German presenter loses job for joining Palestinian protest in West Bank

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – A German TV channel has fired its only Black presenter this week for taking part in a Palestinian protest in the occupied West Bank.

Matonda Castlo shared a post on his Instagram account that he was sacked by his KiKa TV network for participating in a protest in the town of Beit Dajan near Nablus in August.

He said the demonstration was peaceful and aimed to protest land confiscation by Israeli forces and settlers.

"I didn't intend to express a political statement and particularly not position myself against Israel. I immediately stated this publicly and explained this to KiKa many times,” Castlo said.

The TV presenter’s participation in the pro-Palestinian protest has drawn fire from German newspapers, with Bild newspaper accusing him of joining “Israel’s haters”.

This was not the first time that a German TV presenter had been fired due to his support to Palestinians.

In September, a German labor court ruled that the dismissal of Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Farah Maraqa by Germany's state broadcaster Deutsche Welle on charges of anti-Semitism was not legally justified.