TORONTO - VisionTV did not violate federal broadcasting rules when it aired lectures by a Pakistani cleric who preaches the extermination of Jews, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council said in a decision released yesterday.
The ruling said that because the offensive comments for which Israr Ahmad is notorious were not made during his Canadian television appearances, the multi-faith broadcaster did not breach the broadcast code of ethics.
The broadcast standards council also said that while Mr. Ahmad’s television show had discussed fighting “the enemies of Allah on the battlefield” as a form of jihad, he used a “monochromatic” tone and “did not even raise his voice to make his point.”
“This is not to suggest that there may not be some persons who interpret those words in a violent way and use them as a spur to hostile acts. That is not, however, the panel’s understanding of Israr Ahmad’s comments in the challenged episode,” the council ruled.
The ruling followed complaints last summer about VisionTV’s broadcast of a show featuring Mr. Ahmad, the leader of Tanzeem-e Islami, a Lahore-based “revolutionary” group that wants to turn Pakistan into a fundamentalist state.
The shows were broadcast during the daytime on Saturdays.
Although the televised lectures focused on Muslim scripture, Mr. Ahmad is known for writings filled with derogatory comments and conspiracy theories about non-Muslims. While such views are common fare in Pakistan, Canadians were angry that Vision had given a platform to the elderly fundamentalist.
In his books, Mr. Ahmad calls Jews “parasites,” says the Holocaust was “divine punishment” and repeats conspiracy theories about secret Jewish control of world finances. He argues that the extermination of Jews will be followed by the “domination of Islam over the entire globe.”
The wife of Qayyum Abdul Jamal, one of the men charged in 2006 with belonging to a Canadian terrorist group accused of plotting truck bombings in downtown Toronto, has described her husband as a follower of Mr. Ahmad.
After the National Post revealed the controversy last July, VisionTV pulled the show off the air, apologized and set up a task force to review its standards and procedures.
But the broadcaster argued before the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council that it had not violated regulatory codes because Mr. Ahmad had not made hateful statements on the air.
The council agreed. “Indeed, the CBSC panels have always supported the fundamental notion that broadcasters have the right to determine which programming they will run, which news they will report, which guests they will invite, as a function of their programming perspectives and their perception of their audiences’ tastes,” the ruling said.
“Their one constraint is that, in the exercise of those choices, they may not breach the CBSC-administered codified standards.”
Len Rudner, Ontario regional director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, which is participating in the VisionTV task force, said he disagreed with the council’s view that Mr. Ahmad’s statements about fighting jihad on the battlefield were harmless. “I think it’s unfortunate,” he said.
Despite the ruling, VisionTV said yesterday it was voluntarily changing its code of ethics. Background checks will now be conducted on hosts, guests and presenters of faith-based programming.
A researcher has already been hired to conduct checks. The new draft policy was expected to be approved by the task force this week.
“We’re delighted with the report, but we’re going to go even further as a result of the task force, and in principle, hate-mongers will not get on the air,” said Bill Roberts, the VisionTV CEO.
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BROADCAST VIOLATIONS
A sample of recent Canada Broadcast Standards Council decisions that ruled the broadcasting code had been violated: - Oct. 4, 2007 -- During TSN’s coverage of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, a Team Canada player used the f-word. - Aug. 15, 2007 -- Sun TV broadcast an infomercial for a telephone sex line at 3:30 p.m. July 19, 2007 -- Vancouver radio station CKNW was cited for “revealing information that could have endangered lives” during its live coverage of the Dawson College shooting in Montreal. - May 29, 2007 -- Telelatino showed an erotic film but the 18+ classification icon was displayed for only six seconds rather than the required 15 seconds. - April 17, 2007 -- CFTO-TV was cited for reporting the addresses of 10 men arrested on terrorism charges around Toronto in June, 2006.
Source: cbsc.ca
sbell@nationalpost.com