JERUSALEM—Following intervention by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), the Al Jazeera Qatari television network has suspended the journalists responsible for publishing a video clip containing antisemitic messages linking Zionism to Nazism.
Al Jazeera, which informed the GPO about the suspension, also promised to carry out periodic training for its workers in order to prevent d
The two journalists produced a seven-minute report for the Al Jazeera Plus network in in which it was claimed – inter alia – that Jews benefitted from the Holocaust and use the Nazis’ pretexts in their actions against the Palestinians.
Following intervention by the GPO and other elements, the report was removed from all digital channels on grounds that it contravened the network’s journalistic standards.
The director of Al Jazeera’s digital department, Dr. Yaser Bishr has decided to hold periodic mandatory training for the network’s journalists and editors in order to hone awareness of the rules of ethics regarding slanted coverage in its reporting. It should be noted that in the past frequent accusations have been levelled at the network for distorted coverage against the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
The director of Al Jazeera Plus, Dima Khatib, said that the program was produced without due consideration and added that major steps were being taken to ensure that all productions are properly edited. She called on all correspondents and editors to adhere to the network’s rules of ethics and editing.
GPO Director Nitzan Chen stated: “This was a grave incident in which a television station attacked the memory of the Holocaust and presented the Jewish people as using the Holocaust for its own purposes. The GPO will continue to stand guard and to ensure that global media coverage meets professional standards and faithfully reflects reality on the ground without distortion, tendentiousness and reportage not based on the facts.”