Jewish Group Applauds South Africa's Sanctions Against Anti-Semitic Radio

The World Jewish Congregation released a statement praising the decision by South Africa's Constitutional Court upheld sanctions against anti-Jewish broadcasting today when it dismissed an application by a radio station to change parts of the law. The station is Muslim run and often broadcasts content denying the Holocaust and various anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.

The country's broadcasting watchdog group is the BMCC and operates much the like the FCC in America. The BMCC imposed sanctions against the station after a complaint by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBOD).

The head of SAJBOD's legal team, Mervyn Smith, said the case was about the refusal of the radio station to admit the contents of the broadcast was offensive or to apologize to the Jewish Community.

"What this is really all about is the refusal by Radio 786 to accept that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and that denial of the Holocaust is deeply offensive to Jews. " said Smith. "Were this not the case, then what has prevented the radio station from simply apologizing to the Jewish community and acknowledging the truth?"

The radio a tation applied to the courts to asking for a change in a constitutional law allowing for sanctions over offensive content.

The offensive content was complained about in May 1998. At the time an interview with an Islamic scholar was broadcast in which he denied the Holocause and said Jews were resonsible for disasters in recent history.

The BMCC ruled in favor of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in 2006, ordering the station to stop broadcasting what ithe BMCC characterizes as hate speech and to stop "the advocacy of hatred against the Jewish people, including the impairment of their dignity". The station was also ordered to make the ruling public on its airwaves, website and in print.

The Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress, Michael Schneider, said, "We welcome the decision by the Constitutional Court because it sends a clear signal to the media that it has to act responsibly and must not propagate hatred on air."

Schneider said the ruling was an important victory for democracy in South Africa, and praised the SAJBOD's persistence. The World Jewish Congress is a diplomatic group representing Jews in over 80 countries, and the The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is an affiliate member.

Source: World Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress Welcomes South African Court Ruling on Anti-Semitic Radio Broadcasts