Helen Fares reacts to anti-Semitism allegations

Helen Fares reacts to anti-Semitism allegations

The former SWR presenter Helen Fares reacted to her expulsion to the public broadcaster and the anti-Semitism allegations via Instagram. In a video on her profile, the 29-year-old emphasizes that the boycott of products from companies that support Israel is not anti-Semitic. She argues that thousands of Jewish people also support this boycott culture to put pressure on the Israeli government.

The video message was published together with the Instagram channel "Jewish Voice", an organization that is committed to peace and justice in the Middle East. Fares accuses the SWR not to respond to the letters and threats of right -wing persons who demanded their discharge. She speaks of hundreds of threatening news and calls after her discharge and deportation, which would ultimately have led to her expulsion.

The SWR announced that Helen Fares was released from her moderation tasks because she repeatedly expressed extremist political positions in her private social media articles. The background for the expulsion is located in Fares Instagram posts, in which she called the boycott of Israeli products and recommended a corresponding app. These articles meant that the X-Account "ÖRR anti-Semitism Watch" Fares described Fares as anti-Semitin and the author Hasnain Kazim called the controversy as "not buys from Jews" in 2024.