By Sabiu Abdullahi
Dawn Queva, a senior staff member at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), faced termination on Friday following the revelation of disturbing anti-Semitic posts shared on her Facebook account.
The 55-year-old playout planner for BBC Three, known as Dawn Las Quevas-Allen, had been with the corporation until the controversial messages came to light.
According to reports from the Daily Mail, Queva posted a series of hateful messages, including referring to the Holocaust as a ‘holohoax’ and using derogatory terms such as ‘AshkeNazis’ to describe Ashkenazi Jews. The offensive posts extended to branding Jewish people as “invader coloniser species.”
Queva, who previously worked in scheduling for A+E Networks, UKTV, and Disney, faced immediate consequences as the BBC took swift action in terminating her employment. The decision was made public on Friday, sparking a debate on the extent of hate speech within the organisation.
In response to the controversy, a Jewish worker expressed concern over the perceived lack of condemnation by the BBC, stating, “Jewish colleagues are finding it really tough seeing everyone but our bosses condemning what we have seen.”
Another stated the need for the BBC to take a firm stance against racism, insisting that it should not be tolerated within the organization.
BBC staff members, as well as external figures like broadcaster and former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, called for a decisive response from the corporation’s leadership. Neil questioned the absence of action from top executives in addressing such incidents, highlighting the impact on Jewish individuals working within the BBC.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned the posts, describing them as “utterly horrific” and noting the need for the BBC to confront anti-Semitism within its ranks. The organisation revealed it would be filing complaints with the BBC and reporting the posts to the police.
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