We republished HonestReporting Canada’s call for action against Quebec TV show host Stéphane Gendron, who lamented that “unfortunately, Israel has not yet collapsed” and that Israel “does not deserve to exist”. Thanks to the many of you who responded, the V-Network was bombarded with complaints and the story was picked up by a number of Canadian media outlets.
Courtesy of HonestReporting Canada, we republish the response of HRC and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs:
An Open Letter to V-Télé CEO Maxime Rémillard: V Must Assume Its Responsibilities (Jan.26, 2011)
From the onset of the recent controversy over Quebec TV host Stéphane Gendron’s comments denying Israel’s right to exist and incitement against Jews, V-Télé’s management has shown little understanding of the inflammatory nature of its host’s statements or willingness to address the problem seriously.
After Gendron claimed Israel made it a habit to “bulldoze” innocent Palestinians, V-Télé merely “reiterated” to the producers of Gendron’s show “the need for the program to adhere to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council’s guidelines”.
Clearly, Gendron was not impressed. In fact, throughout the Fall season Gendron accused Jews of “invent[ing] terrorism”, “steal[ing] the country from the Palestinians”, promoting French anti-Semite Dieudonné’s mocking of the Holocaust, and presenting Jews as being contemptuous of non-Jews, “an inferior ” in his own words.
Related post: Quebec TV Host Says Israel Doesn’t Deserve to Exist
Gendron’s hateful and discriminatory statements culminated in his regret that “unfortunately, Israel has not yet collapsed” and sentence that Israel “does not deserve to exist” broadcast on December 27.
In response to HonestReporting Canada’s criticism, V-Télé affirmed that it would now ensure that “when an issue is discussed, both sides are presented.” According to this logic, would balance be procured if V-Télé’s hosts made hateful and discriminatory statements against Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians?
