● The shocking and unprofessional interview stunned viewers on January 3rd, 2024.
● The interview sparked international outrage and led to calls for TalkTV to dismiss the “journalist” for her vile behaviour.
On Wednesday, January 3rd, Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, also known as al Mubadara, was a guest on Julia Hartly-Brewer’s show on Talk TV.
In a clip shared by TalkTV on social media, Mustafa Barghouti is seen questioning whether Israel is a democratic country.
Hartly-Brewer responds sharply, wearing a smirk: “I know that Israel is a democracy. They have elections.”
Mr. Barghouti immediately responds with a heartfelt “No!”
He continues: “Netanyahu has destroyed democracy. This man now has three, four courts against him, court cases of corruption.
“This man knows if the war stops he will go to jail.”
Despite his attempt to convey a pertinent point, she begins speaking over her guest, refusing to let him express his views.
She glanced at her watch, displaying a total lack of basic manners, and declared: “We don’t have time for this”.
Mr Barghouti clarifies that contrary to what she is attempting to convey to the viewers, Palestinian human rights and their situation are not history. They are indeed current topics that require attention in the media.
She interrupts again: “You talked about how you don’t want Israel, you’re saying Israel, October 7 happened, you’re placing that in a historical context, I understand that, please don’t say that again. We don’t have time for it. You’ve made that point five times already.”
Mr. Barghouti answers very cleverly: “I don’t know what you have time for.”
The bully and Islamophobe loses control and starts shouting, in an unbelievable scene: “For the love of God let me finish the sentence man.” Very surprising to hear a so-called journalist speak in such a manner.
She continues with her manipulative, thuggish and racist rant: “Maybe you’re not used to women talking, I don’t know, but I would like to finish the sentence, sir. Anyway …”
The grimace on her face is simply ugly and repellent; there are no other words for it. It is simply unbelievable to witness any journalist conduct themselves in such a way.
Mr. Barghouti rightly asserts that she is “misleading the public”, triggering more barking from Hartley-Brewer.
He is shamelessly given only 10 seconds by Hartley-Brewer, whose body language now exhibits clear aggression towards her guest, to explain to the viewers what would be an acceptable reaction from Israel, following the attack of October 7th.
Mr. Barghouti, whose attitude so far has been remarkably calm and professional, replies: “To end the occupation and to allow peace to prevail for both people.”
Bartley-Brewer becomes very sarcastic, replying “Brilliant!” and adds, in case the viewers did not associate Mr Barghouti and the people he represents, with misogynists: “Sorry to have been a woman speaking.”
It is once again surprising that Bartley-Brewer expects the viewers to perceive her with any credibility when she finishes one of her sentences with “man”, addressing an internationally renowned Politician.
This is not the first time that pro-Palestinians have been treated in such a manner. On Piers Morgan uncensored, guests who advocate for the Palestinians have consistently been interrupted, shouted at, and even insulted.
Piers Morgan has gone as far as launching a campaign to have an NHS doctor dismissed for his political views, all the while claiming that his show is a perfect example of freedom of speech.
The clip has sparked international outrage among significant public figures.
Mr. Barghouti described the whole interview as “The arrogance of a racist and unprofessional journalist.”
Ramy Abdy, founder and chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, established in 2011, has called for her to be fired- a response he deems the only decent attitude following such a despicable interview. The Gaza-born activist said:
“The racism, the violence, the condescending tone, the thuggish performance, the insinuations, the viciousness, these are norms with which Palestinian interlocutors have had to deal with for decades on Western media.”
He continues:
[Hartley-Brewer] is just the ugliest face of that violent discourse that constantly dehumanizes and targets Palestinian voices. Would @Talktv seek to uphold any sort of journalistic decency, it should fire this woman who is misleading the public.”
The award-winning British-Lebanese journalist Hala Jaber wrote on her social media:
“Rude, bigoted, narrow minded arrogant and absolutely unprofessional @JuliaHB1. To even suggest and play the woman card was as a new [low] even for you.
I can assure you he knows how to speak to women more than you know how to speak to men or people in general. Your performance was a disgrace to your profession.”
Dima Khatib, the managing director of Al Jazeera’s AJ+ digital news service, shared the clip online, and commented: “Journalism is committing suicide after this interview.”
Bartley-Brewer showed her pig ignorance of Islam and the Middle East concerning women. She implied that women were not allowed to talk and express themselves.
Piers Morgan exhibited a similar attitude when he suggested that Shariah law was a threat attempting to take over the streets of Britain.
She obviously does not know anything about the subject she pretended to cover in this interview.
The first university in the world was founded by a Muslim woman over 1000 years ago. The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, was indeed the idea of Fatima al-Fihri, originally from Tunisia.
Women are widely seen with a lot of respect in the Middle East. Female fans who attended the last World Cup in Qatar, reported feeling exceptionally safe.
Some explained that the misinformation propagated by the media – such as TalkTV- was very far from reflecting the actual reality.
In 2016 and 2021, Ofcom, the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries in the United Kingdom, received numerous complaints about Hartley-Brewer’s conduct. This is not the first time her unprofessionalism and rudeness sparked outrage.
Here is how you can file a complaint about such unacceptable behavior.
Journalism should be practiced by real, credible journalists.
