A former British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter who was fired after tweets proclaiming "Hitler was right" and "Zionists can't get enough of our blood" had surfaced, this week accused the BBC of capitulating to a "pro-Israel mob" in letting her go.
Tala Halawa, who was the “Palestine Specialist” for BBC, tweeted in 2014 that “Israel is more Nazi than Hitler.”
She added “IDF go to hell” alongside the hashtags #HitlerWasRight and #PrayForGaza.
The offensive tweet was written three years before Halawa joined the BBC in 2017. In May, the tweet was brought to the attention of the BBC which launched an investigation before letting Halawa go last month.
In a statement on Tuesday, quote by Fox News, Halawa said that she was decrying "Israel's bombardment of Gaza in 2014" and was wrongfully judged based on an "offensive and ignorant tweet posted seven years ago."
"However, it saddens me that the BBC, instead of seeking avenues for apology, reconciliation, and dialogue, unfortunately opted for trial with social media," Halawa said, claiming the network "amplif[ied] troll voices and capitulating to pressure from external pro-Israel interest groups and right-wing media outlets determined to eliminate Palestinians from public life."
"I recently published a video report for the corporation about celebrities being criticized, trolled, and canceled for supporting Palestinian self-determination. But I am not alone. This pro-Israel censorship campaign is industrial in scale and international in its reach," Halawa claimed. In addition, she decried her firing as a "familiar" repercussion for a Palestinian and person of color.
"I take pride in the fact that during my four years at the BBC I was always known for my impartiality and professional journalism, even during the most difficult times. I will continue to believe and fight for honest and brave journalism regardless of these menial attempts at character assassination," her statement concluded.
In January of 2020, a BBC reporter caused an uproar when she appeared to claim that the Holocaust has distorted Israelis’ perception of reality and the country's security needs.
In 2017, a BBC host apologized for saying it is “great” that music artists are no longer being managed by “some random fat Jewish guy from northwest London”.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)