It's Almost Supernatural

FXI - A Front for the Radical Palestinian Lobby in South Africa

I had hoped that the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) had moved on from Jew bashing to actually defending freedom of speech in South Africa. But old habits die hard.

Over the last few days the FXI has launched a propaganda blitz against the South African Jewish Board of Deputies' (SAJBD's) agreement with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for more balanced coverage of Israel. Although I have also been critical of the SAJBD-SABC agreement, the FXI's response has been so dramatic and disproportionate that it once again calls into question their objectivity when it comes to the South African Jewish community.

• FXI's dramatic fear mongering criticism of SAJBD-SABC meeting
• SABC response (use this link if SABC link is broken)
• FXI responds to SABC's clarification of the SAJBD deal

As part of the SAJBD-SABC deal, the two parties agreed to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss the national broadcaster's coverage of the Middle East. The FXI has charged that this could result in 'a pernicious form of censorship that does violence to the notion of free expression and freedom of the media.' Talk about hyperbole!

I don't know how a regular forum to voice concerns and engage in constructive debate could possibly be 'pernicious' or 'do violence' to free speech in South Africa. If anything it would do the opposite: promote a diversity of views in SABC Middle East coverage (the SABC has admitted to a pro-Palestinian bias). In fact this is something that one would expect a freedom of expression institute to be championing not condemning. Is the FXI trying to deny the Jewish community a chance to discuss their views with the SABC? Just who is guilty of attempting censorship!

So what could possibly account for the FXI's belligerent response? The answer lies in its not-so-covert anti-Zionist agenda. FXI executive director Jane Duncan for example has publicly accused the Jewish state of employing 'policies of forced colonial occupation of Palestinian land' and described the South African Jewish Report as 'a mere extension of Zionism's repressive project.'

But Ms Duncan is not the only member of the FXI with an anti-Israel agenda. Na'eem Jeenah is the head of the FXI's access to information programme but also plays a major role in the pro-Palestinian lobby in South Africa as spokesperson for the Palestine Solidarity Committee. His radical views on the conflict are well known. Some examples…

• In an article on Zionism, for example, Jeenah likens Israel's behaviour to that of the Nazis.
• He has called on the South African government to (1) end diplomatic ties with Israel and (2) to boycott "apartheid" Israel and impose sanctions.
• In an article on his blog entitled "Viva Wits-PSC Viva" he ridiculed Jewish students as well as the Jewish Board of Deputies for performing poorly in a debate with the PSC. Is this the sort of childishly partisan attitude we expect from a director of South Africa's prime freedom of expression watchdog?

So it's not surprising that the FXI has made such a fuss about the possibility of more balanced coverage of Israel at the SABC. Even in its statement condemning the SABC-SAJBD agreement, the FXI overtly reveals it real agenda. It denounces the SABC for considering giving coverage to the South African co-existence tour of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists Benjamin Pogrund and Bassem Eid. Both are referred to as 'pro-Israeli propagandists'. Thus the FXI defends the right of extremists to be heard in the South African media, but seeks to censor moderates.

This hypocrisy must be exposed at every opportunity. So committed is the FXI to furthering its radical Palestinian agenda that it is willing to betray its own mandate. The FXI do some valuable work for the freedom of expression in South Africa but until they correct their partisan biases on important political issues they should no longer be allowed to continue masquerading as a free speech watchdog.

Previously at IAS

• FXI: "We are not mindless bubble-heads"
• Jihad by Proxy

IAS Search: FXI

SAJBD Cuts a Deal with the SABC

Response at 30-07-2007

We contacted the SAJBD for comment in response to our earlier criticism of the deal they made with the SABC around last year’s blacklisting scandal. Their response, from National Director Wendy Kahn, follows.

SAJBD Response to Criticism over SABC Deal Thank-you for giving us the opportunity to respond to your comments on the SAJBD’s decision not to go ahead with its complaint against Dr Snuki Zikalala. The points raised go to the heart of what the SAJBD is and what we seek to achieve on behalf of the Jewish community. The Board is first and foremost a Jewish advocacy organisation. We intervene in all cases in which we believe Jewish civil rights have been infringed. In this regard, much of our work involves media activism. Thus, when we learned that Dr Zikalala had blacklisted Paula Slier from reporting on the Middle East because the SABC as a matter of policy took a pro-Palestinian stance, we had no hesitation in lodging a formal complaint with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. The decision to withdraw our complaint was not an easy one to make. It is a very serious matter when a senior official of the State Broadcaster declares, contrary to the SABC’s policy, that its news coverage must be slanted towards a particular political point of view. That this bias was explicitly in favor of the Palestinian (and therefore, by definition, against the Israeli) standpoint made this of particular concern to the Jewish community. On the other hand, pursuing an official complaint with ICASA is not a matter to be adopted lightly. For over nine years now, the Board has been involved with ICASA regarding its complaint against Radio 786, and the matter is still not at an end. The process has been enormously complicated by matters of a technical nature, and there is every prospect that a complaint against the SABC might follow a similar route. This is not in itself a reason to shy away from the legal route, but it does very much come into the reckoning when an opportunity presents itself of settling the matter “out of court”. In making our decision, we had to make a judgment call as to what would best serve the interests of the constituency we represent. It was decided to provisionally meet with Dr Zikalala to see whether the core dispute we had with him could be resolved without the matter going to a formal ICASA hearing. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that we did not decide to withdraw our complaint on the basis of a single “feel-good” meeting and a few verbal reassurances. We asked for, and received, a number of concrete undertakings by the SABC to work with us in addressing the problem of anti-Israel bias within the organisation. These undertakings, which we now have in writing, are: 1) An independent monitoring organisation will monitor the coverage of the SABC news on the topic of the Middle East for at least a year. The SABC is currently using Media Tenor, and this will most likely be the organisation used for this purpose. The SABC and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies will meet on a quarterly period to discuss the content of the coverage by Media Tenor. The latter will commence operation as from the 1 August 2007, and the first meeting will take place in the first week of November. 2) The leadership of the Jewish Board of Deputies would meet with the editorial staff of the SABC, to provide an understanding of the SA Jewish community and its views on the Middle East. 3) The Jewish Board strongly recommended that where debates on the Middle East take place, moderates from both sides be used. They noted that there was no insight to be gained by allowing those who refuse to recognize the right of the other side to exist, to debate the Middle East. The suggestion was made that genuinely even-handed academics be used to discuss the situation. If the appropriate people were unavailable in South Africa the journalists should look elsewhere. We have since already had the opportunity to address and engage with senior members of the SABC editorial staff in Johannesburg and nationally via teleconference facilities. This was an excellent forum for us to develop relationships with these key people in the SABC, answer their questions, bring to their attention our concerns over the way the Middle East conflict has been depicted and in general provide a face for the SAJBD and the SA Jewish community. The process of engagement we have initiated with the SABC will be an ongoing one. The quarterly reports of Media Tenor will be of special significance since they will provide a considered analysis by a respected, wholly impartial media monitoring body, whose views cannot be casually dismissed as partisan. So far as the broader question of the independence of the national broadcaster goes, this is indeed an issue of national importance, and it concerns Jews no less than it does other South African citizens. Addressing it, however, falls outside the mandate of the SAJBD, whose mission, as already noted, is to act as a lobbying body specifically on matters of Jewish concern. Addressing the wider implications of the blacklisting scandal rightfully falls within the purvey of such democratic watchdog groupings as the Freedom of Expression Institute. The latter is already dealing with the matter in a most dedicated and professional way. WENDY KAHN NATIONAL DIRECTOR

We thank them for their reply. You can find our original entry below.

Correction at 02-08-2007

The SAJBD has notified me that the points in their letter about Benjamin Pogrund and Bassem Eid meeting with the editorial staff of the SABC to discuss the Middle East from both a Palestinian and an Israeli perspective were not in fact part of any agreement. I have updated their letter to reflect this.

Original Entry at 29-07-2007

Representatives of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) last week cut a deal with South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) strongman Dr Snuki Zikalala. In exchange for withdrawing the SAJBD’s complaint with the Independent Complaints Commission of South Africa (ICASA) over the blacklisting of Jewish journalist Paula Slier, Zikalala promised to ensure more balanced coverage on the Middle East. Thankfully the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has stuck to its guns and is continuing with its complaint against the SABC and Zikalala.

The SAJBD is portraying this as a victory for their strategy of quiet diplomacy. In a Chamberlain like statement in this week’s South African Jewish Report (SAJR), they were reported to be ‘upbeat over prospects of genuine even-handedness by the SABC’. While fair reporting at the SABC is welcomed, it is not something that we should have to bargain for. It is enshrined in the SABC’s code of conduct.

In securing a potential short term lull in SABC anti-Israel coverage, the SAJBD has harmed democracy in South Africa long term. Dr Zikalala’s policy of using the SABC as an ANC propaganda machine is an ugly example of the increasingly authoritarian nature of our government. South African Jewry should be at the forefront of opposing and exposing this behavior; not appeasing and endorsing it. Not only because it’s the moral thing to do, but because a vibrant democracy in South Africa is in South African Jewry’s best interest.

The old SAJBD has rightly come in for a lot of criticism for its appeasement of the apartheid regime. But its behavior toward the ANC government may in fact be worse. One particularly abhorrent event that the SAJBD is often castigated for is the honouree banquet it held for Prime Minister Vorster (one of the foremost champions of Apartheid and a former Nazi sympathizer) in 1975. What is largely forgotten is that in SAJBD chairman David Mann’s address to the ‘distinguished’ guests, he bravely declared that South Africa ‘must move away as quickly and effectively as is practicable from discrimination based on race or colour.’ If only our current leadership had displayed the same courage in their meeting with Dr Zikalala.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the SAJBD, rather than lobbying the government on our behalf, is lobbying us on the government’s behalf.

Steve adds:
I think that there is a place for settling differences with ruling authorities via negotiation instead of foghorn diplomacy. It does have its virtues - - instead of bashing your opponents, meet with them and focus on common goals as a means to settle points of departure. Sure, it makes sense for certain contexts. But is this approach appropriate in this context?

I don’t think so. Initially I viewed this as a small and positive victory. But the SABC blacklisting scandal is not just about securing even handed coverage of Israel. It is about the independence of the public broadcaster. It's about the freedom to express opinions and views that are contrary to the ANC. It's about the freedom to express criticism of our policies regarding Zimbabwe. Hell, it's about allowing analysts like William Gumede (himself a fierce critic of Israel) the opportunity to be heard.

The SAJBD argues that the South African Jewish community is too insular and needs to become more integrated with greater South Africa.

I agree.

But this deal does not integrate us; it is an inward-looking deal which further segregates us. Just take a look at the second comment on this page at the FXI to understand what I mean.

Previously at IAS

• SABC impairs free speech, again
• SABC refuses to air controversial Freedom Day ad
• SABC Blacklisting Summary
• Bias...what Bias?

SABC Impairs Free Speech in South Africa, Again

The South African Broadcasting Authority (SABC) is once again embroiled in a scandal over its pro-government at all costs policy. Readers will recall that last year SABC head of news and current affairs Snuki Zikalala was found to have contravened the broadcaster's own code of conduct for ordering that certain journalists and commentators not to be used because of their political views. One such journalist, Paula Slier, was blacklisted because Zikalala believed that ‘from the movement where I come from we support PLO’ and she was ‘a white Jewish girl’ reporting on the Middle East. For this outrageous behavior, Zikalala got away with only a verbal warning.

Perhaps then, it’s not surprising that this policy of being the ANC’s propaganda arm has continued at the SABC. This week the SABC made news headlines when they tried to prevent the screening of a controversial unauthorized documentary on Thabo Mbeki. The film was originally produced for the SABC but given it purportedly unflattering portrayal of the president they refused to run it. The producers have thus sought to screening the film using alternative means.

It was scheduled to be shown around the country this week as part of the Mail and Guardian’s Critical Thinking symposium. Citing copyright, the SABC demanded that it be cancelled. A compromise was thankfully reached and a limited number of screenings were allowed to take place.

Freedom of Expression Institute director Jane Duncan, in response to the furore has charged that ‘the process around the documentary is an extremely sad indictment on the state of freedom of expression around the President, and in South Africa generally. It points to extreme fear of criticizing the President, and suggests that criticisms of the authoritarian nature of the Thabo Mbeki presidency are not without foundation.’

If this wasn’t bad enough, today another scandal has emerged at the SABC. Last night a ‘senior staff member at the SABC’ (I bet it’s Snuki) obtained an interdict from the Pretoria High Court preventing the Mail and Guardian from publishing the details of an explosive draft internal report into alleged abuses of power and intimidation at the national broadcaster.

Callers to Talk-Radio 702 this morning, who claimed to have read the report, said that it implicated SABC bosses in serious corruption.

Our government’s support for the unacceptable behavior of its cronies at the SABC is a serious threat to democracy in this country. I hope that South Africa’s love affair with totalitarian states like Belarus, Zimbabwe and Iran has not started to rub off on our government and diminished their commitments to human rights domestically.

Previously at IAS

• SABC Blacklisting Outrage Summary
• SABC Refuses to Air Controversial Freedom Day Ad

Free at Last...or Not

The South African Broadcasting Corporation has refused to air a controversial Freedom Day advert by the Sowetan.

Last year an SABC commission of enquiry concluded that our public broadcaster was blacklisting opinions that are contrary to those held by the ruling South African party (ANC).

The commission placed almost all of the blame on SABC news and current affairs editor, Dr Snuki Zikalala.

The SABC pretended to take the commission seriously but Zikalala got away with a tepid verbal warning.

Today, on Freedom Day in South Africa, we continue to feel the effects of how the ANC uses the SABC as their mouthpiece.

News24 reports

Johannesburg - The SABC has refused to broadcast the Sowetan's Freedom Day campaign, based on "three opinions" that "it borders on hate speech". SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the opinions came from the broadcaster's policy and regulation department. The week-long campaign parodies the speech by civil rights leader Martin Luther King jnr, and includes the line "I have a dream that one day farmers shall be brutally murdered and workers thrown into a lions den". The punch line is: "What have you done with your freedom, South Africa? Don't let it go to waste, cherish it." Bongani Keswa, publisher of Sowetan and Sunday World, said the SABC was the only broadcaster that had refused to run the campaign.

You can listen to the ad here: http://www.sowetan.co.za/multimedia/audio/radioadvert.mp3

The Advert:

"I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up against each other and erupt into an oasis of crime, grime and home to racial attacks and injustice. "I have a dream that my children will be repeatedly raped, sodomised and left to fend for themselves long after HIV and Aids have taken me away. "I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day farmers shall be brutally murdered and workers thrown into a lions' den. "Let chaos ring from the streets of South Africa - and when this happens we will all join hands and sing: 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' "What have you done with your freedom South Africa? "Don't let it go to waste, cherish it. "This Freedom Day message sadly brought to you by Sowetan - the soul truth."

The ANC in general and president Mbeki in particular maintain that it is only white whingers that complain and exaggerate about the intolerable crime plaguing this country. But this ad campaign is being run by the Sowetan – South Africa’s premier Black run (and read) newspaper.

March for Free Speech in South Africa

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is organising a demonstration outside SABC head office in Auckland Park on Friday 13 April 2007 (from 14h00 to 16h00) to protest against the SABC blacklisting scandal. The have asked us to help promote the rally in order ‘to expose the climate of fear, which is created by the bureaucracy at SABC and to hold the "public broadcaster" accountable to its mandate’.

We have in the past had fundamental disagreements over the FXI's position on the situation in the Middle East and its conduct towards the South African Jewish community. But these disputes should not deter us from co-operating on other issues that are pertinent to both the FXI and the South African Jewish Community.

The SABC blacklisting scandal should be of grave concern to all freedom loving South Africans. The national broadcaster should provide a forum for a diverse range of views and not just toe the political line of the ruling party. Thus the SABC’s behaviour is a serious threat to freedom of speech in South Africa. But as Jews we should be particularly concerned about the comments made by Dr Snuki Zikalala (SABC head of news) in relation to Paula Slier. He is alleged to have said that he did not want to have a 'white Jewish girl reporting from Ramallah'.

We encourage everyone to make every effort to attend the protest. We will also be lobbying other Jewish organisations to get involved.

Details of the demonstration:

Date: Friday 13th April 2007
Place: SABC Head Office Auckland Park
Time: Assemble at 13:45

See this summary post for more information on the SABC Blacklisting scandal.

SABC Outrage: Zikalala Gets Away with a Warning

Last year a 78 page internal SABC inquiry determined that the SABC was in contravention of their own code of conduct for ordering that certain commentators and analysts were not to be used on air because of their political views.

For more background visit this summary of our links following the scandal.

Last week the SABC finally took action against the SABC MD of news and current affairs (and ANC lacky) Dr Snuki Zikalala.

What action has been taken? The Star's hyperbolic headline seems to suggest the the action taken was sufficient: SABC supremo Zikalala roasted over blacklist

Roasted? Hardly. Zikalala got away with a verbal warning! The SABC has once again shown absolute contempt for their mandate obligating them to provide news and public affairs programming which is fair and unbiased, impartial, balanced and independent from government interests.

SABC head of news Snuki Zikalala has been warned that if the blacklisting of political commentators by the public broadcaster occurs again, stronger action will be taken against him.

Most commentators on the blacklist were banned either because of their criticism of President Thabo Mbeki or for their criticism of Robert Mugabe. One reporter, Paula Slier was allegedly banned because she is a "white Jewish girl". Zikalala said

From the movement where I come from, we support the PLO. But she supported what's happening in Israel?. I said no, you can't you can't undermine the Palestinian struggle, you can't. For me it's a principle issue.

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has setup an online petition (albeit 4 months late) calling on the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to enforce the SABC licensing conditions: SABC Petition to ICASA

John Perlman’s Swan Song a Shrill to Democratic Ears

Veteran SABC journalist John Perlman hosted his AM Live radio talk show for the last time on Friday. In the spirit of constructive debate and honest self-evaluation (two characteristics that have set AM Live apart from other SABC programs), Perlman asked listeners to phone in and critique his 9 years of current affairs talk show radio. It was for most of us (particularly Perlman) a heartrending performance.

Listeners from the most remote nooks and crannies of South Africa called in to thank Perlman for enriching their lives with informative political debates. As much as Perlman’s adversaries (in the SABC and ANC) had surely hoped, these callers were not ‘verkrampte’ Whites who revel in criticizing the new Black government at every turn. No, the vast majority of callers were Black South Africans, many with minimal English language skills. Because of this, Perlman’s final SABC broadcast demonstrated that ordinary South Africans no matter what race, religion or cultural background crave a political system that promotes transparency and accountability.

Yet this grassroots outpouring of support has been unable to prevent Perlman’s departure -- let alone bring SABC head of news Dr Snuki Zikalala to account for contravening the National Broadcaster’s own code of ethic by blacklisting certain journalists he deemed to be hostile to the ANC (and its comrades in the PLO). It would seem that those antidemocratic forces within the ruling establishment have in fact won the day.

In fact they have already begun to spin a false justification for Perlman’s ouster. In some quarters he has been fallaciously denounced as ‘an Apartheid apologist'. One ANC Youth League representative who called into the show scolded Perlman for being arrogant and disrespectful to elected black officials. I can not help but imagine how Dr Snuki Zikalala and his ilk must be gloating at their latest political victory.

The successful ouster of Perlman, one of the few critical voices left at the SABC, is a serious threat to South African democracy. It would seem our march towards the totalitarian is not limited to just our foreign policy.

SABC Saga Continues...Perlman Resigns

Veteran SABC journalist John Perlman has resigned over the SABC blacklisting scandal. He has said that he will be addressing the media in the next 2 days.

Regular readers will recall that last year a furore erupted at the SABC when Perlman confronted SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago on air over the banning of certain journalists by the national broadcaster. A commission of inquiry into this allegation was subsequently ordered. It found that SABC head of news Snuki Zikalala had instructed that certain commentators should not be used. Among those on the list was Jewish Middle East correspondent Paula Slier.

The SABC responded by accusing Perlman of bringing the organisation into disrepute and threatened that he would face a disciplinary hearing. SABC CEO Dali Mpofu briefing members of Parliament’s communications portfolio committee said that

The complaint against Perlman is simply what is commonly known as bringing an organisation into disrepute. You have to accept...that the issue does not turn around the veracity or otherwise of the statement made … I can’t be seen to be turning a blind eye to alleged transgression.

As yet (3 months later) no action has been taken against Zikalala, the person responsible for the blacklist. He is supposedly facing a disciplinary inquirer. But I am not going to hold my breath.

Related at IAS: Our contribution to the Honest Reporting 2006 awards: SABC Blacklisting Summary

SABC Outrage Summary

Honest Reporting has published their 2006 Dishonest Reporting Awards and it is with mixed feelings that we acknowledge our contribution to the awarding of the Worst News Executive award to SABC News Executive Dr. Snuki Zikalala.

We are proud that our coverage of this affair resulted in such widespread exposure for the story; but at the same time we are disappointed that South Africa warranted a mention in a discussion around the most skewed and biased coverage of the Mideast conflict.

You can look back at our coverage of this scandal from the following links

- SABC Blacklisting Scandal (includes a link to the report that the SABC tried to hide from the public). - Zikalala Must Go! - Q & A with Paula Slier – Part 1: Slier on Zikalala - Q & A with Paula Slier – Part 2: The Blacklisting Commission  - Q & A with Paula Slier – Part 3: Slier on Objective reporting  - SABC CEO Cries Racism - Response in Business Day to SABC CEO - SABC Saga Continues...Perlman Resigns - Zikalala Gets Away with a Warning - March for free speech in South Africa

SABC Blacklisting Outrage Summary

Here’s an ordered summary post of our coverage of the SABC scandal

SABC Blacklisting Scandal (includes a link to the report that the SABC tried to hide from the public). Zikalala Must Go! Q & A with Paula Slier – Part 1: Slier on Zikalala IAS Exclusive Q & A with Paula Slier – Part 2: The Blacklisting Commission  IAS Exclusive Q & A with Paula Slier – New! Part 3: Slier on Objective reporting  IAS Exclusive SABC CEO Cries Racism Response in Business Day to SABC CEO SABC Saga Continues...Perlman Resigns John Perlman's Swan Song Zikalala gets off with a warning