PARIS – In a letterto Delphine Ernotte, the newly elected President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)– better known for its subsidiary, the Eurovision Song Contest – the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, brought attention to “an apparentindifference to anti-Semitism in one of your 116 member organizations, the Norwegian NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting – Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation)...” continuing, “The case of NRK P13digital music channel radio host, Shaun Henrik Matheson’s rant to his predominantly young audience: ‘I wish the vaccine did not work in Israel... Israel is a shitty country!’ – is unacceptable.”
See our letter to Norway's Prime Minister (with full content of Matheson's broadcast):
https://www.wiesenthal.com/wiesenthal-centre-demands-5.html
The letter revealed that, “Though the State Channel Council and the channel head finally apologized and agreed that this wasanti-Semitism, the radio host is still on the air... The Culture Minister – a member of the channel’s board – did not denounce the affair, but rather stated his pride in this Statechannel.”
Samuels added, “Vigrid, reportedly a Nordic neo-Nazi organization, vaunted the programme and took it one step further, postingthat ‘it did not go far enough in killing all Jews.’ This is reminiscent of Vidkun Quisling, Norway’s Nazi collaborationist leader, who deported its Jews to the death campsin 1942.” ... "Today's neo-Nazi movement Vigrid should be banned as an example that incitement to hate is not freedom of expression... Lest it ends with another Breivik, themass-murderer of Utøya!"
See original text in Norwegian (English translation in attachment):
http://vigrid.net/kgsmedia210205.htm
Some examples of the brand of hate and violence on: http://vigrid.net/
The Centre proposed that, “Today’s Norwegian Police could invoke Law 185 on hate speech, though this failed in 2019, when a singerscreamed ‘F-k the Jews’ from the concert stage. This wasconsidered 'acceptable critique' of Israel, just as the City of Bergen now proposes to boycott not goods from the 'occupied territories'... but from all of Israel!”
“Madam President, we urge the EBU to suspend NRK, pending the firing of the host, Matheson. We have suggested to Norway’s PrimeMinister, Erna Solberg, that NRK should adopt the IHRA (International Holocaust Remebrance Alliance) Definition of anti-Semitism to be better equipped to identify Jew hatred.”
“To date, the IHRA Definition has been adopted by the EU, its single member States, including France and Norway, municipalities,football clubs, private companies as well as public institutions... Indeed, this may be appropriate for the EBU itself, in conformity with your compelling Mission Statement: ‘At theEBU... we build on our founding ethos of solidarity and cooperation to create a centre for learning and sharing,’” concluded Samuels.
For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook,or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
