Ofcom adviser accused Israel of ‘genocide' in Gaza

Telegraph

07-03-2025

An Ofcom adviser who accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and espoused 'conspiratorial fantasies' about Jews should be removed from the broadcasting watchdog, campaigners have said.
Aaqil Ahmed posted on social media that the musician Paul Weller was 'spot on' when he said 'we cannot let genocide be a legitimate thing' during a Gig for Gaza concert last year.
The former head of religion at the BBC also wrote on X that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had 'hijacked' the Middle East and 'every European capital'.
Mr Ahmed's social media comments have resurfaced just days after Lord Grade, the Ofcom chairman, wrote to the BBC to say the regulator could step in if an internal inquiry into the making of a documentary about Gaza was not satisfactory.
The corporation removed the film Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone from iPlayer after it emerged the child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who had worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.
Now campaigners are calling on Mr Ahmed, who worked for the BBC for 25 years, to be ousted from his advisory role at Ofcom over his comments.
A Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesman said it was writing to Lord Grade to ask for the removal of Mr Ahmed from Ofcom 's advisory committee.
'Claiming that the prime minister of the world's Jewish state has taken control of the USA and all of Europe is completely moronic and deranged,' the spokesman said.
'Moreover, it engages the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of anti-Semitism which states that 'the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions' is an example of anti-Semitism.'
Mr Ahmed's message, posted alongside a television interview of David Mencer, the Israeli government spokesman insisting Mr Netanyahu had not derailed peace negotiations in September, appeared as follows:
The messages were highlighted by the Guido Fawkes website, which described them as 'eyebrow-raising' following Ofcom's role in the Gaza documentary debacle.
Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, said that although Mr Ahmed's post raised 'legitimate criticism' of Mr Netanyahu, 'his claim about special control over the Middle East and the Western world descends into classic conspiracy fantasy about Jews'.
On Friday, Mr Ahmed described the suggestion that he was anti-Semitic as 'utterly ridiculous', insisting that his comments were about a politician and made no mention of religion or ethnicity.
'I find this utterly ridiculous. To accuse me of anti-Semitism smacks of people trying to score political points,' he said.
'My comments were based upon Israeli friends' interpretations of their political experiences of their prime minister, and my experience of travelling to Israel.
'My comments were specifically about the politician and not about the politician's religion. I expressed views shared by many Israelis.'
Mr Ahmed added that throughout his career, including as head of religion at the BBC, he had been involved in commissioning numerous programmes about the Jewish communities around the world.
An Ofcom spokesman said: 'All advisory committee members are independent advisers to Ofcom, who are bound by a strict code of conduct. We will raise this matter with the individual concerned.'
It is understood that Mr Ahmed is due to step down in May from his Ofcom advisory board role and has attended his final board meeting. He did not have a decision-making role at the watchdog.
In 2023, Fadzai Madzingira, Ofcom's online safety supervision director, was suspended after she claimed Israel was an 'apartheid state' on her Instagram account.
The Guido Fawkes website posted screen grabs of what appeared to be posts from her account describing Israel as an 'apartheid state'.
Ofcom confirmed the suspension, 'pending further investigation'.
In another post she appeared to like a post calling Israel and the UK a 'vile colonial alliance'.