– Press release –
WerteInitiative: Next antisemitism scandal at „Deutsche Welle“
Berlin, 07.12.2021 – WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen e.V. – calls for a clear compass of values in cooperation with partner organisations. Director-General Peter Limbourg must now take responsibility.
According to current research by „Vice“, the German international broadcaster „Deutsche Welle“ cooperates with broadcasters abroad that spread antisemitism and other inhumane content. The broadcaster had already come in for criticism previously because Arabic-speaking employees of „Deutsche Welle“ are said to have denied the Holocaust, among other things, on social media.
„Deutsche Welle“ is the international broadcaster of the Federal Republic and is financed directly from German taxpayers’ money. According to the law, the broadcaster must create programming which conveys „Germany as a European-grown cultural nation and a liberally constituted democratic state under the rule of law“.
The latest findings show that the broadcaster is not sufficiently living up to this claim. Through cooperation with antisemitic and inhumane partners, these are given visibility, they are thereby legitimised and, moreover, financially supported.
We therefore demand that „Deutsche Welle“ comply with its statutory objectives and cease working with all antisemitic and inhumane cooperation partners. At the same time, all current cooperations must be put to an ethical test.
Elio Adler, chairman of WerteInitiative: „What matters now is to work through how it could come to this. Responsibility must be taken for that. It lies with Director-General Peter Limbourg. At its core the question is: how is the compass of values actually implemented within Deutsche Welle?“
About the association WerteInitiative – Jüdisch-deutsche Positionen e.V.:
WerteInitiative has established itself as a civil-society Jewish voice in Germany since 2014. We set out to secure the future of Jewish life in Germany. We therefore campaign for strengthening the values of the free democratic basic order from a Jewish perspective. We do this by promoting values-based political, social and media discourse, civic Jewish engagement in Germany and the German-Israeli relationship. For further information we recommend visiting our website: https://werteinitiative.de/.
