His appearance was criticised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) as “astonishing”, while antisemitism researcher David Collier described the programme as “disturbing”.
In a further revelation, a BBC Arabic journalist was found to have tweeted gushing praise for a Shoah revisionist.
It follows a torrid week for the BBC and the Jewish community, after the corporation was accused of smearing the young Jewish victims of an antisemitic onslaught on Oxford Street on the second night of Chanukah.
CAA announced a rally outside the BBC’s headquarters on Monday to protest against the alleged victim-blaming by the BBC. Successive BBC stories contained a widely debunked report that a Charedi teenager was heard on a video voicing an anti-Muslim slur as his group was surrounded by abusive men performing Nazi salutes on Oxford Street.
It continues to insist that the slur can be heard, a claim that has been furiously denied by Jewish community groups, which insist that BBC editors misheard the remark.
Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said: “If the corporation does not accept its mistake and apologise to the Jewish victims of the Oxford Street incident then it risks irrevocably damaging what domestic credibility it still had within our community.”
The Board also accused the BBC of “arrogant intransigence” for refusing to retract the claim. On the inclusion of Mr Hijab, the BBC said that in order to examine serious issues its output may sometimes cause offence, adding that he had been “robustly” challenged.
The BBC rejected the suggestion that BBC Arabic’s impartiality was compromised and, on the Oxford Street story, said it had amended an article “to clarify only one such slur can be heard clearly.”
Mr Hijab told the JC: "I and my community come in peace. If individual members and institutions wish to label me as an antisemite despite my opposition to such notions available on the public record I say go ahead I fear you not. The fact that individual members have resorted to this indicates weakness and defeat. This does not deter me from pro-Palestinian activism whether I choose to do this in Edgware Road or Golders Green this is a free country.
"I would prefer however if traditionalist Muslims like me and Jews from all backgrounds like much of the readership of this paper would come to common terms and be cordial and friendly as well as peaceful."
