France 24 cuts ties with Lebanon-based correspondent over ‘antisemitic’ tweets
State-owned newscaster to file formal complaint over ‘criminally reprehensible’ social media posts
Move follows internal investigation into media watchdog’s claims against four journalists at network’s Arabic service
Updated 16 March 2023
Arab News
LONDON: The French international news network France 24 announced on Wednesday that it will cut ties with a Lebanon-based journalist at its Arabic service following an investigation into antisemitic media posts.
“France 24 notified the production company which employs Joelle Maroun in Lebanon that the channel is ending all collaboration with this journalist because of the intolerant messages posted on her personal accounts,” the state-owned newscaster said in a statement.
The network described Maroun’s authenticated social media posts as “criminally reprehensible,” pointing out that “France 24 will also file a complaint against her for the damage done to the channel’s reputation and to the professionalism of its newsroom.”
On Monday, France 24 suspended four journalists at its Arabic service pending an internal investigation into allegations filed by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
The media watchdog accused the journalists of making references to the Holocaust on their personal social media accounts, according to Politico news website.
After the investigation concluded, France 24 decided to reinstate the three other journalists provided they comply with “the standards of impartiality set out in France 24’s code of ethics, particularly regarding the principles governing personal accounts.”
France 24 highlighted that some of the posts made by the three journalists were found to be incompatible with its code of ethics.
LONDON: Few cultural imports have crossed borders as unexpectedly, or as powerfully, as Grendizer, the Japanese giant robot that half a century ago became a childhood hero across the Arab world, nowhere more so than in Saudi Arabia.
Created in Japan in the mid-1970s by manga artist Go Nagai, Grendizer was part of the “mecha” tradition of giant robots. The genre was shaped by Japan’s experience during the Second World War, and explored themes of invasion, resistance and loss through the medium of science fiction.
But while the series enjoyed moderate success in Japan, its true legacy was established thousands of kilometers away in the Middle East.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. (Supplied)
The anime “UFO Robot Grendizer” arrived on television in the region in 1979, dubbed into Arabic and initially broadcast in Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war. The story it told of the heroic Duke Fleed, a displaced prince whose planet had been destroyed by alien invaders, struck a chord with children growing up amid regional conflict and occupation by Israel.
Its themes of defending one’s homeland, standing up to aggression and protecting the innocent were painfully relevant in the region, transforming the series from mere entertainment into a kind of emotional refuge.
Much of the show’s impact came from its successful Arabization. The powerful Arabic dubbing and emotionally charged voice-acting, especially by Lebanese actor Jihad El-Atrash as Duke Fleed, lent the show a moral gravity unmatched by other cartoons of the era.
While the series enjoyed moderate success in Japan, its true legacy was established thousands of kilometers away in the Middle East. (Supplied)
The theme song for the series, performed by Sami Clark, became an anthem that the Lebanese singer continued to perform at concerts and festivals right up until his death in 2022.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. For many, it was not only their first exposure to anime, it also delivered lessons on values such as justice and honor.
Grendizer was so influential in the region that it became the subject of scholarly research, which in addition to recognizing the ways in which the plight of the show’s characters resonated with the audience in the Middle East, also linked the show’s popularity to generational memories of displacement, particularly the Palestinian Nakba.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. (Supplied)
Half a century later, “Grendizer” remains culturally alive and relevant in the region. In Saudi Arabia, which embraced the original version of the show wholeheartedly, Manga Productions is now introducing a new generation of fans to a modernized version of the character, through a video game, The Feast of The Wolves, which is available in Arabic and eight other languages on platforms including PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and a new Arabic-language anime series, “Grendizer U,” which was broadcast last year.
Fifty years after the debut of the show, “Grendizer” is back — although to a generation of fans of the original series, their shelves still full of merchandise and memorabilia, it never really went away.
