Press Release

ADL Report: Iranian Government’s Press TV Promotes Anti-Semitism To Global Audience

New York, NY, October 5, 2012 … Iran’s efforts to promote anti-Semitism to a global audience extend far beyond the statements of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other leaders of the Islamic republic. Those efforts shape the message and outlook of Iran’s official English-language propaganda arm, Press TV, as well.

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says the government-controlled satellite news network, founded in 2007, is now in the vanguard as “one of the world’s leading dispensers of conspiratorial anti-Semitism in English.”

“The anti-Semitism on Press TV is insidious, pervasive and deceptive,” said Abraham H. Foxman ADL National Director. “It is home to conspiratorial anti-Semitism in all its ugly varieties and permutations. It fuels, rationalizes and legitimizes anti-Semitism for a global audience. And, it offers a friendly venue for American anti-Semites, conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers who are misleadingly presented as serious and credible experts.”

ADL’s new report, Iran’s Press TV: Broadcasting Anti-Semitism to the English Speaking World analyzes broadcasts, articles and guests appearing on the satellite network and its web site thus far in 2012.

Not only has anti-Semitism figured prominently in many of the broadcasts, but the messages are reaching a broader audience as Press TV articles and videos are re-tweeted and shared on social media sites in addition to being disseminated to a global audience via satellite. According to ADL, the anti-Semitic themes broadcast on Press TV fall into four major categories of classic anti-Jewish conspiracy theories:

  • Allegations of “False Flag” conspiracy theories, including claims that Israel and Jews masterminded the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
  • Allegations of Zionist control over world events, with allegations that Zionists control, manipulate and exploit world events through a global Jewish conspiracy.
  • Allegations of “Israeli Lobby” control of the American government, including the canard that Jews “control” the government and have a disproportionate influence on policymaking and in influencing the American presidential elections.
  • Allegations of excessive Jewish/Zionist influence as a result of disproportionate wealth and power.

Operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a significant amount of Press TV programing provides a platform for American anti-Semites, conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers, who help amplify and endorse the Iranian regime’s hateful message. According to the ADL report, Press TV not only misleadingly presents these hatemongers as serious and credible “experts” or “analysts” on international economic and political issues, but also enables their bigoted perspectives to reach a significant global audience.

Among those making appearances on Press TV are American anti-Semite and racist David Duke; Imam Abdul Alim Musa, head of the Masjid Al Islam Mosque in Washington, D.C., who is affiliated with the anti-Semitic Sabiqun movement.; Mark Glenn, a virulently anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist; and Mark Dankof, a contributor to American Free Press, an anti-Semitic conspiracy-oriented newspaper that promotes a variety of 9/11 conspiracy theories accusing Jews of perpetrating the attacks.

Based in Tehran, the Iranian network’s signal is broadcast in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa and Latin America via a number of satellite television providers.