German DW fires two more Arab employees over alleged anti-semitism

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German DW fires two more Arab employees over alleged anti-semitism

Feb 15, 2022: According to a report by Al Jazeera, two Palestinian-German journalists have been fired from their jobs at German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, a week after the news organisation let go of five of its Arabic service staff.

The dismissal of DW’s Arab employees comes after an external inquiry into allegations that Zahi Alaavi and Yasser Abu Mualik had posted anti-Semitic posts on social media in 2014, based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) controversial definition of anti-Semitism.

The IHRA’s critics say the definition is meant to muzzle free speech and criticism against Israel’s and occupation of Palestine. It basically equates anti-Zionism with anti-Jewish prejudice.

The social media posts under discussion cite the Facebook posts of Alavi and Abu Maalik, which condemned the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip in 2014. Alavi wrote on his Facebook page in July 2014, “What the Israeli terrorist state is doing to the Palestinians is the Holocaust repeated.”

The Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children and 299 women, which was condemned internationally. The inquiry was led by German Justice Minister Sabine Leuthauser Schanberger and psychologist Ahmed Mansour, a Palestinian-Israeli who is known for his anti-Islamic views.

In February, the Inquiry drew its conclusions about the five journalists under investigation, who were suspended from DW in early December. The investigation found that although no structural anti-Semitic evidence was found inside the DW, five journalists were guilty of anti-Semitism. Basil al-Aridi, Ma’arif Mahmoud, Maram Salem, Farah Maraqa, and Dawood Ibrahim were fired on February 7 – the same day a two-month external investigation was launched.

They said they were not given a chance to defend their case or contest the inquiry’s findings. One of the journalists, Salem, who was fired for a Facebook post criticising freedom of speech in Europe, told Al Jazeera her dismissal is a “career assassination”

According to a rights monitor, the inquiry’s review found that its analysis furthered a one sided pro Israel narrative.

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