SBS partnership with Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network under criticism from the Jewish community

The public broadcaster has come under criticism over its longstanding partnership with the Qatari-owned network and its reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.

SBS management will review complaints from the Jewish community over the broadcaster’s longstanding partnership with Al Jazeera, amid concerns the Qatari state-owned television network has an “egregious conflict of interest” when reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has written to SBS ombudsman Amy Stockwell to voice its grievances about the taxpayer-funded broadcaster using Al Jazeera’s news reports on its channel.

The council has requested that Ms Stockwell recommend to the SBS board that the broadcaster discontinue its relationship with Al Jazeera.

In correspondence seen by The Australian, the council’s president Daniel Aghion KC and co-chief executive officers Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin, told Ms Stockwell that Al Jazeera’s English-language news channel was not independent and the “Qatari monarchy is a key financial backer and ally of Hamas”.

“We write to express our concerns about the use by SBS of news reports produced by Al Jazeera, an organisation which is owned by the government of Qatar, but which does not operate independently of that government,” the letter says.

“It follows that Al Jazeera must be seen as having an egregious conflict of interest when it comes to its reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict. This conflict of interest is not merely theoretical.

“During the current Israel-Hamas war, Al Jazeera’s inherent bias in favour of Hamas and against Israel has become starkly evident.” The letter highlights numerous examples of what it labelled “biased coverage of the war by Al Jazeera” and said news reports showed “outright complicity of its journalists with Hamas”.

ECAJ Co-CEO's Alex Ryvchin and Peter Wertheim in Sydney. Picture: John Feder

SBS first signed content agreements with the Al Jazeera Media Network for its English-language news channel in 2011.

The taxpayer-funded-broadcaster’s 2022-23 annual report, released in September, said SBS aired seven 30-minute news bulletins from Al Jazeera’s English-language channel and a one-hour Al Jazeera “newshour” each week.

Al-Jazeera reporter interviews a wounded elderly man at a Gaza hospital about how he got hurt.

His answer?

“Why is Hamas hiding among us civilians? Why don’t they go to hell and hide there instead?"

The reporters quickly ends the interview…. pic.twitter.com/nB1EOOxY8l

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 14, 2023

Al Jazeera’s website says the media outlet launched in Qatar’s capital Doha in 1996 and was the “first independent news channel in the Arab world”.

“The network presents impartial news, programs, current affairs, and in-depth investigations that push the boundaries of traditional media,” its website states.

The Jewry council’s letter to SBS also points to an article written on the Middle East Media Research Institute’s website, published on November 22.

The article states: “Al-Jazeera’s bias in favour of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terror organisations in the Iran-led resistance sparked criticism from Arab journalists and intellectuals who took to X to slam the channel and its coverage. They called Al Jazeera a mouthpiece for terror organisations.” Mr Wertheim said urgent action must be taken by SBS over its partnership with Al Jazeera.

“We are grateful that the SBS ombudsman has referred the ECAJ’s complaint to the director of news and current affairs for her consideration, and that management is taking our concerns seriously,” he said.

“We look forward to working with the broadcaster to ensure that a suitable alternative to Al Jazeera is offered to its Australian audience when reporting about the Israel-Hamas war.”

An SBS spokesman was contacted but would not comment.

Originally published as SBS partnership with Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network under criticism from the Jewish community