Outrage over Jewish slur on Sydney radio

SYDNEY radio station Mix 106.5 has acknowledged that a statement made by a caller last week equating being cheap with being Jewish was offensive, but has stopped short of releasing a formal apology or statement.

During the Rosso and Claire program last Monday morning, a caller known as “Connie” told hosts Tim Ross and Claire Hooper that she had fallen out with her sister over being owed one cent.

When asked by Hooper if she thought her sister was “massively stingy”, Connie’s response was: “She’s massively – she’s very much a Jew, very Jewish.”

Mix 106.5 declined to provide an official comment on the matter when they were contacted by The AJN, saying only that an online link was available to lodge any complaints.

The AJN contacted NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff for a comment and he revealed that he had already spoken to the station.

“Our concerns were first, that a racist comment was allowed to be put to air, given that most radio programs have a delay system for up to as much as seven seconds, and second, the inappropriate manner with which the talkback hosts responded.

“Once the comment went to air, they should have immediately ruled it out of line and offensive,” he said.

“Those were the concerns that I conveyed to the producer [of the Rosso and Claire program].

He acknowledged the point and apologised.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) life member Jeremy Jones, who compiles a yearly anti-Semitism report for the ECAJ, said such incidents happen “extremely rarely” nowadays.

“There was a time in the distant past where people would find this funny,” he said.

“But comments like this come from a shrinking number of unfunny and generally uninformed commentators, and receive a positive reception from an even tinier circle,” Jones said.

GARETH NARUNSKY

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff received a verbal apology from Mix 106.5.