Eden Licht against Stuff

Stuff published a 31 second video clip on November 13, 2024, showing people attacking a tram in Amsterdam. It ran with a headline: WATCH: Demonstrators set tram on fire in Amsterdam. It was captioned: “Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Amsterdam threw fireworks at a tram and briefly set it on fire, Dutch police said.” 

Eden Licht said he was upset about the phrasing surrounding the video which was part of a wider issue surrounding Stuff and its reporting of antisemitism.

He said people in the video were shouting “cancer jews” in Dutch. This was a key piece of information which showed their motivation was antisemitism and that these people were not just protesting for Palestine. 

He said the demonstrators were antisemitic and this should have been stated. 

Stuff responded that while the headline on the video might not have encompassed all the details, its earlier reporting around events in Amsterdam highlighted authorities condemning what they considered to be antisemitic attacks.

The Media Council noted other news reports of the same incident gave the tram attack story similar treatment. They also relied on a Dutch Police comment describing it as pro-Palestinian activity, rather than referring to it as antisemitic.

The Council noted this was a short clip and it was not obvious to viewers who the attackers were, how many there were or what some were yelling. A shouted slogan referencing Jews does not automatically make it an antisemitic protest.

The Council also noted this attack followed earlier violent clashes in Amsterdam involving Israeli football supporters who chanted anti-Arab slogans. This was reported in an NBC report that Mr Licht referred to in his complaint.

The media, including Stuff, understandably take a cautious approach in naming both sides in the Israel/Palestine situation to try to avoid unnecessary inflammatory language.

It was not shown that the reporting of this incident was inaccurate, unfair or unbalanced. 

Decision:  No grounds to proceed.