WDR defends journalist Georg Restle after Ceuta conspiracy quote draws antisemitism accusations

The post and its contents

Georg Restle, head of the ARD studio in Nairobi and former longtime moderator of the ARD magazine "Monitor", shared a post on the platform X on Thursday about the migration crisis in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. He posted an English-language excerpt from an article in the US magazine The Nation, quoting that the events in Ceuta were "neither a genuine humanitarian crisis nor part of an anti-colonial struggle, but part of the efforts of the growing US-Israeli-Moroccan alliance to weaken a progressive European government, divide Europe and undermine international law." Restle posted the quote without any additional commentary or explanation.

Political and institutional backlash

The post drew swift criticism from multiple public figures. Serap Güler (CDU), State Minister in the Foreign Office, wrote on X on Friday: "Antisemitism & Antiamerikanismus at its best. Dass sich ein Journalist des ÖRR nicht schämt, Verschwörungstheorien zu verbreiten, ist dabei der Gipfel." Other critics included FDP politician Karoline Preisler and Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society. Felix Schotland, a member of the WDR broadcasting council and board member of the Synagogue Community Cologne, sent a complaint letter to WDR program director Andrea Schafarczyk. According to the Jüdische Allgemeine, which published the letter in full, Schotland wrote that he was "particularly irritated that a leading WDR journalist would publish a contribution with such a pointed portrayal that gives the impression geopolitical developments are controlled by a conspiratorial network."

Restle's response

Restle initially pushed back against his critics on Saturday, writing that constructing an antisemitism accusation from a quote from a geopolitical analysis by a US academic professor was "as grotesque as it is unfortunately predictable." He asked: "Who is actually lighting the fire here?" A few hours later, however, he shifted tone. He wrote that he had neither adopted the quote as his own nor would he have formulated it that way himself. "It is not my statement," he wrote. He then acknowledged: "Therefore it was a mistake to reproduce this quote so uncommented, because it should have been clear to me that this quote would be attributed to me." He explicitly rejected what he called "baseless accusations" that he was spreading antisemitism.

WDR's defence

On Sunday, the WDR issued a formal defence of its employee. In response to inquiries from ZEIT and the Evangelischer Pressedienst, the broadcaster stated: "There is no doubt whatsoever for the WDR about the personal integrity of Georg Restle." The station said that linking him to antisemitism based on this post was "in no way justified" and that it "expressly takes Georg Restle under protection against the personal and in part defamatory attacks in the public sphere." The WDR also said it shared Restle's assessment that posting the quote without commentary was an error, and announced it would respond to Schotland's complaint letter in the coming week. The broadcaster further stated it would again sensitise its staff to their responsibilities on social media.