BBC pundit forced to apologise after posting image of Rishi Sunak, President Biden and other world leaders with Hitler moustaches that labelled them the 'Kids Killers Union'
A BBC pundit has been forced to apologise after posting an image of Rishi Sunak, President Biden and other world leaders with Hitler moustaches.
Qasim Sheikh, a former Scotland international cricketer, reposted the picture of the prime minister, along with other world leaders with the caption 'Kids Killers Union'.
The post featured President Biden, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
The sports pundit, 39, shared the post in January as well as other inflammatory statements appearing to justify the horrific October 7 attacks on Israel.
Some of those statements read: 'Many innocent Palestinians have just lost their lives in a hospital bombing. To make it even worse the oppressor Israel has tried to blame someone else for the bombing.'
Qasim Sheikh, a former cricketer, has been forced to apologise after a series of social media posts emerged including one where world leaders were pictured with Hitler moustaches
Mr Sheikh, 39, is now a sports pundit and is due to make his broadcasting debut for the BBC on Tuesday. Pictured at Lords Cricket Ground in 2008, playing for Scotland
The former batsman said that he did not support the October 7 attacks and apologised for any offence caused by his messages but insisted he would continue to call for a ceasefire
Israel denied responsibility for the explosion that killed hundreds of Palestinians on October 17 and instead said that Hamas had misfired a rocket.
Mr Sheikh also described Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer as 'genocide enablers'.
In a post he wrote: 'The UK/US instantly stand with Israel today, although have stayed quiet for years on the atrocities committed by Israel over Palestine. Claiming Palestine has no justification to attack, don't they have a right to defend themselves.'
The social media posts have come to light as Sheikh, who was capped 27 times for Scotland, has been lined up to provide commentary for the T20 World Cup for the BBC.
He is due to make his first broadcast on Tuesday for England's opening group stage match against Scotland.
Orly Goldschmidt, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy to the UK, told The Times: 'We condemn all antisemitic acts and remarks. We expect the BBC to uphold its stated editorial values and standards, and believe such standards should be applied wherever such antisemitic rhetoric occurs within the organisation.'
In 2022, former cricketers Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh opened up about their experiences of racism within the sport and an inquiry found 448 indicators of institutional racism.
The allegations were made against 15 people, two clubs and one regional association and included racial abuse, the use of inappropriate language and the lack of a transparent selection process for non-white players.
The Scottish batsman said that he did not support the attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel and apologised for any offence caused by his messages.
He added that he would never seek to support any loss of life and described the attack of October 7 as morally reprehensible but said he would continue to call for a ceasfire.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
