Agreement reached on SA 1998 antisemitic broadcast

From PoliticsWeb.za:

On 8 May 1998, Radio 786, a Muslim community radio station operated by The Islamic Unity Convention (IUC), broadcast a programme which featured extensive anti-Jewish, recycled conspiracy fantasies and Holocaust denial. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) lodged a complaint against the IUC with the then Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), contending that it amounts to hate-speech.

Antisemitic claims made in the broadcast were that Jews were the secret, conspiratorial engine behind catastrophic world events such as the First and Second World War, and Communist revolutions; that they stole natural resources from countries such as South Africa; controlled world banking for their own benefit; and invented the Holocaust to invoke sympathy to among other things, facilitate the creation of the State of Israel.

Following convoluted legal tussles that took place around the constitutionality of the relevant sections of the Broadcasting Code of Conduct, the SAJBD and the IUC squared up at a hearing in December 2012, held under ICASA's Complaints and Compliance Committee.

Yesterday evening a settlement was reached in which the IUC recognised that the material aired on Radio 786 could be viewed as antisemitic and nonsensical. The SAJBD welcomes this acknowledgment by the IUC.

In reality, 16 years of complex legal wrangling, which reached the Constitutional Court twice, could have been avoided had this acknowledgement been made by the IUC right at the outset.

That being said, the SAJBD is satisfied with the outcome which has vindicated its decision to confront and expose what was a very hateful and defamatory attack on the Jewish people.

Below is the Joint Statement by the SAJBD and IUC. For more information, please contact Mary Kluk on 083 775 8618 or Tzvi Brivik on 082 77 88844

JOINT STATEMENT

Sixteen years ago, Radio 786 aired a radio show that featured Dr Yakub Zaki as a guest speaker.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBOD) Radio 786 contends that the broadcast amounts to advocacy of hatred based on race that constitutes incitement to cause harm ("hate speech") and accordingly that it constitutes a breach of the applicable code of conduct for broadcasters.

Whilst recognising that some Dr Zaki's comments may have been viewed as nonsensical, and anti-Semitic, Radio 786 maintains that the broadcast does not amount to advocacy of hatred based on race or that it constitutes incitement to cause harm and accordingly does not constitute a breach of the applicable code of conduct for broadcasters.

For the past sixteen years, both Radio 786 and the SAJBOD have fought to vindicate their positions and beliefs.

In the spirit of Ubuntu and in the hope that South Africa and all its people and communities will grow as a result of this experience, both sides have agreed to close this chapter by this settlement.

Radio 786 recognises that the broadcast caused offence and distress to members of the South African Jewish community. SAJBOD, on the other hand, recognises that there was no intention of Radio 786 to cause any such offence or distress.

Both parties reaffirm their commitment to freedom of speech and a pluralistic society in which the dignity and equality of all are respected and protected.

This is a bit short of an apology by the Islamic radio station. It looks like the SAJBD was just sick and tired of pursuing this.

This is not the first offensive antisemitic guest on that radio show. Here is information about a 1996 broadcast as well as more details on Zaki's interview:

In 1996, Radio 786, a Muslim radio station, had to apologize for airing an interview with Dr Ahmed Huber who spoke of the 'Holocaust swindle'. Two years later the same radio station interviewed Dr Yaqub Zaki who, besides claiming that the "million plus" Jews who died in the Second World War had died of infectious diseases, spent much of his time engaged with elaborate Jewish conspiracies, including a bizarre connection between Jewish financiers, the Boer War, Alfred Milner and Zionism. In June this year [2007] (following an eight year legal wrangle brought by the Jewish Board of Deputies against the radio station and lengthened by technical disputes) the Independent Broadcasting Authority found Radio 786 guilty of contravening its broadcasting codes.

Zaki's birth name was James Dickey.

More on Zaki from 2005:

Dr Yaqub Zaki, deputy leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, has said that he would be "very happy" if there were a terrorist attack on Downing Street. Dr Zaki, who is an author and academic, told the Scottish edition of the Sunday Times that he would have no objection to such an attack, and would not mind what happened to the "inmates" of No 10.

... Dr Zaki is not exactly proposing an attack on Mr Blair, but he is saying that he would be perfectly happy if one took place. His actual words were: "I say go ahead."

...Dr Zaki is, in his way, a national figure, serving the Muslim Parliament at a very high level, and an educated person of some standing. It is possible that some Muslims might have taken his remarks seriously, though obviously I hope they do not.

Dr Zaki, despite his remarks, is one of those Muslims who have been deemed "moderate" by the authorities. He serves on the Muslim Parliament, which is supposed to be a moderate body. So, too, is the Muslim Council of Great Britain (MCB), which has more than 400 affiliate bodies.