German TV Network ARD Says It Pulled Palestinian Comedy ‘Wajib’ Due To “Narrative Perspective” Amid Accusations Of Censorship

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s second biggest broadcasting network ARD has said it pulled Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 feature Wajib from its schedule this weekend due to concerns over its “narrative perspective” amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict.

ARD – which is a joint channel involving 10 German regional public broadcasters – has been accused of censorship by the filmmakers. “In the context of the drastic social and (global) political events, we checked, as per our standard procedure, as to whether our planned program offerings were in line with the current situation,” ARD said in a statement sent to Deadline. “We had already included the film Wajib you mentioned in our programming a few months ago.

However, given the recent events in the Middle East, we currently believe it is not correctly placed in the program as it could be misunderstood due to its narrative perspective.” Quizzed by Deadline on what aspects of the film’s “narrative perspective” it considered to be problematic or open to misunderstanding, the network sent a second statement. “Presenting different perspectives is of utmost importance to us, also with regard to the Middle East conflict.

Our news, magazine and special programs are particularly suitable for this. Our documentary offerings also reflect the different perspectives of the debate.