By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS)
Published: | Updated:
THE BBC is under fire for allowing a Green Party activist who was accused of legitimising the October 7 massacre 'free rein' to lambast a Jewish journalist on its flagship politics show.
Ashok Kumar, a professor at Birkbeck, University of London, had been invited to appear on Politics Live to discuss the controversial 'Zionism is racism' motion adopted at the Greens' conference this month.
During the debate with Rachel Cunliffe, of The New Statesman magazine, Baroness Chakrabarti and Lord Hannan, Dr Kumar claimed it was 'anti–Semitic' to connect Zionism – the belief in a state for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland – with the Jewish religion.
Challenging him, Ms Cunliffe said: 'I am a Jewish woman being called an antiSemite by somebody who…' But Dr Kumar interrupted her before she had made her point. Baroness Chakrabarti was heard to say his comments were 'appalling'.
Ms Cunliffe later said: 'I don't think you would sit here and lecture somebody of any other religion or race on what counted as bigotry or racism towards them in the way that you have explicitly called me anti–Semitic.'
Dr Kumar then appeared to gloat on X that the show's host Alex Forsyth and the other guests 'looked like they were about to cry at the end'.
It comes after he provoked outrage on October 7, 2023, by posting an image from the Nova festival where 378 Israelis were killed, with the caption: 'Sometimes partying on stolen land next to a concentration camp where a million people are starved has consequences.'
The BBC has faced criticism for inviting Ashok Kumar (pictured), a Birkbeck professor and Green Party activist, onto Politics Live, where he clashed with Jewish journalist Rachel Cunliffe over Zionism
Alex Hearn, of Labour Against Antisemitism, said: 'It is staggering that the BBC invited him to come on air and then gave him free rein to launch a disgusting attack against a Jewish guest and tell her she was wrong about her identity and experiences of anti–Semitism.'
The BBC said: 'The BBC features a range of voices from across the political spectrum to talk about topical issues – their policies are scrutinised and their views appropriately challenged.'
Last night Dr Kumar said he did not support Hamas, nor did he condone violence against civilians.
He said his post about crying was 'a figure of speech describing not specifically Ms Cunliffe, but all of the other participants appearing frustrated that they had run out of arguments against my points'.