[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Dov Forman [@DovForman](/creator/twitter/DovForman) on x 29.8K followers Created: 2025-07-23 09:33:40 UTC Dear @AshleyTaborKing, The more I listen to the James O’Brien show from Tuesday XX July, the worse it sounds. And the fact that your producers then promoted a clip of that segment on LBC’s official social media channels the same day, before quietly deleting it, makes it all the more serious. Mr O’Brien read out a letter from a supposed listener called “Chris.” In it, he made a series of antisemitic blood libels against Jews in Israel and against the Jewish community here in the UK. It was, frankly, Alan Partridge meets The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And yet, that is not even the most shocking part. Nor is the fact that nobody at LBC seemed to think it might be problematic. What is truly astonishing is that Mr O’Brien presented these comments as context, as balance to the current situation in Israel. He used them to make a broader point. What was that point? That it is not just Jews in Israel who seek to dehumanise and revile Arabs. It is also the Jews here in Britain. And the LBC audience must be made aware of this. That was the “balance.” To be clear, there is no such thing as “Shabbat school.” No Jewish child in this country is taught hatred. This was not a misunderstanding. It was a modern blood libel. And it was platformed by the UK’s biggest commercial radio station and pushed out on its official channels. Three things must now happen: 1.LBC must issue a full apology, both on air and on social media. That apology must explain what happened, why it is so serious, and what steps will be taken to ensure this never happens again. X. Mr O’Brien must complete robust antisemitism training. @DannyStone1 at the Antisemitism Policy Trust is well placed to provide this. 3.Once Mr O’Brien has completed this training, he must personally apologise to your audience – again, both on air and online. I do not see how trust can be rebuilt until these three steps are taken. There can be no progression without accountability. Mr O’Brien is a frequent, and some might say obsessive, commentator on Israel-Gaza. But it is now beyond doubt that his entire framing of the issue, and of contemporary Jewish life in the UK, is clouded by the most dangerous and historic antisemitic tropes. And the ease with which he read “Chris’s” letter – without so much as a pause, a fact-check, or any editorial challenge – suggests something even worse. It suggests the letter aligned with his worldview. That it confirmed what he already believed. Do we really believe “Chris” is even a real listener? The way Mr O’Brien read that message, and the lack of any editorial scrutiny before or after, suggests to me that it served as confirmation bias. He believed it because he wanted to believe it. This was not journalism. It was prejudice. It was damaging, disgraceful, and deeply dangerous. And if Global does not act, then the stain will not only fall on Mr O’Brien. XXXXXX engagements  **Related Topics** [all the](/topic/all-the) [Post Link](https://x.com/DovForman/status/1947953249253773652)
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Dov Forman @DovForman on x 29.8K followers
Created: 2025-07-23 09:33:40 UTC
Dear @AshleyTaborKing,
The more I listen to the James O’Brien show from Tuesday XX July, the worse it sounds. And the fact that your producers then promoted a clip of that segment on LBC’s official social media channels the same day, before quietly deleting it, makes it all the more serious.
Mr O’Brien read out a letter from a supposed listener called “Chris.” In it, he made a series of antisemitic blood libels against Jews in Israel and against the Jewish community here in the UK. It was, frankly, Alan Partridge meets The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
And yet, that is not even the most shocking part. Nor is the fact that nobody at LBC seemed to think it might be problematic. What is truly astonishing is that Mr O’Brien presented these comments as context, as balance to the current situation in Israel. He used them to make a broader point.
What was that point? That it is not just Jews in Israel who seek to dehumanise and revile Arabs. It is also the Jews here in Britain. And the LBC audience must be made aware of this.
That was the “balance.”
To be clear, there is no such thing as “Shabbat school.” No Jewish child in this country is taught hatred. This was not a misunderstanding. It was a modern blood libel. And it was platformed by the UK’s biggest commercial radio station and pushed out on its official channels.
Three things must now happen: 1.LBC must issue a full apology, both on air and on social media. That apology must explain what happened, why it is so serious, and what steps will be taken to ensure this never happens again. X. Mr O’Brien must complete robust antisemitism training. @DannyStone1 at the Antisemitism Policy Trust is well placed to provide this. 3.Once Mr O’Brien has completed this training, he must personally apologise to your audience – again, both on air and online.
I do not see how trust can be rebuilt until these three steps are taken. There can be no progression without accountability.
Mr O’Brien is a frequent, and some might say obsessive, commentator on Israel-Gaza. But it is now beyond doubt that his entire framing of the issue, and of contemporary Jewish life in the UK, is clouded by the most dangerous and historic antisemitic tropes.
And the ease with which he read “Chris’s” letter – without so much as a pause, a fact-check, or any editorial challenge – suggests something even worse. It suggests the letter aligned with his worldview. That it confirmed what he already believed.
Do we really believe “Chris” is even a real listener? The way Mr O’Brien read that message, and the lack of any editorial scrutiny before or after, suggests to me that it served as confirmation bias. He believed it because he wanted to believe it.
This was not journalism. It was prejudice. It was damaging, disgraceful, and deeply dangerous.
And if Global does not act, then the stain will not only fall on Mr O’Brien.
XXXXXX engagements
Related Topics all the