Support Of Israel’s Right To Exist Mandatory For Employees Of German Public Broadcaster

Germany’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), introduced a clause to its code of conduct requiring employees to pledge support for Israel’s right to exist or face termination. 

The document stated that "we advocate the values of freedom and, wherever we are, take independent and clear positions, especially against any and all kinds of discrimination including sexism, racism, and antisemitism."

"Due to Germany's history, we have a special obligation towards Israel," it read further, adding that "Germany's historical responsibility for the Holocaust is also a reason for which we support the right of Israel to exist."

The background for the decision was the termination of several employees of the broadcaster's Arabic service for anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic language; several subsequently sued DW for unlawful dismissal, winning reinstatement in at least two cases. 

In the latest such case, a German court ruled that the broadcaster's sacking of Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Farah Maraqa was "unlawful." Maraqa's Twitter posts included referring to Israel as a “cancer that should be cut out” and a joke that she would “join [Islamic State] if it was to fight for the liberation of Palestine.”

The revised protocol provides the company with a better legal framework to combat anti-Semitism in its own ranks.