In July 2014 in Berlin, demonstrators carry a picture of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and protest against the Israeli military’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Photo: Boris Niehaus via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A joint German-French public TV station is facing a wave of criticism for refusing to air a documentary on the rise of antisemitism in Europe.

When the TV station’s executives decided to stand by their decision not to air the film, saying it did not meet their editorial standards, the German daily newspaper Bild made the entire documentary available on its website for 24 hours. Bild also posted the opinions of historians and antisemitism experts who refuted the station executives’ claims.

The film’s German director, Joachim Schroeder, told Israel Hayom he does not know how Bild gained access to the film and cannot discuss the matter for legal reasons.

Jewish community leaders in Germany and France have accused the TV station of denying the existence of antisemitism for political reasons.

Israeli Ambassador to Germany Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman thanked Bild for enabling the public to view the documentary and sharply criticized the public TV station.

“I don’t know what is worse, the content exposed in the film about the increase in antisemitism or the fact that a public TV channel has doubts as to whether or not to broadcast the film to the public,” he said.

The film presents a detailed account of the prevalence of antisemitism among large portions of the European population, including among Muslim immigrant communities, and how it continues to spread under the guise of criticism of Israel. It also depicts the antisemitism associated with the BDS movement, Nazism’s influence on Palestinian nationalism and the widespread use of rap music to promote violent messages against Israel and Jews.