BBC withdraws programme entitled “Isn’t it time we stopped using the Jewish Holocaust as propaganda for the Jewish cause?”

The BBC has removed a World Service programme from its International Question Time series entitled “Isn’t it time we stopped using the Jewish Holocaust as propaganda for the Jewish cause?”.

The programme, which was broadcast on the BBC World Service in August 1998, was resurrected and has been available online since 21st March 2016. It was highlighted by a Twitter user, who used the BBC Sounds app to look for programmes about Jewish topics and was shocked to find the title among the top results.

The programme itself covered various topics and included on its panel the distinguished late Professor David Ceserani, but it appears that the programme was named purely for its first ten minutes, which were spent discussing the question of whether the Holocaust is Jewish propaganda in response to a question from a caller from Lebanon.

The panel in fact dealt with the antisemitic question intelligently and firmly, but the decision to use such an antisemitic title on BBC apps beggars belief.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is pleased that the BBC has now withdrawn the programme, but it is utterly outrageous that it was posted in the first place with such an antisemitic title. We are asking the BBC to explain how this happened and what action it will take once it has identified the staff responsible.