A contestant on The Traitors ‘compared Israel to Nazi Germany’ in a series of posts on social media.
Marzook Bana, who was known as ‘Maz’ on the BBC series, is said to have posted the comments on Facebook in 2021 likening an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank to the actions of the Nazis.
The 59-year-old father-of-five and retired police officer from Preston, who was the third person to be killed by the Traitors, also reportedly accused Zionists of ‘forgetting the Holocaust’.
According to Jewish News, Bana wrote under an image appearing to show an Israeli checkpoint: ‘Nazis all over again, the oppressed have become the oppressors!! The Zionists have short memories of what Hitler did.
‘Never again, they said!! The world’s political leaders should be ashamed of themselves of being subservient to ISRAEL!’
Studio Lambert, who is the production company behind The Traitors, has since told the publication that the comments were not uncovered during background checks.
Bana has also said in a statement: ‘I apologise for any offence my comments may have caused. It’s never been my intention to offend, marginalise or discriminate against any individual or group.
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‘I refute any allegations that I am antisemitic. My viewpoint has always been from a humanitarian perspective rather than a political one.’
The BBC is now facing criticism from Jewish organisations over vetting standards on the murder mystery show.
In a statement, Studio Lambert told Jewish News: ‘We employ reputable companies to conduct thorough background and social media checks as part of our due diligence, which we take extremely seriously.’
The company also added: ‘The comments referenced in the article were made on third-party accounts rather than the individual’s own, so could not be identified through our checking process.
‘We wish to be clear that political views play no part in participation, selection or decision-making within the game. And of course, the content of The Traitors is not political.’
The BBC also said it had been unaware of the posts, saying in a statement to Metro: ‘We were completely unaware that these comments had been posted on social media, due to the fact they were made on third-party accounts. We do not agree with the views presented.’
Since Bana’s posts have emerged, Campaign Against Antisemitism has called out the corporation for accountability at senior levels.
The group said in a statement: ‘The contestant presented to us by the BBC appears to believe in deranged conspiracy theories, claiming that world leaders are in hock to shadowy ‘paymasters’ and Israel, and that ‘Zionists’ are the new Nazis.’
It went on to add that ‘either the BBC did absolutely no due diligence on the people it has thrust into our living rooms through its flagship prime-time programme, or it found these posts and did not bat an eyelid’.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has also called for an apology to be aired during the next episode and for senior BBC staff responsible for the show to be questioned by the House of Commons culture select committee.
Metro has contacted BBC and Studio Lambert for comment.
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