The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has pulled veteran presenter Juliet Newell off the air after she pressed a prominent guest on whether comparing Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust was “provocative.”

The controversy erupted during a live interview this past Friday with Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, chair of the Desmond Tutu IP Trust, which had issued a statement likening famine in Gaza to Nazi extermination policies. When Ramphele repeated the claim, Newell interjected: “But how can you compare them? I’m not saying Gaza isn’t horrific. It is horrific. But comparing them, it almost undermines what the Holocaust was all about.”

Ramphele pushed back: “It is a holocaust by any definition… What happened in the Holocaust was a people, the Nazis, who decided that the Jews have to be exterminated. It’s the same thing.”

The exchange ended with the two agreeing to disagree, but the fallout was immediate. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign accused SABC of “whitewashing” Israel’s military campaign, while South Africa’s Sunday Times mocked Newell as a “Mampara,” local slang for fool. Hours later, SABC announced she would be taken off the schedule, citing its mandate to ensure “diverse viewpoints.”

The firing drew a sharp rebuke from Jerusalem. “Instead of standing by journalist @julietnewell for rejecting a grotesque Holocaust distortion, @SABCNews removed her from the air. Punishing integrity while tolerating falsehood is a moral failure,” Dani Dayan, chairman of Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, wrote on X.

The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) called SABC’s move “an attack on editorial independence,” arguing Newell was fulfilling her duty to test extraordinary claims. “Drawing comparisons between contemporary Israeli policy and that of the Nazis is antisemitic under the IHRA definition,” the group said. “Newell signposted opposing views and sought to inform viewers rather than inflame them. Punishing her is censorship by proxy.”

The federation demanded SABC review the decision, issue an apology, and reaffirm editorial independence.

The uproar comes as South Africa intensifies its campaign against Israel, including a high-profile genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)