The Arabic edition of state-owned television channels France 24 Four journalists have been suspended for allegations of anti-Semitism. “As a precautionary measure, and as this type of procedure requires, the four journalists in question have been exempt from work pending the results of an internal audit,” said France 24 on Tuesday
The move follows the publication of an article by CAMERA, a pro-Israel media watchdog, claiming that the journalists used anti-Semitic rhetoric in their personal social media accounts.
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Joelle Maroun is one of the journalists, who were suspended for several tweets in 2013 and 2014. Maroun was the Beirut correspondent of France 24 from 2021. CAMERA accused her of joking about Hitler’s actions against the Jews and posted a screenshot of a tweet to support the claim. The pro-Israel group also posted an alleged shot of Maroun asking Hitler to stand up because there were some people who needed to be burned.
The monitoring group also claimed to be a veteran France 24 Jerusalem correspondent Laila Odeh and Dina Abi-Saab, correspondent in Geneva, described the Palestinians killed while resisting the Israeli occupation as “martyrs.” Dina Abi-Saab also compared the 9/11 attacks in the US to Israel’s bombing of buildings in the besieged Gaza Strip.
CAMERA accused Sharif Bibi, who has been working for the French channel since 2014, of calling on his Twitter account for the uprooting of the state of Israel.
“The code of ethics of France Médias Monde (France 24, RFI, MCD) which orders that its journalists, when publishing on blogs, forums, social networks and any space dedicated to the public exchange of information, must ‘respect professional and ethical rules (…) and not violate the values of ethics, the independence and impartiality of the company.”
The company added, “The measures taken in this case are intended to protect the integrity of the work of the entire Arabic editorial team France 24. As in all of it 24 France Language output, the Arabic channel distinguishes itself every day by its commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination.”
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