Independence, impartiality, objectiveness, fairness.
Those are some of the traits associated with the essence of journalism. Not sympathy with the Nazis. But a series of tweets unearthed by GnasherJew, responsible for rooting out scores of antisemites and Holocaust deniers, has exposed vile antisemitism espoused by a journalist employed by the British Broadcasting Corporation, better known simply as the BBC.
After a horrendously slanted video report titled, “Israel-Gaza: What Bella Hadid’s Stance Says About Changing Conversations” was posted to the BBC website, it emerged that the presenter, Tala Halawa, has made a number of clearly antisemitic and genocidal statements on social media.
Perhaps the most objectionable tweet was posted in July 2014, and called Israel “more #Nazi than #Hitler” before going on to state, “#HitlerWasRight.”
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Tala Halawa is a "digital journalist" for the @BBC.
Halawa directly influences and creates news content watched by many millions around the world.
In what world can someone like this work for a professional news outlet? pic.twitter.com/r2LIHmZfF2
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 23, 2021
That tweet, however, was far from the only problematic content posted to social media by Halawa. For example, there is an image shared on Facebook with the slogan “Relocate Israel into United States.”
The image has surfaced previously, with Labour MP Naz Shah being suspended from the party in 2016 after sharing the same image of Israel’s outline superimposed on a map of the US, along with the comment “problem solved,” on her Facebook profile two years earlier.
Shah later admitted, “what I put out was antisemitic.”
Alerted by HonestReporting’s tweet about Halawa’s odious comments about Israel and the Nazis, other social media users managed to document more hate-filled posts before Halawa locked down her Twitter profile so only followers could view her tweets. Among them were modern variations of the classic blood-libel, such as this tweet, claiming, “Zionists can’t get enough of our blood.”
Another tweet posted by Halawa ridicules antisemitism as “melodrama”:
And in one particularly vile tweet she mocks the massacre of religious orthodox Jews attending prayers at a synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof:
Less than three years after these tweets and Facebook posts were uploaded to Halawa’s social media channels, she was hired by the BBC.
According to the corporation’s own code of conduct, “Trust is the foundation of the BBC. We’re independent, impartial and honest. We’re honest and fair with the courage to say and do the right thing. We deliver on what we say and take responsibility for our actions.”
Related Reading: Senior BBC Producer Caught Sharing Anti-Israel Smears on Twitter
These are not the tweets of an objective reporter. Quite simply, not only does Halawa fail to meet the BBC’s own stated requirements, she represents the polar opposite of what is expected of any professional journalist.
All of which begs the question: Why did the BBC not do its due diligence before hiring Halawa? How did someone with a history of openly antisemitic statements end up being hired by one of the world’s most recognized news outlets? Surely an organization with such extensive resources at its disposal could carry out a simple Twitter search as part of a basic background check?
Or perhaps the BBC simply does not care.
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The following people are above Halawa in the BBC’s chain of command:
Halawa reports to: Assistant Editor – [email protected] – International Bureaux – News and Current Affairs
In turn, Ghannam reports to: Head of Journalism [email protected] – Editorial – News and Current Affairs
In turn, King reports to: News controller – [email protected] – Monitoring – News and Current Affairs
In turn, Howell reports to: Senior News Controller – [email protected] – World Service group – News and Current Affairs
In turn, Angus reports to: Director of news – [email protected] – World Service group – News and Current Affairs.
In turn, Unsworth reports to the BBC’s Director-General, Tim Davie.
If you use Twitter, follow the instructions below to make clear your dismay at seeing a Nazi sympathizer employed by the BBC.
These are the @bbc employees that @TalaHalawa reports to, ask them why she’s still employed by @bbc & why they support an antisemite & Nazi sympathiser?: @JudeK75@grvlx001@franunsworth https://t.co/4sHuiErEvV
— (((GnasherJew®גנאשר #AmYisraelChai))) (@GnasherJew) May 23, 2021
Day after day, HonestReporting exposes distortions, half-truths and lies in the media. Check out more articles here.
UPDATE: (24 May, 2021) Following the publication of this article and widespread media coverage, the BBC has announced it has launched an investigation.
UPDATE 2: (13 June, 2021) In the wake of the public backlash, the BBC has announced that Tala Halawa is no longer by the corporation. It has not, however, made any assurances or promises to review its hiring process. Read more here.
