BBC launched an investigation Sunday into one of its journalists after it was reported that a past tweet with the “#HitlerWasRight” hashtag surfaced.
Tala Halawa, a “Palestine Specialist” for BBC Monitoring based in Ramallah, a Palestinian territory in the West Bank, reportedly tweeted “#Israel is more #Nazi than #Hitler ! Oh, #HitlerWasRight #IDF go to hell #PrayForGaza.”
The tweet was posted in July 2014 during the Gaza War which lasted 50 days and claimed the lives of 2,251 Palestinians and 67 Israelis, according to BBC. The Israeli offense — dubbed “Operation Protective Edge” — started in response to continued Hamas rocket attacks emanating from the Hamas-held Gaza strip, BBC reported.
Tala Halawa is a “digital journalist” for the @BBC.
Halawa directly influences and creates news content watched by many millions around the world.
In what world can someone like this work for a professional news outlet? pic.twitter.com/r2LIHmZfF2
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 23, 2021
The anti-Semitic statement was unearthed Sunday by the Honest Reporting Twitter account, which defines its mission as promoting “fairness and accuracy in media coverage of Israel.”
Halawa was reporting on the May conflict between Israel and Hamas, which remains ongoing. The warring governments agreed to a ceasefire Thursday after two weeks of fighting.
She had produced a video piece on Bella Hadid’s support of the Palestinians.
When celebrities like @BellaHadid advocate for throwing Jews into the sea, they are advocating for the elimination of the Jewish State.
This shouldn’t be an Israeli-Palestinian issue. This should be a human issue.
Shame on you.#IsraelUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/PJQHT90cNy
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) May 16, 2021
“These tweets predate the individual’s employment with the BBC but we are nevertheless taking this very seriously and are investigating,” a BBC spokesperson told The Daily Mail. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Condemns Hamas, But Says Helping Israel Is Not The Answer)
Previously, CNN denounced its freelance contributor’s “The world today needs a Hitler” tweet which had caused massive backlash online.
In another similar incident, The Associated Press (AP) terminated journalist Emily Wilder for her pro-Palestinian activism in college. The AP reportedly said “no” to Wilder’s request to name the policy that her actions had allegedly violated.