{"id":149399,"date":"2025-09-17T02:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T02:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/149399\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T02:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T02:15:09","slug":"radio-canada-reporter-placed-on-leave-after-using-antisemitic-language-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/149399\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio-Canada reporter placed on leave after using antisemitic language on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The CBC-Radio Canada building is seen Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Montreal. Dozens of prominent Radio-Canada personalities are urging their employer to fight back against a recent CRTC decision ordering the broadcaster to apologize over the use of the N-word on air. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Ryan RemiorzRyan Remiorz\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Radio-Canada has apologized and put one of its reporters on indefinite leave after she used antisemitic language during a Monday broadcast.<\/p>\n

On the television show Sur Le Terrain, Washington correspondent \u00c9lisa Serret commented in French on U.S. policy toward the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israelis, in fact the Jews, finance a lot of American politics,\u201d she said. She also stated that they control \u201ca big machine\u201d and that Hollywood and big U.S. cities are \u201crun by Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

The clip was shared online and condemned by the Quebec chapter of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which advocates on behalf of the Canadian Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Radio-Canada said in a statement on its website<\/a> that the analysis by Ms. Serret led to \u201cstereotypical, antisemitic, erroneous and prejudicial allegations against Jewish communities.\u201d The broadcaster also said her comments in no way reflect its opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese unacceptable comments contravene Radio-Canada\u2019s Journalistic Standards and Practices,\u201d the statement said in French. \u201cAs a result, the news department has decided to relieve the journalist of her duties until further notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize that these comments have offended many viewers. We sincerely apologize to them and to the Jewish community,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Ms. Serret did not respond to questions sent to her Radio-Canada e-mail address.<\/p>\n

Eta Yudin, vice-president for Quebec with the CIJA, said the broadcaster took \u201cthe only appropriate course of action\u201d regarding Ms. Serret.<\/p>\n

She added that the comments should not be allowed to pass without \u201cserious internal reflection\u201d on the damage they inflict on Canada\u2019s democratic values. Antisemitism corrodes the fabric of society, she said, adding that its persistence is made possible by the environment that enables it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect Canada\u2019s national public broadcaster to recognize this reality and to take concrete steps to ensure that neither such comments \u2013 nor the systemic issues that enabled them to be aired \u2013 are ever allowed again on Canadian airwaves,\u201c Ms. Yudin said.<\/p>\n

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault criticized Ms. Serret\u2019s remarks, and added that the government does not, and should not, interfere with programming decisions at the public broadcaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe words used on last night\u2019s broadcast were pernicious antisemitic tropes and have absolutely no place on Canadian airwaves,\u201d he said in a statement posted on X<\/a>. \u201cWhen antisemitic language is used by journalists, or anyone in a position of trust, it risks normalizing hatred in deeply dangerous ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who previously served as the prime minister\u2019s special adviser on Jewish community issues and antisemitism, said Tuesday<\/a> the move by Radio-Canada was \u201ca positive development.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, he said the comments were antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, which the Canadian government has adopted, and called on the broadcaster to explain how it would prevent the occurrence from happening again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The CBC-Radio Canada building is seen Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Montreal. Dozens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-149399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}