The Jewish organization B'nai Brith Canada is demanding an apology from a Quebec talk show host who sympathized on the air with anti-Semitic statements.Now imagine if a caller said things like this about Muslims. Does one think that a verbal apology would be enough? No!
A woman, who called herself Maria, phoned into Jacques Fabi's late night radio talk show on 98.5 FM last week.
She started by criticizing Israel for last week's bombings. Then she began to attack Jewish people and even lauded the Holocaust.
Fabi did not interrupt the woman, but continued the conversation and sympathized with her statements.
"I'd never dare say such a thing," he said, adding, "though you probably have the right."
Fabi said that there are consequences for people who speak negatively about Jewish people, especially in Montreal where there is such a significant Jewish population.
Then he went on to sympathize with the caller.
"If you asked me if the Jewish population can sometimes be annoying, I would say yes," he said.
In total, the conversation lasted for more than four minutes.
Steven Slimovitch, a lawyer for B'nai Brith Canada, said his inbox was flooded with emails from Jewish Quebecers following the broadcast.
"She basically says that Hitler should have finished what he started," Slimovitch said.
He said that his organization sent a formal letter to the radio station complaining about the comments. B'nai Brith also sent complaints to the CRTC and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
Slimovitch said the general director for the radio station, Réal Germain, replied to the complaint and said that measures would be taken to deal with the situation. David Crête, spokesman for 98.5 FM, said that sanctions have been taken against Fabi. "The comments that were aired earlier this week are unacceptable ... Hosts and journalists are subject to ethical rules. If they are not met, penalties are applied," he stated.
Slimovitch is asking for Fabi to apologize on air formally.
"There's no place for comments like that on a radio station. These are unacceptable comments and they beg a formal apology on the air,' he said.
B'nai Brith has asked CBC not to post the full interview, because it would further publicize anti-Semitic comments.
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Mr. Fabi needs not a reprimand but to be fired immediately. A message must be sent to the broadcast industry that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated.
UPDATE:
Mr. Fabi has not been fired, but suspended for one month without pay.
Montreal late-night radio talk show host Jacques Fabi has been suspended for one month without pay for not being tough enough with an anti-Semitic caller, CBC News reported on Monday.A slap on the wrist in this case. Jacques Fabi needs to be fired and the station should apologize to the world wide Jewish community. This man and that speaker was totally unacceptable in any CIVILIZED nation.
In a statement, senior vice president Richard Lachance of COGECO Diffusion, which owns the station, 98.5FM, said Fabi regrets the incident.
"COGECO Diffusion and 98.5 FM do not endorse in any way these comments and deplore, without reservation, the on-air host's lack of judgment in this case," said Lachance.
A woman, who called herself Maria, phoned into Fabi's show last week.
He allowed her to continue speaking after she called the Holocaust a beautiful thing, reported CBC.
Fabi did not interrupt the woman, but continued the conversation and sympathized with her statements.
"I'd never dare say such a thing," he said, adding, "though you probably have the right."
Fabi said that there are consequences for people who speak negatively about Jewish people, especially in Montreal where there is such a significant Jewish population.
"If you asked me if the Jewish population can sometimes be annoying, I would say yes," he said.
In total, the conversation lasted for more than four minutes.
B'nai Brith Canada is demanding an on-air apology from Fabi. CBC reported that the organization sent a formal letter to the radio station complaining about the comments. B'nai Brith also sent complaints to the CRTC and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
Steven Slimovitch, a lawyer for B'nai Brith Canada, said his inbox was flooded with emails from Jewish Canadians following the broadcast.
"She basically says that Hitler should have finished what he started," Slimovitch said. "There's no place for comments like that on a radio station. These are unacceptable comments and they beg a formal apology on the air.”
Last week, the office of a political-science professor and outspoken defender of Israel in Montreal was vandalized with anti-Semitic slogans. The words “Heil Israel”, written in French, were found scrawled on the professor’s office door at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party recently set up an office in Montreal, in an effort to reach out to Greek citizens living abroad and widen its sphere of influence.
The party, which has become notorious for its blatant anti-Semitic and xenophobic rhetoric, openly displays copies of “Mein Kampf,” as well as other works on Greek racial superiority at party headquarters.
Party leader Nikos Michaloliakos has denied that ovens and gas chambers were used in Nazi concentration camps exterminate Jews during the Holocaust.
The party campaigned under the slogan “So we can rid the land of filth” and holds frequent rallies, chanting “Foreigners out of Greece!”
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