Save the Children apologise for staff member’s ‘unacceptable’ comments on ‘Zionist’ bagel shops

Charity Save the Children has apologised after a member of staff posted a video saying she didn’t want to buy bagels from “genocidal maniacs” or people that support “Zionism”.

Yasmin Ghaffar, who the JC understands is a member of Save the Children’s public affairs team – frequently in Westminster speaking to MPs and other parliamentarians on behalf of the charity – posted a video to TikTok where she asks followers for recommendations for bagels in New York.

She specified: “I don’t want to be giving any of my money to genocidal maniacs” and added that she is looking for bagel shops that are either “actively pro-Palestinian” or “known to not be in support of that hell-hole place and Zionism”.

Her comments were severely criticised.

Historian Simon Sebag Montifiore said in a post on X that her comments revealed “much about the moral & moronic downfall of Save the Children”, adding “it exposes the degrading of Western charities & NGOs. Save the Children is just one of the many once-great NGOs that [a]r[e] no longer charities at all.”

Russell Langer, Director of Public Affairs at the Jewish Leadership Council told the JC: “Sadly, it’s all too common to see this sort of behaviour within the charity sector, a sector which has been overtaken by the excesses of progressive activism.

He added: “Asking Jewish people to submit to purity tests is not something any other minority would be subjected to. We need more people in the sector to call out this behaviour instead of championing it.”

Shadow Attorney General and Conservative Peer Lord Wolfson commented: “Never mind the bagels. There’s a large hole at the heart of Save the Children”.

Labour MP Neil Coyle told the JC that Ghaffar’s comments reflected “badly” on Save the Children, adding “I hope they take action”.

Save the Children, which provides humanitarian relief to children in over 100 countries, received over a quarter of a billion pounds from the government in support of their work between 2019-2023.

Campaign group the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) called for higher standards among the charity’s staff.

“Considering Save the Children does such important work and receives a large sum from taxpayers, the group should hold its staff to a high standard of public conduct” Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance told the JC.

He continued: “They should dismiss this employee immediately and seek to reassure the Jewish community”.

A spokesperson for Save the Children told the JC that: “The language used in this TikTok is unacceptable and does not in any way reflect the views of Save the Children UK”, adding that they were “deeply sorry for the offence caused”.

They went on: “Our social media guidelines prohibit staff from posting any offensive content. This post came to the attention of SCUK managers early on Sunday morning. The staff member took down the post as soon as they were asked to do so.”

The spokesperson added that Ghaffar had been placed on leave while an internal investigation was being carried out.

Several charities which provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza have been criticised for not doing enough to highlight the plight of Israeli hostages held by terrorist group Hamas.

Earlier this month, a demonstration was held outside the charity’s offices in London to mark Kfir Bibas’s second birthday – his second spent in Hamas’s captivity.

A spokesperson from Save the Children, who had a representative at the rally, said afterwards: “We are devastated for all families whose loved ones have been taken hostage and condemn all acts of violence and grave violations against children in the strongest possible way.”

Prior to working for Save the Children, Ghaffar worked for Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell for nearly two years.

She was not employed by him during his time as a foreign office minister and deputy foreign secretary.

Sources close to Mitchell confirmed that she was employed in his office but that she never made any similar comments about Zionism or Israel while working for him.

In a piece for the JC ahead of the Conservative Party’s annual conference last year, Mitchell, then-shadow foreign secretary, lamented that the “vitriolic outpouring of hostility has crossed all boundaries of sane debate” when it came to Israel.

He decried the fact that “Words like ‘genocide’ were being bandied about to describe Israel’s military campaign.”

The MP for Sutton Coldfield added: “I have been to Rwanda and Darfur. I know what genocide looks like. This is not genocide.”

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