A "fierce attack" on Arab institutions and journalists Is criticism of Israel forbidden in Germany?

The German media network DW froze the work of four Arab journalists and began interrogating them on accusations of anti-Semitism. It also halted its cooperation with a Jordanian platform, all due to these parties' criticism of Israeli policies, at a time when it has become taboo to oppose Zionism inside the country.

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle announced that it had suspended the work of four of its Arab journalists and conducted an "external and independent" investigation with them on charges of publishing "anti-Semitic" allegations on social networks, according to the institution's description. In addition, the channel stopped its cooperation with the Jordanian "Roya" channel for the same reasons, under pressure from other German media.

The German newspaper accused the Roya TV station of being anti-Semitic, as it "depicts the Israeli citizens who died in the attacks launched by the Hamas organization as settlers of the Israeli occupation." What, in fact, refers to the Jordanian channel's anti-Israel stance, rather than being a racist stance based on ethno-religious reasons. It also prompts the question of whether anti-Zionism has become anti-Semitic?

This comes at a time when Germany is still under the weight of the guilt knot of its Nazi history and the atrocities it committed against the Jews, exploiting that Zionist lobby to pressure the political and human rights arena in the country in order to suppress activists and anti-Zionist movements and the policies of the Israeli occupation.

Accusations and investigations

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said in a report that "a number of employees of the Arabic department at Deutsche Welle, as well as one of the collaborators working independently with the institution, have published in the past years anti-Semitic comments on social media and other media, and these statements were published on the accounts of Especially on social media. Posts were later deleted." The newspaper published a sample of those publications, which it attributed to the employees of the institution's Arabic section.

According to these accusations, Deutsche Welle decided to suspend the work of these journalists and launch an "independent and external" investigation to clarify the circumstances of the case. As stated Director General of the Foundation , Peter Limbourg that "has a policy that does not tolerate an iota with anti - Semitism."

And Limburg added that "the special statements reported by the press about some of the company's employees are incompatible with the values ​​that we all adhere to" and that "at Deutsche Welle" we have clear rules against anti-Semitism and against any form of discrimination that apply to all employees, regardless of place and relationship work with which they are associated. "We will deal with this very quickly now through an independent external investigation committee and we will take the necessary measures if these serious allegations are confirmed," he stressed.

Simultaneously, in the same way, the newspaper "Bild" accused the German institution of partnering with anti-Israel institutions and not recognizing its right to exist. With regard to the Jordanian channel "Roya", which is linked to its counterpart, "Deutsche Welle", the first Konn partnership contracts deal with issues such as gender equality, minority rights in Jordan and the promotion of media culture for youth.

Deutsche Welle decided later on Sunday to suspend cooperation with Jordan's Roya TV due to what it considered "anti-Israel and anti-Semitic content" and because of comic strips on its social media. She said she "strongly" distances herself from such content, and "regrets its initial assessment, which concluded that Roya TV is not anti-Israel."

Guido Baumhauer, a senior executive at the German firm, described it as a "disgusting picture that he regrets not having noticed". He stressed that he would have to re-evaluate the cooperation because "many parts of the content published on the social media of the Jordanian channel certainly do not correspond to the values ​​of Deutsche Welle."

The guilt complex forbids criticism of Israel

This is not the first time that Deutsche Welle has succumbed to pressure on the issue of its criticism of Israel. Indeed, coinciding with the fierce Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people last May, it restricted the publication of reports criticizing Israel, citing Berlin's special responsibility towards the Jewish state because of the "Holocaust".

An internal two-page document that was leaked and then posted on social media confirmed that the legacy of the Holocaust and Germany's special responsibility towards Israel remain a cornerstone of the country's constitution and foreign policy. Editor-in-chief Manuela Casper-Clarridge recommended to staff in the document: "We at Deutsche Welle never question Israel's right to exist as a state, and we never allow the people in our coverage to do so," adding, "We never refer to the apartheid system in Israel. We also avoid referring to colonialism or colonizers."

In 2019, the Zionist lobby pressured the German parliament to adopt a law criminalizing the global "boycott of Israel" movement, the latter of which yielded to that pressure and condemned the movement and described it as "anti-Semitic." In the same year, the "Germany-Israel Foundation" and the "Hoppolt University" in Berlin filed a lawsuit against three activists from the movement, including two Jews, on charges of violating a symposium held at the mentioned university in June 2017 to whitewash Israel's reputation.

Last May, the German government withdrew the membership of the Syrian activist, Mutassim al-Rifai, in the Youth Consultative Council because of his position in support of the Palestinians and his condemnation of the Israeli aggression against them. This came after pressure exerted by the Zionist lobby on that government.