James O'Brien's LBC programme has received 251 complaints from the television watchdog Ofcom over an episode that aired on July 22. A spokesperson for Ofcom said, "[The] complaints related to James O’Brien reading out a message from a listener." The complaints came after he read out an antisemitic message without challenging the listener.
O'Brien later issued a grovelling apology after reading out the message live on air. The message was sent in from a person called Chris, from Oxford, who claimed Jewish children in Britain are taught to view Arabs as "cockroaches to be crushed".
The caller also alleged his wife had been taught at "Shabbat School" in Hertfordshire, where she was told "one Jewish life is worth thousands of Arab lives". The remarks sparked uproar among listeners who blasted O'Brien for not challenging them during the programme.
O'Brien said live on air: "I'm fascinated by objectivity, which is why I'm going to read out this from Chris, because you do find yourself wondering how people can be looking at the same world you're looking at and arriving at such completely different conclusions.
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"The polling we looked at in Ha'aretz, displaying support not just for ethnic cleansing, but also for genocide, on levels that many of us would find terrifying.
"And of course it's not confined, as Chris writes from Oxford – 'I'm loving the show' – thank you, Chris – 'and the high quality of callers today, but I do think it's worth saying that these warped views are not just an Israeli problem.
"'My wife was brought up Jewish and at Shabbat school in a leafy Hertfordshire town she was taught that one Jewish life is worth thousands of Arab lives, and that Arabs are cockroaches to be crushed.'
"'Whilst young children are being taught such hatred and dehumanisation, undoubtedly on both sides' – as Chris points out – 'then they will always be able to justify death and cruelty, and it does indeed start young.
"'There is a danger perhaps that we only ever hear one side of the dehumanisation and propaganda processes.'"
O'Brien apologised for the uproar it caused on his show the following day. He shared: "This is very important. At this time yesterday on the show, I read out a message from a listener called Chris who said that his wife had been brought up in the Jewish faith and had attended what he described as a 'Shabbat school'.
"He went on to make further claims about what he said she had been taught in that school. As with all the texts and messages that I read out on the programme, I did so in good faith, but the message has understandably upset a lot of people, and I regret taking those unsubstantiated claims at face value. I'm genuinely sorry for that.
"It is very important that I get that out there, and thank you for your attention."