ACMA launches investigation into the Q+A episode on Israel-Palestine conflict

The media watchdog has launched an investigation into the ‘woefully one-sided’ Q+A episode that discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Former Q+A host Hamish Macdonald. Picture: ABC

An investigation has been launched by the media watchdog into an episode of Q+A which extensively discussed the Israel-­Palestine conflict.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority will scrutinise the one-hour program after issues about its impartiality were raised.

The Zionist Federation of Australia’s president Jeremy Leibler said the program was “woefully one-sided”, and after complaining to the ABC he said the public broadcaster’s response received was “woefully dismissive”.

The episode aired on May 27. The five panellists were Liberal MP Dave Sharma, Labor MP Ed Husic, author Randa Abdel-Fattah, Indigenous singer Mitch Tambo and human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.

Dr Abdel-Fattah is a of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage, while Ms Robinson had previously represented Palestinians at the International Criminal Court in her work as a lawyer.

The Zionist Federation claimed the program had a panel imbalance and the “human rights abuses of Hamas (against Palestinians) and war crimes of Hamas (against Palestinians and Israelis) were not explored, and that easily-disproved libels against Israel went unchallenged”.

The Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council also complained about the episode and executive director Colin Rubenstein said it failed to have a pro-Israel representative on the panel.

“Dave Sharma, a former Australian diplomat of Indian heritage who served in Papua New Guinea, the United States and Israel, was somehow expected by the ABC to present the Israeli viewpoint,” he said. “While Mr Sharma responded admirably to the stacked panel, he did not do so as a representative of a pro-Israel viewpoint but as a Member of Parliament, opposed on the program by another MP, Ed Husic.”

Mr Leibler claimed the ABC’s handling of its original complaint was insufficient.

“While we welcome the ACMA’s apparent decision that the ABC’s conduct in this matter requires investigation, the ZFA strongly believes the ABC needs a properly-independent, external complaints mechanism,” he said.

The ABC’s independent complaints department, Audience and Consumer Affairs, explored the Zionist Federation’s complaint internally and concluded: “We are satisfied that a range of principal relevant perspectives were presented on the issue, and that no one view was unduly favoured over any other in the broadcast”.