Co-conspirators will no doubt remember Tala Halawa, the then-BBC Palestinian specialist who in May was unearthed as having tweeted “#HitlerWasRight”. At the time she deleted her account…
She’s now come back online to slam the BBC over her subsequent dismissal at the “whim of a pro-Israel mob” – no longer bothering to hide her rampant prejudice – and attacking “right-wing media outlets determined to eliminate Palestinians from public life.” Tala is still in denial about the real reason she was fired…
Tala accuses the BBC of a “trial with social media, amplifying troll voices and capitulating to pressure from external pro-Israel interest groups.” Reflecting on the statement Guido can’t imagine the BBC will have any regrets about letting this activist go…
Read Tala’s statement in full below:
“I was recently dismissed by the BBC overt tweet I posted during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014, three years before I joined the organization. I was judged based on a single offensive and ignorant tweet posted seven years ago during the traumatic Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in 2014, specifically during the Shujaiyya attack where 55 Palestinian civilians, including 19 children and 14 women, were killed in 48 hours by Israeli strikes. Israeli settlers had also kidnapped and burnt alive 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in East Jerusalem. I was a young Palestinian woman tweeting in the heat of the moment as I witnessed horrific, undeserved deaths met with international media silence and used a popular hashtag at the time without thinking.
The offensive and ignorant words I posted at the time do not reflect my political views then as much as they do not today. I hope those who were hurt by them will accept my heartfelt apology for posting without thinking.
However, it saddens me that the BBC. instead of seeking avenues for apology, reconciliation, and dialogue, unfortunately opted for trial with social media, amplifying troll voices and capitulating to pressure from external pro-Israel interest groups and right-wing media outlets determined to eliminate Palestinians from public life.
The BBC’s immediate dismissal at the whim of a pro-Israel mob is all the more absurd given the actual reason pro-Israel groups trained their sights on me: I recently published a video report for the corporation about celebrities being criticized. trolled and cancelled for supporting Palestinian self-determination. But I am not alone.
This pro-Israel censorship campaign is industrial in scale and international in its reach.
The trend of bad-faith intimidation of reporters from the region by hostile actors and organized public flogging are aimed at setting the parameters of acceptable journalism to suit Israel, and policing international media to maintain institutional pro-Israel bias.
What happened seems familiar to me both as a Palestinian and as a woman of color.
I take pride in the fact that during my four years at the BBC I was always known for my impartiality and professional journalism, even during the most difficult times. I will continue to believe and fight for honest and brave journalism regardless of these menial attempts at character assassination.
Tala Halawa”
