BBC in bother as pundit accused of antisemitism

Back to the blundering BBC, whose latest mishap involves one of the broadcaster’s cricket pundits. Qasim Sheikh, formerly a Scotland international cricketer and a new addition to the Beeb’s sports commentator team, has been accused of antisemitism after sharing some rather controversial social media posts — including an image of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with an Adolf Hilter moustache. So much for impartiality…

The picture showed Sunak with other world leaders — including German chancellor Olaf Scholz, president Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu — with flags on their foreheads and moustaches on their upper lips. The post branded the group the ‘Kids Killers Union’, while statements made alongside it appeared to suggest Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel could be justified as Palestine’s right to self-defence. In May, Sheikh accused Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer of being ‘genocide enablers’, and before that, not long after Hamas’s attack in October, a post by the ex-cricketer read:

The UK/US instantly stand with Israel today, although have stayed quiet for years on the atrocity committed by Israel over Palestine.