A German television network called Arte approved the production of a documentary about anti-Semitism in Europe. But when the documentary was complete, the network refused to show it. Today, the largest newspaper in Germany has published a leaked copy of the documentary online so people can make up their own minds. From the Times of Israel:

Titled “Chosen and Excluded – Jew Hatred in Europe,” the film by German producers Joachim Schröder and Sophie Hafner covers the various forms of Jew hatred that prevail in contemporary Europe. Although it was approved by network editors, for the past five months it has been withheld from the public by the Franco-German public TV networks Arte, which owns its broadcasting rights.

One of the reasons given for the highly controversial decision to shun the movie, which was commissioned by the German public WDR network on behalf of its partner station Arte, was that it would include too much footage from Israel. The documentary also includes a segment on anti-Semitic Israel bashing, which, as the film strikingly shows, is often supported by tax-funded European NGOs.

Here’s the page on the Bild website where the documentary, which runs about 90 minutes, can be viewed. However, the documentary will only be online for 24 hours. Here is the justification Bild published for posting the leaked film (via Google translate which is not perfect but gives the gist):

The TV documentary proves the hatred of Jews in Europe, some of which have only two words: disgusting and embarrassing.

For weeks, the documentation on these documentation, produced by fees, has been discussed in the highest levels of politics. Without the citizens being allowed to see them. Without being able to form a judgment.

The suspicion is bitterly close to the fact that this documentation is not shown because it is politically unacceptable because it shows an anti-Semitic image of the world in large parts of the society that is staggering.

Germany is certainly not the country in which antisemitic prejudices should be glossed over, concealed, overthrown.

Bild also published some excerpts from the film which includes a claim by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian territories that Israel was planning to poison the Palestinian water supply. Abbas said this in a speech to the European Parliament last June. The film also looks at anti-Semitism in children’s television from Gaza. This clip is an example of the kind of thing the film is talking about though I’m not sure if this particular clip appears in the film:

The Bild page also includes statements from a number of historians and experts praising the film. For instance, Prof. Michael Wolffsohn, a historian, says, “Congratulation! This is the by far the best and most clever and historically deepest, at the same time unfortunately highly actual and true documentary on this topic.”

Despite this, the program director for Arte, the German TV network, says, “The delivery is concentrated mainly on the Middle East. This did not correspond to the mandate formulated by the program conference, so that it could not be accepted.” Even allowing for the vagueries of Google translate, that sounds like an excuse to me.