In the wake of the release of Israeli hostages from the Hamas terrorist organisation, brokered by US President Donald Trump, German television presenter Dunja Hayali (photo) has once again committed a serious faux pas. She spoke of ‘Palestinian hostages’ and claimed that among the 2,000 prisoners to be released were ‘also ordinary Palestinians who had previously been held in Israeli prisons’.
According to Israeli sources, the prisoners are predominantly convicted or suspected fighters, including individuals who were imprisoned for serious attacks and murders. Around 1,700 of them were arrested during the Gaza War. It was only after a long delay that the Himmler broadcaster ( channel head Norbert Himmler) felt compelled to issue a ‘clarification’. The word ‘exchange’ was incorrectly displayed in a caption. Instead of ‘Relief in Israel – exchange of hostages has begun,’ it should have read: ‘Relief in Israel – release of Israeli hostages has begun.’
Hayali whined that she had not intended to ‘equate or relativise’ anyone. Compulsory licence fee payers are now wondering whether the journalistic blunders were intentional or unintentional. In the former case, particularly critical contemporaries might suspect anti-Semitism; in the latter, one wonders how Hayali was able to pass the broadcaster’s recruitment tests and what criteria are used to select staff there.
ZDF-Moderatorin sprach von „palästinensischen Geiseln“ – Zur Zeit