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Noor TV rapped for talking negative against Jews

Noor TV in trouble

Islamic religious channel, Noor TV has been rapped by Ofcom after a viewer complained a show spoke against the Jewish community last November.

Ofcom noted that one of the speakers made a number of remarks about Jewish people. Ofcom translated the content from Urdu (and a very small amount which was in Arabic) into English. Ofcom gave the Licensee an opportunity to comment on the accuracy of the translation. Noor TV confirmed its accuracy, and we therefore relied on this translation for the purposes of the investigation.

Ofcom accepted that the programme ���breached generally accepted standards�۝. Specifically, it said that the comments made by the speaker ���were capable of offending members of the Jewish community as well as the wider audience. The historical example used was likely to be construed as offensive in today�۪s society and was not justified by [the] context�۝. The Licensee said that Allama Sialvi was speaking as one of a number of Islamic scholars and Imams delivering sermons, homilies and poetic verse during a religious festival in Pakistan. Noor TV said that Allama Sialvi ���was invited to the platform to give an address, despite not being a listed or scheduled guest[Licensee�۪s emphasis]�۝.

Ofcom noted that in its initial response, the Licensee provided no scriptural or textual references to seek to justify the inclusion of the parable. However, Ofcom took into account the three references later given by the Licensee to Islamic religious texts which it said provided ���some contextual justification for the [i.e. Allama Sialvi�۪s] comment�۝. We therefore assessed whether these references provided any relevant context for the audience which might have helped to provide adequate protection from Allama Sialvi�۪s potentially harmful and offensive comments.

Ofcom noted that Allama Sialvi did not state that it was a prerequisite of religious obedience in the present day for Muslims to kill Jewish people, nor did he directly encourage or incite the audience to take any violent action against Jewish people. In Ofcom�۪s opinion, in this context overall, viewers would have been more likely to interpret the parable as a call for religious obedience, and not as a call for any form of criminal action against Jewish people.

Ofcom was concerned by the potentially harmful and highly offensive content broadcast by the Licensee. Ofcom considered the breaches of Rules 2.1 and 2.3 to be serious.

Noor TV has now been put on notice.