Antisemitism Report 2009 - World Jewish Congress

7.7.3 Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations
Commercial television has not given rise to serious concern in its depictions of Jews or
Judaism. The Jewish community recognises that the guidelines on the depiction of a range of
matters, including religion, ethnicity and nationality, contribute to developing a more
tolerant culture with a sensitive media corps.
7.7.4 Right of Reply
In most of the cases of antisemitism in the print media, the newspapers and magazines
published views of readers offended by them in letters columns. However, this was not
universal, and even when it occurred, the newspapers themselves rarely acknowledged any
fault on their part by originally printing antisemitism.
7.8 Other Sanctions
Individuals who are the victims of some of the more extreme acts of antisemitic intimidation
do have recourse to laws other than those specified above. A variety of sporting bodies have
introduced anti-racism codes of conduct during recent years. The focus in all cases was also
on "offensive language". A Sydney junior football (soccer) player‘s father was banned for
six weeks from any football-related activities, for yelling ―You should have all been wiped
out during the War!‖ at parents from a Jewish club. It is important to note that while there
have been a number of significant developments in codes of conduct in recent years, there is
still a great deal which needs to be done to affirm the unacceptability of racist behaviour.
Jeremy Jones
13 November 2009
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