Arab staff of German newspaper Deutsche Welle accused of antisemitic social media posts

German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported last week on an investigation it performed on social media posts of some Arab editorial staff of state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

In response, Deutsche Welle announced it will have an independent, external investigation of the charges. 

Antisemitic posts on social media would violate DW's Code of Conduct.

The original article at Süddeutsche Zeitung detailing its findings is behind a paywall, but here's a summary of some of the findings from DWDL:

The allegations are serious: According to the report, several members of the Arab editorial staff have made anti-Semitic comments on social networks in the past. An editor, for example, expressed condolences for a deceased German Holocaust denier, describing the mass murder of the Jews as an "artificial product". It is only one of several derailments that the "SZ" reports.

Some of the allegations have apparently been known for years. In the case of an employee, there should have been a conversation as early as 2017. Since then, "according to our knowledge", the man has been observing the principles that DW stands for in private comments on social media, a spokesman for the German international broadcaster told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". However, SZ claims to have found out that the employee wrote afterwards, among other things, that Jews "controlled people's brains through art, media and music".

DW announced on Friday that it had suspended the accused employees during the duration of the investigation.

Meanwhile, DW also announced that it ended its business relationship with Jordan's Roya TV, when it found out that it had also posted antisemitic and pro-terror cartoons and other  material. 

"We are truly sorry that we did not notice these disgusting images," DW's managing director in charge of distribution, Guido Baumhauer, said. "We will now even more critically review our partner selection internally, especially with regard to antisemitism and racism."

DW also said it regretted its previous assessment that Roya TV was not anti-Israel.

According to SD, Roya TV called Israeli citizens who were killed by Hamas rockets as "settlers of the occupation", it refers to Palestinians killed as martyrs, and  it never refers to Israel by name, instead calling it the “Israeli occupation,” and it glorifies terror attacks. 

Nearly every Arab publication does that.

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