German broadcaster Deutsche Welle fires 2 more Arab employees

BERLIN (AA) - Two Palestinian journalists were sacked Tuesday from Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, for alleged antisemitic comments.

The dismissals come one week after the news organization let go of five Arabic staffers.

The dismissals of Zahi Alawi and Yasser Abu Muailek came after social media posts from 2014 surfaced that were allegedly antisemitic, according to reports in German media.

The posts in question referred to Facebook posts by Alawi and Abu Muailek that condemned the Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip in 2014.

“What the terrorist state of Israel is doing to the Palestinians is a repeated Holocaust,” Alawi wrote on his Facebook page in July 2014.

Deutsche Welle announced last week that it fired five journalists from its Arabic service after a two-month investigation into allegations of antisemitism.

The organization has long been criticized 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 antisemitism, Israel's right to exist and Germany’s historical responsibility.