South Africa
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A South African Jewish newspaper was kicked out of the country’s main media industry organization for refusing to apologize for labelling a BDS cartoon as antisemitic.

Earlier this month, the SA Jewish Report was expelled from the South African Press Council after refusing to publish a ruling that said it had wronged by describing a BDS cartoon as antisemitic and including an apology to the South African BDS coalition for doing so.

In a statement on the SA Jewish Report website entitled “The apology we could never make,” the publication explained that there was “no way we can in good faith apologize to this organization, known throughout the Jewish world for being antisemitic.”

“This week, all those who hate us and the Jewish State are celebrating a so-called victory over us for getting our comeuppance,” editor Peta Krost wrote. “But this isn’t a victory for anyone. It’s a sad day when what I always believed was an unbiased organization couldn’t see that it was being used by the Israel-hating lobby in a political battle against us.”

Krost noted that it wasn’t a case of them being asked to admit to a journalistic error but being forced to issue “a political statement that goes against everything we stand for.”

“We tried our best to explain this, and asked for a hearing so we could bring in experts. We asked to meet with the council’s chairperson. Unfortunately, we were never given the opportunity,” Krost said.

Krost added that they at first attempted to resign from the Press Council but discovered there was a clause in their contract that mandated they give at least three year’s notice before resigning.

After refusing to apologize they were “expelled” from the organization.

“Do I think the Press Council is biased? I cannot unequivocally say I do, but I do believe it was used by [Hassan Lorgat who brought the initial complaint] and the BDS Coalition to fight their fight against us. This is extraordinarily disappointing as I believe in the need for an independent ombud who wouldn’t be swayed by politics and racial hatred. Unfortunately, we realized six months ago that this wasn’t to be for us,” Krost said.