German broadcaster Deutsche Welle loses case against Palestinian journalist

A labour court in Germany’s Bonn ruled against Deutsche Welle (DW) on the dismissal of Palestinian journalist, Maram Salim, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Bonn Labour Court, on 6 July, ruled that her termination of employment at Deutsche Welle was invalid, unlawful, and that her Facebook posts were not anti-Semitic.

On Facebook, Salim said she has been an advocate of women’s rights, human rights, animal rights and that Deutsche Welle‘s accusations traumatised her.

She called on the German broadcaster to publicly apologise and retract its accusations.

Deutsche Welle has the right to appeal the decision within a month, but it has to pay court costs of €36,000 ($36,133).

In early February, Deutsche Welle announced that it fired five journalists from its Arabic service after a two-month investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism.

READ: German news agency accused of ‘weaponising’ anti-Semitism in sacking of journalists

The organisation has long been criticised for biased coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But management at Deutsche Welle has argued that Germany bears special responsibility for the country, due to Nazi crimes committed against Jews during World War II.

Last year, DW’s editorial board sent a new reporting guide to staff, further restricting critical reporting of Israel and, according to a new statement, it is now planning to sharpen its code of conduct with more focus on anti-Semitism, Israel’s right to exist and Germany’s historical responsibility.