SA Jewish Report asked to reconsider after expulsion

The SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has called on the publishers of the SA Jewish Report to reconsider its position following the publication’s expulsion from the Press Council of SA (PCSA). This after the newspaper refused to apologise and retract an image it published which labelled a lobbyist group as anti-semitic. In a statement on Friday, PCSA executive director Latiefa Mobara said the publication refused to obey rulings by PCSA chair of appeals, Judge Bernard Ngoepe. The Citizen reports that it is the first time in the history of the press and online media’s regulatory body that a member has been expelled. Press Council chair, Judge Phillip Levinsohn, said the decision was taken after lengthy correspondence and after SA Jewish Report refused to obey the rulings against it. Sanef has implored the publishers to reconsider its position and abide by the ruling and to return to the fold of the PCSA.

Full report in The Witness

It is clear that contempt and defiance reached a point where the PCSA had no choice but to expel the Jewish Report, says Iqbal Jassat, executive member of the Media Review Network. He said SA media coverage on the Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the ongoing incremental genocidal policies of its right-wing apartheid regime, has in general been lukewarm. ‘Now that the Press Council has decisively acted to punish the Jewish Report for falsely charging legitimate critique of Israel as anti-Semitism, it has by extension opened media space to engage in robust and fearless debate on the apartheid regime's litany of crimes. The shackles of self-censorship for fear of being smeared as anti-Semites have been removed. Though lobbyists for apartheid practices in Israel are expected to continue stifling critics by invoking the discredited canard of antisemitism, the test of it will reside in the court of public opinion as well as media's resolve to buck the trend,’ he said in a statement.

– Statement