British TV Station Uses Gaza Backdrop in Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis Interview on Holocaust
The British broadcaster Sky News apologized for showing images of the Gaza conflict during an interview about the Holocaust with British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
The apology over the Jan. 27 broadcast came in a letter sent by Peter Lowe, Sky News’ managing editor, to a viewer who sent Sky News a letter of complaint about the interview conducted by presenter Adam Boulton, The Jewish Chronicle of London reported Thursday.
Lowe said showing images of Gaza while the chief rabbi talked about the Israel-Palestinian conflict was logical, but that with hindsight he would not have combined the two, calling it “an indelicate clash”.
He added: “I’m sorry if you or anyone was upset by the interview Adam did with the chief rabbi. I agree that the particular circumstances of the use of the pictures from Gaza was unfortunate.”
The complaint by viewer Jacqui Rudolph also concerned Boulton’s questioning on Jan. 27, International Holocaust Memorial Day, whether Israel provokes anti-Semitism. She called it “an ancient anti-Semitic device,” but Lowe rejected this assertion.
“I don’t think it is something we should edit out from the comparatively rare opportunity to interview the Chief Rabbi in front of a general audience in order to give him the opportunity to confront these ideas and perhaps lay them to rest,” he wrote.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
