Mr Pupponi said that “French Jews think they have no future in France, that they have to leave the country to live in security and peace.”
He also said that hatred of Israel, encouraged by Pro-Palestinian groups, had led to some of the problems.
“For a certain number of young people ‘Jew’ and ‘Israel’ are one and the same so if you’re against Israel, you’re also against synagogues,” he said.
