UPDATE: on 11 July 2019 we received a reply from the ZDF editor-in-chief, Dr Peter Frey:
“Dear Dr Adler, Ms Zehden, Mr Tanriverdi, Mr Delberg, Mr Spaney, Ms Becker, Mr Feilcke, Dr Moussavi, Ms Süsskind,
thank you very much for your letter of 4 June 2019 to Mr Claus Kleber, in which you raise the “heute journal” broadcast of 1 June 2019. Your message was forwarded to me as the person responsible. I should like to reply to you herewith.
For the “heute journal”, the focus of the reporting was the coverage of the counter-demonstration against the Al-Quds march, here in particular also with Ms Maya Zehden. In view of the current social and political developments in Germany – and especially in Berlin – it was important to the “heute journal” editorial team and to presenter Claus Kleber to show that a broad alliance of a wide variety of associations and institutions is expressing its protest with determination. The demand to ban the march was also taken up: with a statement by Berlin’s Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel, on the legal difficulties. Claus Kleber’s introduction then referred to this as well. For freedom of expression and its possible misuse naturally play a not unimportant role here.
The “heute journal” addresses the fight against antisemitism again and again; the editorial team regards this as one of its core journalistic concerns. For example on 08.09.2018 with a report on an antisemitic attack on a Jewish restaurant in Chemnitz, and on 27.01., Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a piece that discussed how strategies against forgetting could be developed. On 31.01. the “heute journal” held a live interview with the head of the Buchenwald Memorial, the historian Volkhard Knigge, on the question of whether antisemitism had increased and how it could be countered. On 17.02. the “heute journal” reported on the susceptibility to extremist ideas, including antisemitism, at the yellow-vest protests.
These are just a few examples from the past year. The editorial team and presenters of the “heute journal” will continue to observe these tendencies closely and to address them.
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing could therefore have been further from presenter Claus Kleber’s mind than to sweep facts under the carpet or to play things down. On the contrary, it was – on that day in particular – a sincere concern to name things and to support the disquiet of the counter-demonstrators taking part.
I hope, ladies and gentlemen, that my remarks have been able to dispel your concerns, and I remain
Yours sincerely
Dr Peter Frey”
Here is our letter to Mr Kleber:
With, among others, the following words, the journalist Claus Kleber introduced the report on the Al-Quds demonstration in Berlin on 1 June in ZDF’s “Heute” programme. A distorted portrayal of what this event is about, which we could not let stand. We therefore addressed Claus Kleber in an open letter. Unfortunately, we have not received a reply so far.
“Today was a hard day for freedom of expression, above all in Berlin. As always, when one has to fear that freedom of expression is being abused. In a free country one may protest against Israel exercising rule over the whole of Jerusalem, contrary to international law. It is even permissible to raise a claim of one’s own to the whole of Jerusalem. Islamic states and groups do this in the succession of Ayatollah Khomeini, every year at the end of Ramadan. It is not covered by international law, but one is allowed to demonstrate for it. It becomes criminal when such demonstrations call for hatred and struggle. Such a distinction is difficult for authorities and courts to draw in advance, and for the police on duty. Difficult, but important. Especially in Berlin, where there is cause for concern, because open antisemitism is once again appearing more frequently.”The Initiativkreis gegen den Quds Marsch, to which we belong, has written an open letter to Claus Kleber:It says, among other things:
“Firstly, the anti-Israeli Al-Quds march and our counter-protests are not about restricting the freedom of expression of protesting Berlin citizens. The point is that the Al-Quds march constitutes a demonstration of power by the Iranian regime on our streets. It is known that representatives of the Iranian regime have organised the Al-Quds march in the past and that the Iranian regime is thus calling, through its proxies in Germany, for an eliminationist struggle against Israel and for the implementation of a society modelled on the mullahs. This last point in particular shows the relevance of the subject for German mainstream society.
Furthermore, the Al-Quds march is not a demonstration against Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, as the name of the march seeks to suggest, but a day of struggle for the destruction of Israel. The goal of annihilating Israel is, moreover, repeatedly emphasised by the supreme leader of the Iranian regime, Ali Chamenei, as well as by representatives of the regime. Attached below you will find some examples and background information.
We very much regret that on such an important subject as antisemitism facts are evidently being swept under the carpet or matters are being played down. We should therefore like to ask you for greater care and precision in future statements on these and related topics.”
