NY Holocaust survivors support group asks cable company to remove ‘Russian propaganda’

By Luke Tress

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3 March 2022, 7:17 pm

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Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.

A few visitors and staff of the pub watching the broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses Russian citizens on the State Television channels in Moscow, Russia, on March 25, 2020. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Illustrative: People at a pub watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses Russian citizens on the State Television channels in Moscow, Russia, March 25, 2020. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

The Blue Card, a Holocaust survivors support organization in New York, leads a call for the US national cable provider Optimum to remove “Russian propaganda” from its service.

Thirty-five elected officials from New York sign onto the effort, including the borough presidents of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.

The letter to Optimum asks the provider to remove state-controlled networks Channel 1 Russia, NTV Rissa, and RTR Planeta from its Russian cable package because they are “known for disinformation campaigns and pro-Putin propaganda.”

“These networks air shows and talk shows that downplay the Holocaust and attempt to cover up the former Soviet Union’s antisemitic practices by brainwashing their viewers,” the letter says.

The Blue Card writes the letter “on behalf of our Russian-speaking constituents and as advocates of Holocaust survivors.”

The majority of the 65,000 survivors in the US today are native Russian speakers, the letter says.

“These survivors turn to Optimum TV as a means of information and entertainment, not to be bombarded with triggering lies and propaganda,” the letter says. “The propaganda aired on these channels can trigger memories from the Holocaust experiences of antisemitism in the Soviet Union, often causing feelings of distress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.”