UK
Contributors who glorified killing of Israelis and Jews were allowed on BBC Arabic, head of news admits
The BBC failed to adequately scrutinise guests’ social media history, the corporation’s head of news has said
January 9, 2026 14:16
The BBC failed to adequately scrutinise guests’ social media history, the corporation’s head of news has said
January 9, 2026 14:16Contributors with ‘egregious views’ – including one who called for Jewish people to be ‘burned’ – have been allowed to appear on the BBC’s Arabic news service, the corporation’s head of news has admitted.
Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s interim chief executive of news and current affairs, told MPs that the broadcaster had strengthened its vetting procedures for contributors, which included scrutinising their social media activity. However, speaking before the Commons public accounts committee, Munro conceded that failings had occurred, allowing some individuals to bypass safeguards.
As recently as last month BBC Arabic continued to feature Ali Mattar, a Lebanese academic who appeared to praise the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mattar, who appears to have celebrated the murder of Israelis in multiple instances online, appeared on the channel at least seven times following October 7, most recently on December 3.
Samer Elzaenen, a journalist who was exposed last year as having posted messages calling for Jews to be “burned”, “as Hitler did” has also appeared multiple times on BBC Arabic.
Munro said that the BBC had initially reviewed contributors’ social media posts dating back to October 7 2023, but had since expanded its checks to cover the entirety of their online history. The change was prompted by the discovery that some contributors had expressed extreme views long before October 7, he said.
“I’m very confident that we have a much better system of vetting,” Munro said. “I’m aware of one person who’s got through the net, so to speak, in the time since that new vetting process was introduced. That was a mistake of communication about the process of vetting itself.”
The BBC later confirmed Munro had been referring to Elzaenen, who tweeted in 2011: “My message to the Zionist Jews: We are going to take our land back, we love death for Allah’s sake the same way you love life. We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”
On October 7, Mattar responded to a post that described the day as “the most beautiful morning” with a heart-eyes emoji, according to The Telegraph.
Two days later, he posted a video of his young son dressed in military clothing and praised “jihad fighters”. He wrote: “Greetings to the Palestinian mujahideen [jihadis] who have proven that repelling Israel doesn’t require the world’s largest armies.”
Last June, after Iranian missiles killed 11 Israeli citizens, Mattar posted on X: “Our most beautiful mornings are when Israel is ablaze.” He justified Iran targeting Israeli civilians based on his reasoning that “there are no civilians” in the “entity”.
He also expressed joy at the murder of Israelis in at least two other instances, once using the hashtag “WeRejoiceInTheKillingOfIsraelis”.
Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television, suggested that the broadcaster could not be relied upon to resolve the issue internally.
He said “it’s simply not the case that the BBC has got a full grip on the problems of antisemitism at BBC Arabic.”
Even minimal scrutiny of Mattar’s online activity would have revealed extreme and racist views, he argued.
“The fact that he has appeared on air as recently as last month, despite all the problems detailed in the leaked Prescott Report [the internal memo that alleged "systemic problems" with editorial bias at the corporation], shows that BBC management still do not grasp the scale of change that is required to make BBC Arabic fit for purpose as a BBC service,” Cohen said.
Responding to the Telegraph piece Mattar wrote in Arabic on social media: “Now I reaffirm that Israel is an occupying state of Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian lands, and it is a state of genocide and crime, and it has been described as such in the International Court of Justice.
“And I am very proud to express my opinion with all courage, and to fulfil my duty on Arab and international channels regarding the true nature of Israel and its ugly and repugnant image.”
He said the article’s description of him “is a great testimony that I am proud of in this world and hereafter.”
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