SBS Expanded Hebrew Service After Oct. 7 Attacks, Has Not Adopted Anti-Semitism Definition

The SBS has defended its coverage of anti-Semitism at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism amid complaints of framing stories in favour of Palestinians and for not adopting a proposed standard on anti-Semitism.The Director of News Amanda Wicks of the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) said the network had increased resources for its Hebrew-language service following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.“Hebrew is, relative to other languages spoken in Australia, a relatively small language community,” she said.“We had a part-time executive producer fulfilling that role, we increased that October 7 by the time equivalent … and we did increase to full-time capacity for the executive producer role.”SBS Audio and Language Content Director David Hua said the broadcaster’s language services review considered a range of factors, including community size, English-language proficiency, and whether a community experienced discrimination or vilification.He said SBS Hebrew was maintained partly because of concerns about anti-Semitism affecting the Australian Jewish community.“It’s the discrimination and vilification specifically of the Australian Jewish community in this case,” Hua said.As for the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, the executives said it factored in to their framework but was not binding.Wicks said SBS neither accepted or rejected the IHRA definition.“We acknowledge that it is an important definition recognised by many … but we are never in a position where we’re making a determination that something is anti-Semitic,” she said.“We have covered extensively, reporting on anti-Semitic attacks and the abhorrent impacts that has had on the community here and globally, but we are only ever reporting on anti-Semitism when it is determined to be such by police, the legal system, the community itself …“So we’re never in a position where something happens and we will need a definition, and we determine as SBS that that is anti-Semitic, which is why we either have to accept it or reject it.”Wicks did, however, acknowledge a need for knowledge and understanding of what anti-Semitism was in a broader context.Earlier, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism Jillian Segal queried SBS’s accuracy and impression, saying the broadcaster often relied on alleged statistics from the Gaza Health Ministry, without informing viewers it is operated by Hamas, a listed terror group.Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Jillian Segal speaks during a media conference in Sydney on October 9, 2023. Countries around the world have reacted to a wave of attacks by land, sea and air carried out by Palestinian armed group Hamas that Israel says has claimed more than 700 lives. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP) Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty ImagesThough the broadcaster argued it did publicise that Hamas ran the ministry, it pointed out it did not attach mention this every time an institution was being reported on.“Here we’re dealing with not a war zone between two nation states but with a terrorist organisation,” Segal said.“My point is not every item of inaccuracy, my point is the total impression.”Jewish commentator and Melbourne businessman Shane Shmuel told The Epoch Times that Segal was right to criticise the SBS for not adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.“The definition doesn’t silence legitimate criticism of Israel, rather, it helps distinguish between political debate and rhetoric that crosses into anti-Semitism, including holding Israel to standards not applied to any other country,” he said.“By rejecting that internationally recognised framework, SBS has chosen to rely on its own definition to suit its narrative despite the unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism confronting Jewish Australians.”