Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Human Rights
Israeli TV Regulators Ban Ad for Calling Out Racism, Homophobia

Israeli TV Regulators Ban Ad for Calling Out Racism, Homophobia

contributors 12/27/2016

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

By IMEMC | – –

Calling Palestinian rights ‘problematic’ and LGBT rights a matter ‘in public dispute,’ the TV authority bans a public service announcement by Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

The Second Authority for Television and Radio (SATR), a public body that supervises Israeli commercial television and radio stations, banned a public service announcement by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) called “Human rights: Because without [them] I’m not Equal,” Haaretz reports.

In the advertisement, well-known Israelis speak to the camera about what human rights mean to them.

Two statements in the clip were ruled objectionable by SATR.

The first is when Palestinian-Israeli singer and actress Mira Awad tells the camera “it is permitted to speak Arabic without fear.”

The second occurs when Titi Aynow, the first black Miss Israel, and Daphni Leef, an Israeli artist and activist, say together that they want, “the right to choose and marry whoever I want… Even if I’m gay.”

SATR called the clip’s support for speaking Arabic “problematic.” Gay marriage, it ruled, is a “political, social, public or economic matter” in “public dispute.” The authority banned the ad from being aired for these reasons.

ACRI has sent a letter to SATR saying the decision curtails freedom of expression. ACRI will go to court if the decision is not overturned. Watch its censored public service announcement (Hebrew) here.

SATR is led by a 15-member council that is chosen by the Israeli communications ministry. The board is responsible for ensuring “the public interest… and a diverse and high-quality broadcasting environment.” It is one of the largest regulatory bodies in Israel.

In its 2016 report on the status of human rights in Israeli society, ACRI warns of the ways the Israeli political majority brazenly erodes the free speech of social, political, and national minorities.

Via IMEMC

—–

Related video added by Juan Cole:

ACRI: ” Human rights – Because without them we are not equal.”

Filed Under: Human Rights, Israel/ Palestine

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Israel's Netanyahu banks on TACO Trump as he Launches War on Iran to disrupt Negotiations
  • A Pariah State? Western Nations Sanction Israeli Cabinet Members
  • Israel: Will Ultra-Orthodox Jews' Opposition to Conscription Bring down Netanyahu's Gov't
  • Women's Cancer Rates are Rising in the Oil Gulf: is Global Heating causing it?
  • Threat to Rule of Law: Sen. Padilla thrown to Ground, Cuffed at Noem DHS Press Conference

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved