British Muslim channel fined for broadcasting anti-Semitic documentary

Documentary, claims there were plans to establish a new Jewish state in Patagonia, a sparsely populated region at the bottom of South America

LONDON – The U.K.-based Islam Channel was fined £40,000 ($49,000) for airing a documentary that claimed Israel was trying to take over parts of Argentina and Chile.

The documentary, entitled ” The Andinia Plan,” claimed that there were plans to establish a new Jewish state in Patagonia, a sparsely populated region at the bottom of South America.

British broadcasting regulator Ofcom called the documentary “anti-Semitic.”

It ruled that the documentary constituted hate speech against Jewish people.

The Islam Channel has apologized “unreservedly” for broadcasting the documentary.

The story about Patagonia had first appeared in a magazine from Argentina.

Triggered by a suggestion by political activist Theodore Herzl that a future Jewish state could be in Argentina, it typically involves the belief that there is an international plot to encourage Jewish migration to the country.

In 2012, when an Israeli tourist was questioned by Chilean authorities after a forest fire in a nature reserve, anti-Semitic comments were posted on the Internet referring to the Andenia Plan.

A Chilean congressman questioned on social media whether the man was really on vacation, claiming he was sent by the Israeli government after “killing Palestinian children.”

The Islam Channel documentary claimed that “an old proposal from the end of the 19th century could resurface to change the political map of South America.”

In 2020, the channel was forced to pay £20,000 after airing a series on religious education that contained “anti-Semitic hate speech.”