No BBC show seems to be safe from the scourge of anti-semitism

The BBC’S primetime series The Apprentice is famous for one catchphrase: “You’re fired”. It seems, however, that this line does not apply if you hold grotesquely antisemitic views.

Last month it was revealed that one of the contestants on this year’s show was responsible for a stream of anti-jewish racism. Asif Munaf, a former NHS doctor and wellness business owner, was discovered to have written the following on social media: “Have you ever met even a semi-average looking Zionist? Aren’t they all odiously ogre-like?” This invective plays into the worst kind of Jew-hating caricatures. It has echoes of the 1930s Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer. It is indisputably anti-semitic.

After the massacres in Israel of October 7, Dr Munaf also wrote that Zionists are a “godless, satanic cult” and said of his children: “I pray they are strong enough physically, spiritually and psychologically to overcome the trial of the Zionist antichrist.” In response, the BBC said that it had spoken to the contestant and asked him to take part in “specialised training to understand why his posts may cause offence”.

Whatever this training was, it clearly did not work. After initially apologising, Dr Munaf reverted to type, accusing Israel of weaponising the Holocaust to promote a fascist ideology. These statements are racism against Jews according to the internationally accepted IHRA definition of antisemitism. So what did the BBC do next? Well, it appears that it hoped no one would notice. For the past two weeks, a man who has shared anti-semitic content has appeared on a primetime entertainment programme watched by millions on the BBC’S most popular network.

The situation for the BBC does have its complications. Executives will have had to consider whether the series should be abandoned given the money invested in its production. They will also have had to consider the fact that some viewers may have been disappointed if the series had not been transmitted as planned.

But whatever discussions did take place, the BBC decided to go ahead and feature Dr Munaf in the series. In last week’s episode, he had his moment in the sun. Included in the climactic boardroom scene was a “comic” moment in which he applauds his team’s efforts. So pleased was he with it that he took to social media to repost comments proclaiming it to be the “TV moment of the year … already”.

There is one simple question that many in the Jewish community will be asking: if a contestant had made racist statements about the black, Asian or Muslim community, would the BBC have gone ahead with the series as if nothing had happened? Would it not have found a way to remove him from the programme? Would it have included his “hilarious” moment in the boardroom?

An instructive comparison can be made with a decision taken by another British broadcaster. In 2020, the Sky History channel was faced with a similar dilemma when it was discovered that one of the contestants on its new show The Chop had tattoos linked to white supremacy. These included the number 88 which white supremacists use as a code for “Heil Hitler”. Sky cancelled the show.

The BBC’S inaction sends a message. You can be racist towards Jews and there are no consequences. You can enjoy fame on the BBC even if you are the kind of person whose views painfully remind Jewish viewers of Nazi propaganda. Once again, the Jewish community has been failed by the BBC. Once again, it seems that, when it comes to issues of racism, “Jews don’t count.” When it comes to antisemitism, this is another dark episode in the BBC’S recent history.