On Friday, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has suspended four employees and one freelancer during an investigation into allegations that they expressed anti-Israel, antisemitic views.
DW’s Arabic service is alleged to have made online comments this week decrying the Holocaust or perpetuating anti-Jewish stereotypes in some instances, according to the Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The DW has requested that the allegations investigated by an independent third party. Psychologist Ahmad Mansour and former German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger will conduct the investigation to find out how they were able to take advantage of their victims in order for people like that to happen at all.”
A German government-funded broadcaster has strict guidelines for employees to follow. All social media accounts are monitored and all posts that do not abide by DW’s values or principles will be removed from an account-private or business-related. Employees must also affirmatively show they have rejected antisemitism upon hire by signing documents promising this as well in order to maintain employment at Deutsche Welle.
In addition, DW announced that the affected employees will be suspended for a duration of time while they conduct their investigation, but that once it is completed there should not be any problems.
