The Qatar state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera on Sunday announced that it has taken disciplinary action and suspended two of its journalists over video content produced on the Holocaust. According to the broadcaster’s website, “the video content and accompanying posts were swiftly deleted by AJ+ senior management from all AJ+ pages and accounts on social media, as it contravened the Network’s editorial standards.”
AJ+ is Al Jazeera’s social media-driven channel.
According to Deutsche Welle, the video had been flagged by social media users who noticed that the Al Jazeera English and Arabic videos about the Holocaust offered different views.
According to Agence-France Press, the Arabic-language video said Jews were able to “put a special spotlight” on the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust because of their control over “financial resources [and] media institutions.”
Dena Takruri, a senior presenter on AJ+, told AFP: “That video was reprehensible and violates every ethical and journalistic standard I believe. I’m honestly shocked and condemned it wholeheartedly. At AJ+ English, we have long honored and upheld the stories of Holocaust survivors and believe in facts that are undebatable.”
Dima Khatib, Managing Director of AJ+ Channels, said that the video was produced without oversight. She added that the network’s workflows are being reviewed to make sure all production goes through the proper editorial channels at all times, and called on all AJ+ editors and journalists to comply with the Network’s editorial values and Code of Ethics.
The English-language video showed an interview with a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor who supports letting asylum seekers into the United States.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted on Saturday that the video was “the worst kind of pernicious evil.”
“That’s how al-Jazeera brainwashes young people in the Arab world and perpetuates hatred of Israel and the Jews,” Nahshon tweeted.