AMMAN — Jordanian journalist
Farah Maraqa, who was fired
from the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) in December over accusations of
anti-Semitism, is resorting, at this stage, to the German court to defend her
right.
اضافة اعلان
DW based its decision to dismiss Maraqa on content she
had published even before being appointed, like tweets, old comments, reports,
or news in which she referred to the practices of the Israeli occupation and
its settlers.
Euro-Med Human Right Monitor said in a recent
statement: “We are seriously concerned by Deutsche Welle’s decision to use as scapegoat
and fire five journalists of Arab origin following a two-month biased
investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism. We warn that such measures
will only open the door wide to escalating what is tantamount to an anti-Arab
purge in German media.”
According to Al-Jazeera
website, Basil Al-Aridi, Murhaf Mahmoud, Maram Salem, Farah Maraqa, and Dawood
Ibrahim were suspended early December last year and fired on February 7, the
same day a two-month external inquiry was released. They said they were not given a chance to read the inquiry or
contest its findings.
The five employees at the
German international broadcaster — all Palestinian or Lebanese — were
investigated after an article published by Suddeutche Zeitung last November “exposed” social media posts and articles
they had written for outside publications that allegedly expressed anti-Semitic
and anti-Israeli views.
Maraqa’s case drew the attention of many Jordanians, with journalists and human rights
activists issuing a statement appealing to DW to “serve justice” to Maraqa and the other Arab employees.
In their statement, the
journalists and activists urged DW to draw the line between “criticism of the
Israeli government’s practices — as an occupying force under international laws
— and anti-Semitism.”
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