‘I’m being silenced’ – German TV host fired for BDS call

Syrian-born TV presenter plays victim after she’s fired for anti-Israel, pro-BDS social media posts.

By World Israel News Staff

A German TV presenter and social media personality was fired from her role at a public broadcaster after encouraging her followers to avoid purchasing Israeli products.

Syrian-born Helen Fares, who describes herself on her website as “a journalist, activist, host, podcaster and economic psychologist,” was the host of the program “Mix Talk” on SWR, a television station funded by German taxpayers.

Due to its status as a government-funded entity, SWR has policies that employees refrain from expressing politically-charged opinions.

But Fares recently took to her personal Instagram account to promote an app which is a tool for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement. The app reportedly allows consumers to swipe the bar codes of products in stores, revealing if said items are of Israeli origin.

Fares said that she has used the app and is refusing to buy “Israeli” products, such as Alpro yogurt. Notably, Alpro is a Belgian company owned by Danone, a French company founded by a Jewish-French Holocaust survivor.

Aside from pushing the app to her followers, Fares has made repeated anti-Israel posts, including accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and referring to the Netanyahu government as “fascist.”

Despite violating the blatant policies of her employees to avoid political statements, Fares played victim regarding her firing from the station.

“SWR, which is a German public media network that’s supposed to protect freedom of speech by the way, couldn’t handle the fact that some right-wing people sent them letters asking for me to be let go,” Fares complained on social media.

In an Instagram post, Fares claimed that she was being unfairly “silenced” by her employer.

“German media is trying to silence all voices who speak up for Palestine,” Fares wrote. “So we need to speak up even more and even louder.”