German broadcaster Deutsche Welle loses case against Palestinian journalist

By Birol Tan

COLOGNE, Germany (AA) - A labor court in Germany's Bonn ruled against Deutsche Welle (DW) on the dismissal of Palestinian journalist Maram Salim.

The Bonn Labor Court on July 6 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 trembled her.

She called on German broadcaster to publicly apologize 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.

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 anti-Semitism, Israel's right to exist, and Germany’s historical responsibility.

*Writing by Merve Aydogan in Ankara.