Criticism after European TV bosses pull film on Muslim anti-Semitism

Film-makers have hit out at TV editors in France and Germany after they refused to screen their documentary on Jew-hatred among Europe’s Muslims.

Joachim Schroeder, co-director of ‘Chosen and Excluded – The Hate for Jews in Europe,’ condemned studio bosses at Arte and WDR, who commissioned the film on anti-Semitism in the UK, Hungary, Sweden, Norway and Greece.

Schroeder’s comments echo the head of Germany’s Jewish community, who wrote to the studios lobbying for the film to be aired, as it was “highly relevant”.

Late last year, Arte bosses sent the film back to the drawing board, saying it did not offer a “balanced approach” and did not focus on the five countries “in any way,” instead showing anti-Semitism in France and Israel. They asked for changes to be made.

This week the broadcaster said the film-makers’ decision not to alter the documentary at all led to concerns “raised issues of principle and even trust”.

Yet Schroeder, who instead filmed young French Jews being beaten up in predominantly Muslim areas of France, stuck by his film and his approach, and said the Franco-German studios had pulled it for other reasons.

“You can’t make a film on anti-Semitism without saying every three minutes that the Palestinians are the victims of Israelis,” he said. “If I make a documentary about Auschwitz, must I also report on the suffering of the families of SS guards?”