“We’ll Burn the Jews like Hitler Did”

SAMER ELZAENEN

A journalist regularly featured on the BBC’s Arabic service has been accused of glorifying terrorism and posting antisemitic remarks, including calling for Jews to be burned “like Hitler did.”

Samer Elzaenen, 33, a Gaza-based reporter who frequently contributes to BBC Arabic, was revealed to have a long record of inflammatory social media posts, according to an investigation by The Telegraph.

In a 2011 Facebook post, Elzaenen allegedly wrote: “My message to the Zionist Jews: We are going to take our land back. We love death for Allah’s sake the same way you love life. We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”

More recently, in 2022, he reportedly posted: “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.”

The Telegraph said Elzaenen’s accounts contain praise for more than 30 terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. In his posts, the assailants were described as “heroes” and “martyrs” destined for “heaven,” while he celebrated the killing of Jewish people.

Samer Elzaenen’s long-running role at BBC Arabic raises urgent questions about the network’s vetting and impartiality—questions the BBC can no longer afford to ignore.