Seven journalists have been fired by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) over alleged antisemitism.

A damning report had revealed disturbing statements by staff at DW, which reaches an international audience through channels broadcast in English, Arabic and other languages.  
wo journalists were sacked last week after the external investigation found that they had made antisemitic statements on private social media in 2014. A week earlier, a further five journalists had been fired.

One was Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Farah Maraqa, who has written columns for online pan-Arab newspaper Rai al-Youm. 

Media monitoring organisation CAMERA has found a catalogue of statements made by Ms Maraqa. In one piece, in reference to the firing of rockets towards Tel Aviv, she commented: “The sound of the resistance’s rockets falling in the heart of Tel Aviv was once again music to our ears.”

In another comment from December 2015 unearthed by Algemeiner, she wrote: “If the Islamic State were to fight for liberation in Palestine… and if they throw the Israelis out of the Holy Land, then I will join their ranks.”

DW also produced the talk-show Jaafar Talk, which routinely described Israel as the “Israeli occupation”, as did DW’s Jordanian partner station, Roya TV. DW commissioned an investigation by the Mansour Initiative for Democracy Promotion and Extremism (MIND Prevention) to examine whether staff have followed DW’s “clear commitment to Israel’s right to exist and a clear stance against antisemitism”.

Reporting its findings, MIND Prevention’s founder Ahmad Mansour recommended that DW create “structures for regular training courses on the subject of antisemitism”. 

DW has said it now had a 10-point action plan in response to the report.

A spokesman for DW declined to comment when approached by the JC.