A great number of members of the Jewish community in France have expressed their deep concern regarding the broadcast on Thursday evening by French public-television Channel France 2 of a report on Gaza that contains a clear anti-Israeli bias.
CRIF, the umbrella representative body of French Jewish institutions, said it has received a great number of calls and emails of complaint.
The documentary, titled “Gaza, Crippled Youth,” will be broadcast as part of the weekly magazine “Envoyé Special.” The trailer of the documentary shows images of disabled adolescents following protests organized by Hamas to force the border with Israel, to which the Israel Defense Forces had to react.
CRIF President Francis Kalifat has met several times with Delphine Ernotte, president of France Televisions, to alert her on the strong emotion expressed by the community.
She reportedly assured him that the documentary was “in conformity with the rules of ethics.”
“The public service must not convey the hatred of Israel whose dramatic consequences on French Jews are known,” said Kalifat.
CRIF said it was worried about the impact that such a program will have on the wave of anti-Semitism that France is witnessing since several months. “Israel’s hatred is indeed the new expression of violent anti-Semitism, and it is on this basis that CRIF is extremely vigilant about tonight’s report,” the organization said.
Israel’s Ambassador in France, Aliza Bin-Noun, also wrote to Delphine Ernotte, calling her to cancel the broadcast of the report on Gaza.
Stressing that the France 2 report presents an “unbalanced point of view and a negative image of Israel,” the ambassador is concerned that this content may “incite hatred against Israel and may have a direct impact, including physical, on the French Jews.”