Sign our petition calling on BBC, ITV and Sky News to get Prof. John “time for Jews to reflect” Ashton off our televisions

Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a petition calling on the BBC, ITV and Sky News to stop featuring Prof. John Ashton, who has a long history of making antisemitic statements, in their programming.

The petition can be signed here: 

https://www.change.org/p/bbc-bbc-itv-sky-news-get-prof-john-time-for-jews-to-reflect-ashton-off-our-televisions?recruiter=330393351&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition 

The text of the petition is as follows:

We call on the BBC, ITV, Sky News and all other broadcasters to stop featuring John Ashton in their programming due to his long history of appalling statements.

He is regularly included as a contributor on the pandemic, but according to the Jewish Chronicle, Prof. Ashton’s statements have included:

• “Sickening to see Zionists behave like Nazis.”
• “The Nazi thing was not a distraction to the Jews in Europe. The Zionist thing is not a distraction to the Palestinians.”
• “[the] way to get on in [the Labour] Party is to curry favour with Zionist donors.”
• “Is it [Israel] now satisfied about how many children it has murdered? What price the Holocaust?”
• “It’s very sad how intransigence of the Zionists has sullied the universal empathy for the victims of the Holocaust.”
• “Can anybody begin to imagine the impact on the mental health of survivors of the Gaza Ghetto? Surely time for Jews to reflect.”
• Calling Dame Louise Ellman, the Jewish former Labour MP, a “vile Zionist”
• Saying when Jewish former Labour MP Luciana Berger raised the matter of food banks with the Government: “what about the Palestinians?”
• “She [Luciana Berger] is from London and a Zionist. Full stop. Doesn’t fit with Liverpool’s universalism. End of.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, examples of antisemitism include:

• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
• Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.
• Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour).
• Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis.

When confronted with this evidence, the BBC and Sky News dismissed Prof. Ashton’s remarks as just “political views”.

Prof. Ashton has no place on our television screens, and the BBC, ITV and Sky News must cease featuring him at once.