THE ABC has apologised to the Jewish community for presenting biased, anti-Israeli information to school children during an episode of Behind the News. The educational program described Hezbollah terrorists as "soldiers" and as "refugees" whose land had been "taken by Israel".In a letter to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which lodged a formal complaint with Communications Minister Helen Coonan, the ABC admits the information presented on the program was "inappropriate".
Audience liaison manager Denise Musto said the ABC acknowledged "that the content failed to meet the requirements of balance and impartiality".
"In its attempt to be simple and concise, the story did not represent key relevant viewpoints," she said. "Some of the descriptions were over-simplistic and inappropriate."
Behind the News is a news program designed for school students. The episode on the crisis in the Middle East was shown on July 25, with the transcript removed from the ABC website earlier this week. Ms Musto said the "errors of judgment" were "regrettable and not indicative of the program's overall high standards". She said the content removed from the web was "being reviewed and revised material will be posted in due course".
Council president Grahame Leonard wrote to the ABC and Senator Coonan about "errors and lack of balance" in the program. Mr Leonard said Hezbollah could not accurately be described as a "Palestinian refugee organisation".
"It is an extremist Lebanese Shiite Muslim organisation. Its ideology is the same as that of Iran and includes the destruction of the state of Israel," he said.