France 24 has severed ties with Joelle Maroun, a Lebanon-based correspondent after she was accused of sharing anti-Semitic messages on social media.
The international news channel also reprimanded three other Arabic-language journalists for violating its code of conduct on impartiality concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
These actions come in response to a report by CAMERA, a pro-Israeli NGO in the United States, which exposed messages from the journalists it deemed anti-Semitic.
One of Maroun’s posts reportedly contained an offensive “joke” involving Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.
In another tweet from 2013, Maroun allegedly wrote, “They asked Hitler ‘what did you do with the Jews?’ He said ‘nothing extraordinary, just having barbecue with the guys’.”
Other messages included statements such as “if only Hitler was Lebanese” and “Rise, Sir Hitler, rise, there are a few people that need to be burned.”
France 24 has taken a strong stance against Maroun’s “intolerant messages,” which contradict the values championed by the channel and are deemed “criminally reprehensible.”
The channel is also filing a complaint against Maroun for damaging the company’s reputation.
The three other journalists involved were suspended and later reinstated after an internal investigation.
France 24 asserts that their commitment to impartiality remains strong and that they will continue to fight against anti-Semitism.
