Channel 4 removes video featuring racist Islamist amid backlash

Channel 4 News is facing criticism for providing a platform to a woman who has previously declared her support for terrorists and her hatred for “honkies” and “Israeli parasites”.

Nadia Chan introduced herself in the report showcasing Muslim women who “reject stereotypes” as an “anti-colonial Islamist”, but viewers who looked her up online after the broadcast last Thursday found a history of racist and incendiary comments on both her Twitter account and previous video interviews.

Twitter has since suspended the account, which was packed with racial slurs and support for terrorism against Israel, while Channel 4 have removed the online video of the report and deleted promotional tweets pending an investigation into viewer complaints.

Reporter Assed Baig strenuously denied reports that he had left the broadcaster as a result of the controversial story. In response to claims from the Guido Fawkes political site, Baig tweeted: “My decision to leave has nothing to do with that piece, nor was I forced out in any way”.

A spokesperson for Channel 4 News said: ““Last Thursday (we) broadcast a report looking at the role of Muslim women in British society. Following inflammatory comments made online by one of the women featured after the pre-recorded interview took place, we decided to remove the piece while we investigate further”.

The programme opens with a voiceover from Baig, who tells viewers that : “Stereotypes portray them as weak and meek. But this group of Muslim women don’t accept that. Like many young people, they don’t feel that their voices are represented in the mainstream”.

Ms Chan then explains that she doesn’t want to be represented by British society. Asked whether greater representation, such as more Muslim MPs or Muslims in the media, would improve the situation for British Muslims, she is unequivocal.

“No! Of course not. I think that representation means that I, myself, will dilute my identity to fit within an institution”, she claims. “In those institutions we’ve got the likes of Sadiq Khan (the Mayor of London) who don’t represent our voice and they have to do everything to appease the British public at large”.

But it’s not her comments in the show itself that have caused such outrage online.

In tweets that were screenshot by angry users, Ms Chan: “strongly advocates that the parasitic entity known as ‘Israel’ MUST cease to exist”, and claims that “every single Israeli is a parasite”. She calls on Palestinians to use “everyday items to resist, whether it’s knives, cars” and repeatedly refers to white people using the racial slur “honkies”. Ms Chan also calls MMA fighter Conor McGregor an “arrogant white Irish parasite”.

This story will be updated.