American NGO CAMERA reproduced screenshots on social media in which Joëlle Maroun, who worked for France 24 in Beirut, proclaimed : “It’s up to each Palestinian to kill a Jew, and the matter is closed” or “Get up, Mr. Hitler, get up, there are people who must be burned”.
Three other journalists have been ‘called to order’ following social networks posts
French news channel France 24 has decided to fire an Arabic-speaking journalist working for it in Lebanon, accused of having posted anti-Semitic messages on social networks.
In a press release, the channel said it intended to lodge a complaint against the journalist, Joëlle Maroun, who is not one of its employees but is employed by an external production company.
Three other Arabic-speaking journalists implicated for anti-Israel messages have also been “called to order”, according to the statement, which was fposted on the channel’s website.
France 24 is part of France Médias Monde, the public body in charge of France’s external broadcasting.
The channel’s decisions were taken following an internal investigation into the cases of the four Arabic-speaking journalists, Joëlle Maroun, Laila Odeh (the channel’s Jerusalem correspondent), Dina Abi Saab (the Geneva correspondent) and Sharif Bibi.
These four journalists had previously been implicated by the
American NGO CAMERA reproduced screenshots on social media in which Joëlle Maroun proclaimed : “It’s up to each Palestinian to kill a Jew, and the matter is closed” or “Get up, Mr. Hitler, get up, there are people who must be burned”.
Other messages shown by the NGO and signed by the three other journalists took sides against Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Following an audit that authenticated the publications, France 24 has notified the production company that employs Joëlle Maroun in Lebanon that the channel is ending all collaboration with this journalist,” it said.
The channel spoke of “intolerable messages posted on her personal accounts, which are the antithesis of the values defended by the international channel’s antennas and are criminally reprehensible.’’ France 24, which broadcasts in French, English, Arabic and Spanish.
It assures that it “will also file a complaint” against the journalist, “for the damage caused to her reputation and to the professionalism of the editorial staff”.
Concerning the three journalists targeted by the “call to order”, “some of their messages posted on social networks appear to take positions incompatible with the duty of impartiality set out in the group’s code of ethics and in particular in the principles governing personal accounts”, according to the channel.
“Personal use of social networks must strictly respect this ethical framework, and these journalists are expected to clearly adhere to it. Their collaboration with France 24 can continue within this framework”, she added.
Finally, “joint work will be undertaken by the management and journalists’ associations” of France Médias Monde, “to further develop the principles of the charter governing the use of employees’ personal accounts on social networks”.