Michal Rozin
Michal RozinFlash 90

The Second Authority for Television and Radio disqualified a broadcast from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel(ACRI) which included a call for the recognition of same-sex marriages and for a proper status for the Arabic language in Israel.

The Second Authority is the statutory corporation that is responsible for and oversees commercial television and radio stations in Israel, including local radio stations and digital television.

ACRI responded by complaining to the Authority about the disqualification and threatened to take legal action. The Authority said that it would submit the ad to the Director-General for further investigation.

Nevertheless, the chairman of the Authority, Eva Madjiboj, referred to the matter on her Facebook page and stated: "I have quite a few friends fighting for the right to love and marry whoever they want. As a friend of theirs I am fighting with them. As head of the Second Authority for Television and Radio I will fight for their right to shout this everywhere they want."

MK Michal Rozin(Meretz) contacted the Director-General of the Authority and asked why he had decided not to broadcast the ad which she claimed dealt with 'human rights'. She said she had watched the ad and was "convinced that the message it portrayed was highly important: that without human rights democracy is not worth anything. I wish to know why the ad was censored and whether there is a precedent for censoring such a community service advertisement," concluded Rozin."