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BBC Defends Newly Hired TV Show Host Who Accuses Israel of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, War Crimes
The BBC is standing by its decision to let British stand-up comedian Guz Khan host the satirical current affairs show Have I Got News For You despite the fact that he has posted a number of anti-Israel comments on social media.
The 37-year-old comedian of Pakistani descent, who was born in Coventry, England, has repeatedly written on X/Twitter — as well as reposted from others — messages that advocate for a “Free Palestine” and accuse Israel of occupation, ethnic cleansing, imperialism, genocide, colonialism, and war crimes. He will guest host the next episode of Have I Got News for You, which will air on BBC One on Friday.
A BBC spokesperson defending Khan told British media that Hat Trick, the production company behind Have I Got News For You for the last 30 years, has always hired “people with a broad range of political views.”
“Their job is to deliver a program that fully complies with the BBC’s editorial standards,” the spokesperson added.
One BBC staffer upset by Khan’s hiring told The Times they were “lost for words,” especially given the likelihood that the Israel-Hamas war will be discussed on the satirical panel show. Meanwhile, Khan on Wednesday poked fun at the controversy surrounding his posts on X and his hiring for the show, writing, “Man, I thought they had the CCTV footage of me eating haraam McDonalds chicken nuggets in a car park in Coventry. That would have been career ending…because I was ENJOYING them. God forgive me.”
Khan has been tirelessly sharing messages on X condemning the Jewish state since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, during which Palestinian terrorists murdered over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, across southern Israel and took more than 240 others as hostages back to Gaza.
One day after the terrorist onslaught, Khan posted on X about Palestinians enduring “horror at the hands of the State of Israel” for the past 75 years. He added that “many of them have been living in an open air prison. None of you hypocrites would accept this for even a day. None of you. Bring this occupation to an end.”
In another tweet from Nov. 14, Khan wrote: “For many of us who were just kids post 9/11, we always wondered how the world stood by whilst so much innocent Iraqi and Afghani blood was spilled In 2023, it’s happening again Palestinians are being forced from THEIR land. Their children are being butchered. Apartheid reigns.”
The Daily Mail cited an unnamed senior politician in the United Kingdom who called the BBC’s hiring of Khan “appalling,” adding: “It is quite clear that the BBC has lost all sense of impartiality and public service standards. No one at the BBC is ever held to account over such decisions.”
The post BBC Defends Newly Hired TV Show Host Who Accuses Israel of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, War Crimes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.