L'Œuvre d'Orient, a non-profit 1901 association, was refused its advertising spot for the 2022 Christmas campaign on the antennas of Arte.
“
The crises in Lebanon, Armenia, Syria, Ethiopia and Ukraine are leaving thousands of families in dire poverty.
The Christians of the East work at the service of all for reconstruction and in the fields of education and health
”.
In its video, the organization which has supported Eastern Christians since 1856 calls for donations.
If the RATP and the public service channels - France Télévisions and Radio France - broadcast advertising, this is not the case for the Arte channel.
In order to alert the public, the Œuvre d'Orient published a press release on December 23, entitled “
Christians of the East banned from advertising on Arte for Christmas
”.
The Catholic work, very recognized in France as in the whole Middle East, assures that it does not want to make "
public controversy
" and "
regrets the impossibility of dialogue and being understood
" by the management of the channel.
According to l'Œuvre d'Orient, "
it is paradoxical that Arte takes refuge behind its Franco-German specifications to refuse the broadcast of this spot and cut off the voice of Christians in the Orient
",
in particular "given the urgency of needs of these populations
.
In a comment posted on Twitter, Arte specifies "
that this decision is based on its international treaty indicating that religious, political and philosophical associations are not authorized to sponsor on its antenna
".