{"id":695511,"date":"2026-01-14T14:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/695511\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:06:23","slug":"bbc-completely-unaware-traitors-star-compared-israel-to-nazi-germany-as-it-responds-to-unearthed-social-media-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/695511\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC \u2018completely unaware\u2019 Traitors star ‘compared Israel to Nazi Germany’ as it responds to unearthed social media posts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The BBC has apologised after admitting it was unaware of social media posts by a The Traitors contestant comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n

Marzook Bana, a 59-year-old retired police officer who appeared on the programme as \u201cMaz\u201d, made the comments on Facebook in 2021.<\/p>\n

In a post shared beneath a photograph of an Israeli checkpoint, Mr Bana wrote: \u201cNazis all over again, the oppressed have become the oppressors. The Zionists have short memories of what Hitler did.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement responding to the controversy, the BBC said it was \u201ccompletely unaware that these comments had been posted\u201d and stressed: \u201cWe do not agree with the views expressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marzook<\/p>\n

“Maz” made the comments on Facebook in 2021<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Mr Bana, who was \u201cmurdered\u201d by fellow contestants on the programme last week, later issued a statement apologising for any offence caused.<\/p>\n

He denied holding antisemitic views, saying: \u201cI refute any allegations that I am antisemitic. My viewpoint has always been from a humanitarian perspective rather than a political one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The father-of-five added that it was never his intention to \u201coffend, marginalise or discriminate against any individual or group\u201d.<\/p>\n

Studio Lambert, the production company behind the series, admitted the posts were not identified during its vetting process, which it said is taken \u201cextremely seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n

The BBC says it was unaware of the social media posts by The Traitors contestant<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

The company claimed the remarks were made on third-party accounts rather than Mr Bana\u2019s own profile, meaning they were not detected during background checks.<\/p>\n

Producers also stressed that political views play no role in casting or in-game decisions.<\/p>\n

The Campaign Against Antisemitism described the situation as an \u201coutrage\u201d and called for accountability at a senior level.<\/p>\n

The group said the contestant \u201cappears to believe in deranged conspiracy theories\u201d, accusing him of claiming that world leaders are controlled by shadowy \u201cpaymasters\u201d and that \u201cZionists\u201d are equivalent to Nazis.<\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n

BBC producers said political views play no role in casting or in-game decisions<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

It condemned the comments as \u201cthe language of fanatics and extremists\u201d.<\/p>\n

The organisation said the BBC had either carried out \u201cabsolutely no due diligence\u201d or identified the posts and \u201cdid not bat an eyelid\u201d.<\/p>\n

The charity has demanded an on-air apology during the next episode and called for those responsible to be \u201chauled before the House of Commons culture select committee\u201d.<\/p>\n

The row comes amid a deepening crisis at the corporation, after more than 200 Jewish staff and contributors accused the Board of failing to act on antisemitism concerns.<\/p>\n

\"Marzook<\/p>\n

Mr Bana wrote that ‘The Zionists have short memories of what Hitler did’<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

In July 2024, the group wrote to BBC chairman Samir Shah alleging \u201csystemic problems of anti-Semitism and bias\u201d and warning that the organisation was no longer \u201ca safe space to be Jewish\u201d.<\/p>\n

An accompanying report, Being Jewish and working at the BBC, included testimonies from employees who said senior management had failed to address repeated concerns.<\/p>\n

Signatories included producer Leo Pearlman, former ITV entertainment chief Claudia Rosencrantz, and ex-BBC executive Danny Cohen.<\/p>\n

The group later contacted the Board again, asking who would be held accountable after what it described as \u201crepeatedly substantiated anti-Jewish racism\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Nigel<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage warned the controversy could threaten the broadcaster\u2019s funding model<\/p>\n

| NIGEL FARAGE<\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch criticised the broadcaster, describing the episode as a \u201cshameful failure of leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said it was \u201cindefensible\u201d that the corporation had ignored complaints about racism and bias for nearly 18 months, urging the board to \u201cintervene to restore trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms Badenoch added that the BBC must report truthfully rather than \u201cprovide cover for extremists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage warned the controversy could threaten the broadcaster\u2019s funding model.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations against the BBC over bias are worsening by the day,\u201d he said. \u201cThe licence fee is now in serious question.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest controversy also follows claims in an internal report by former editorial adviser Michael Prescott, which alleged systemic anti-Israel bias in the BBC\u2019s coverage of the Gaza conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BBC has apologised after admitting it was unaware of social media posts by a The Traitors contestant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[192,4781,2000,299,1824,382],"class_list":{"0":"post-695511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-germany","13":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115893841637310070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}