LONDON: British TV presenter Nadia Sawalha has threatened legal action against ITV, accusing the broadcaster of removing her from its daytime talk show “Loose Women” because of her public support for Palestinian rights.

In a video posted on Instagram, Sawalha said her lawyers had sent ITV a pre-action letter alleging the company subjected her to discrimination and harassment because of her anti-Zionist beliefs, which they argue are protected under Britain’s Equality Act.

Sawalha said she began speaking publicly in support of Palestinians in December 2023, following the outbreak of the Gaza war, and had since become the target of an “escalating campaign of smears, complaints, hostile media coverage and targeted calls to have me removed from ‘Loose Women.’”

“ITV have taken me on and off ‘Loose Women,’ forever changing the goalposts whilst also saying they couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t take me off again as it would depend on what was said.

“I was mostly told the reason for it was, and I quote, ‘It’s all a bit noisy out there for us,’” she said.

The broadcaster told her that the controversy surrounding her public statements had been a factor in its decisions, she said.

Sawalha denied allegations of antisemitism after a group of prominent pro-Israeli media figures urged in an open letter in July to ITV not to reinstate her, accusing her of promoting inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation.

Sawalha said she had not been given an opportunity to review or respond to the allegations contained in the document.

She also rejected accusations of antisemitism and supporting terrorism as published in the press. She said two newspapers that had previously accused her and her husband later apologized and paid damages, while “other cases are still pending.”

Her legal action against ITV is being supported by the European Legal Support Center, which said that the broadcaster had discriminated against the presenter because of her protected philosophical beliefs.

Sawalha said that she had never discussed Palestine directly while appearing on the program.

“I was hired for being an opinionated woman on a discussion show and I’ve never brought up or spoken about Palestine directly on the show.

“It’s not just me that is being targeted like this for my beliefs. There are the teachers, doctors, nurses, charity and supermarket workers and students who have also spoken according to their conscience and have suffered a similar fate as me.”