Israel lobby attempts to prevent factual reporting

Israeli lobby attempts to prevent any factual reporting

The Head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia, Mr Ali Kazak, said today the Israeli lobby in Australia is attempting to prevent impartial reporting on the Palestine/Israel conflict by the Australian media. Mr Kazak was referring to the Australia/Israel Jewish Affairs Council's (AIJAC) report to SBS titled 'SBS-TV and the Middle East'.

A Palestinian response to AIJAC's report was prepared by Mr Kazak and sent today to the Hon. Daryl Williams, Federal Minister for Communication and the Arts. Last week Mr Kazak presented the Palestinian response to the Managing Director of SBS, Mr Nigel Milan, and other senior management personnel.

Mr Kazak said AIJAC's report was full of deliberate deceptions and distortions of facts aiming to prevent SBS from covering any factual reporting on Israel's internationally-condemned bloody occupation, violations and war crimes committed on a daily basis against the defenceless Palestinian people on the pretext that such coverage is pro-Palestinian.

"Our response shows that of all the documentaries mentioned in AIJAC's report, eight are Israeli documentaries, including one which is a 6-part series, and only two are Palestinian. In fact if all SBS's coverage of the Middle East was taken into consideration (which AIJAC's selective report does not do), it would clearly show that over 75% of SBS's coverage is still pro-Israeli and about 25% is impartial reporting."

The request of 'balance' by AIJAC is ludicrous; how can one speak of balance in news coverage between the occupied and the occupier in light of Israel's occupation and daily war crimes committed?

AIJAC does not want SBS to use any critical representation of Israel's violations because they regard Israel as above criticism. Would SBS apply the same policy to the Australian government or any other government, including those that launch wars, occupy other people's territories, deny them their basic human rights and subject them to collective punishment, racial discrimination, blowing up their houses Mr Kazak asked?

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