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[HCDX] London's Jewish radio station closes after Galloway sues
London's only Jewish community radio station has been forced to cease
broadcasting after losing a High Court libel case brought against it by the
Respect MP George Galloway.
Jcom, a non-profit station which broadcast online and to a small area in
north-west London, was wound up after it was told to pay the MP damages of
£15,000.
Mr Galloway sued the station after one of its presenters played a spoof
character based on the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, and implied he was
anti-Semitic. It was also ordered to pay Mr Galloway's court costs, thought
to be £5,000. Mr Galloway said that the judgment had "categorically crushed
the slur of anti-Semitism".
During a broadcast in November, a presenter who called himself "Georgie
Galloway", the station's "Middle East correspondent", used the catchphrase,
"kill the Jews, kill the Jews". The station immediately sacked the
presenter, Richard Malach, saying he was "young and inexperienced" and had
made an error of judgment while attempting to present an edgy programme. It
also issued an apology on its website and offered Mr Galloway the
opportunity to appear on the station, which had a very small audience. Only
36 people were listening online at the time of the offending show.
The programme was also broadcast over the radio to an area in north-west
London with a three-mile radius.
But Mr Galloway said he pursued the case as the station's apology "fell
short of the categorical retraction of the imputation of anti-Semitism that
I insisted upon".
Jeremy Silverstone, the head of Jcom, said he was disappointed that the case
had led to the downfall of the capital's only Jewish radio station.(The
Independent)
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