HR presents report on Haya Schulmann's anti-Semitism accusation in summary

The Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) has published the results of the investigation report that the law firm Feigen Graf prepared on behalf of the broadcaster into the accusation by the Frankfurt professor of cyber security, Haya Schulmann, that she was subjected to anti-Semitic insults by a presenter of the "Hallo Hessen" program. This is "meeting the many wishes of those involved and the public." However, the report is not available in full on the Internet; it is a brief summary.

The incident in question occurred on January 28th on the show "Hallo Hessen": In the preliminary discussion of the interview, for which she was connected to the show via Teams, Haya Schulmann said "Israel" when the presenter asked her where her first name "Haya" came from. She then heard a derogatory "yuck" sound made with her tongue sticking out. The editors only responded to her questions by saying that it was a "misunderstanding". There was no clarifying conversation about it. Shortly after the end of the show, she shared the incident in a post on Linkedin .

The summary of Feigen Graf's report now states that the investigation has "not confirmed the allegations made". It did become clear that Haya Schulmann "perceived the moderator's reaction in direct connection with the mention of the origin of the name as insulting". However, according to the investigation, it is incorrect that the moderator "intentionally insulted her with a statement in connection with derogatory behaviour". If, as it goes on to say, "based on an objective recipient horizon", the moderator's reaction "cannot be assessed as derogatory". In addition, Haya Schulmann "did not repeat or relativise individual elements" of the allegations initially made in the interview with the law firm.

The broadcaster's statement goes on to say that HR "firmly opposes" the accusation of anti-Semitic behavior. The same applies "to prejudgments and speculation in connection with this accusation." Based on the results of the investigation, it is made clear once again: "The independent, open-ended investigation does not find any misconduct on the part of the presenter Selma Üsük. No insult was made."

"The allegations have shocked me deeply, they have been a heavy burden on me and my family for weeks," Selma Üsük is quoted as saying by HR. "I am not aware of any wrongdoing. The result of the independent investigation clearly confirms that there was no wrongdoing. To this day, I do not understand how this perception came about. And I ask myself: Why did Ms. Schulmann not speak to me about it immediately afterwards? She should have been aware of the reaction she was triggering. To be clear: to this day, I have always distanced myself from any form of misanthropic attitude - I am neither racist nor anti-Semitic."

However, Haya Schulmann contradicted the HR and Feigen Graf law firm's account of the incident in the "Hallo Hessen" broadcast on January 28, which has so far been available in a shorter form. In the interview with Feigen Graf, she did not retract accusations, but clarified her statements. She did not imagine the moderator's reaction, she reported her impression via Teams, after which she received a call in which there was talk of a "misunderstanding"; there was no apology and no final clarification.

The circumstances of the sound and the reaction that Haya Schulmann and her husband perceived remained ambiguous. The summary of Feigen Graf's report confirms that the reaction occurred when Haya Schulmann said "Israel". However, only Haya Schulmann and her husband understood this as "derogatory". The "other informants" interpreted the sound as "registering" or "taking note". The Feigen Graf law firm concludes that it can be assumed that the alleged insults did not occur, but it can also be assumed that Haya Schulmann and her husband "misunderstood the reaction after the word "Israel" as insulting or disapproving".

HR writes that it regrets the "perception that Haya Schulmann had been insulted in an anti-Semitic manner". However, it is also a fact that more than 40 actionable hate comments have been reported so far. The broadcaster is concerned "with the protection of everyone" who "confidentially shared their knowledge" during the investigation of the incident. This was the only way to "establish what actually happened". The investigation report will therefore not be published in full. Both Selma Üsük and Haya Schulmann were "comprehensively" informed about the results of the investigation.