An Australian Jewish organization has lodged a complaint with the government’s Anti-Discrimination Board against a local Arabic-language newspaper which ran an article criticizing Australian Christians for “exonerating” Jews for killing Christ.
The article, signed by Michael Haddad, appeared in the Sydney newspaper An Nahar in response to the announcement that Australian Catholics were establishing guidelines for a better relationship with Australian Jews.
The article also claimed that Israel was established by “international criminal and Zionist terrorists” and that the Holocaust was invented to allow for “material extortion of the world,” in order “to feed the expansion plans of the Racist State and murder the Arabs.”
It also claimed that “the destruction of churches and mosques in Jerusalem and their burning” are permitted “for the grandchildren of the rabbis of Mossad and Zionism.” It said Israel permits prostitution and animals inside churches and mosques.
An Nahar claims a circulation of 34,000 copies throughout Australia.
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies lodged a complaint against the newspaper and also its editor, Peter Indari.
Indari and An Nahar were censured by the Australian Press Council in 1981 for printing articles that were “inflammatory of hatred against Jews” and “brought the freedom of the press into disrepute.”
The Jewish community rejected the idea of asking the Press Council to again censure An Nahar since the council’s voluntary sanctions were openly flaunted by the newspaper.
In fact, Indari said the past censure of this paper “didn’t do any good” for the Jewish community. Indari told the Australian Jewish News that he saw no reason to apologize to “racist Zionist organizations.”
The Anti-Discrimination Board generally seeks to resolve disputes through a process of conciliation. However, fines and other penalties may be introduced if such a procedure fails.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
