Berlin, Europe Brief News – A Palestinian journalist fired by Deutsche Welle (DW) is taking her case to court.
Farah Maraqa was dismissed by the German state broadcaster in February amid a purge of Arab journalists.
On the same day DW fired Maraqa and four other Arab journalists, the state broadcaster published a deeply biased and misleading report concluding that they deserved dismissal for statements that “amounted to anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial or Holocaust relativism, as well as statements that denied Israel’s right to exist.”
At a preliminary hearing in March, a judge heard from lawyers for both Maraqa and Deutsche Welle.
Maraqa has set up a crowdfunding campaign to help pay the costs of her legal action “on the basis of unjust termination” and an “anti-Semitic defamation campaign.”
Last Wednesday, another hearing was held in the ongoing case of Farah Maraqa against the international German broadcaster.
A large crowd of people gathered to support Farah in her case against DW. While DW’s single legal representative sat alone.
Inherently fraught political and historical questions surrounding Israel, Zionism, and Palestinian human rights fall outside of the purview of a labor court. In addition, Farah’s writings, which were used by DW’s lawyer to attack her, were mostly before her contracts with DW. This caused Farah and her lawyer to argue that her previous writings can’t be a reason for termination.
Throughout the proceedings, DW’s lawyer repeatedly inserted her personal opinions and feelings regarding Farah’s allegedly offensive past comments.
The Verdict
The judge made a proposal on how to continue, based on the recommendation of Farah’s lawyer, striving for reputational rehabilitation.
The court declared that both parties must release a joint statement that must be mutually agreed upon by the 2nd of September. The hearings will continue on the 5th of September, where a final verdict is expected.
The judge also advised DW to provide a platform where Farah can publicly express her perspective and experiences.
