Refugee charity set to benefit from The Celebrity Traitors' prize money has accused Israel of 'genocide'

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A refugee charity set to benefit from The Celebrity Traitors winner Sebastian Croft 's prize money has accused Israel of 'genocide' in its war on Hamas in Gaza . The charity, Choose Love, will receive half of actor Croft's £83,000 prize, despite claiming on its website that Palestinians 'are still experiencing a genocide'. In an open letter signed by celebrities such as Gary Lineker , it petitioned the Government last year to ban the sale of arms to Israel and 'end Gaza complicity'.

Croft, 24, and comedian Romesh Ranganathan , 48, won on Friday in the series, which has boosted ratings for the BBC and is bound by strict impartiality guidelines, enshrined in its charter. Croft said of Choose Love: 'It's an organisation that I used to volunteer at. The money will be going to refugees and displaced people, but predominantly queer refugees and displaced people, and they are just the best organisation.' Tory MP Jack Rankin said: 'When activists nakedly misuse charitable designation to peddle their extremist agenda, it should concern us all. 'It is doubly shocking that our licence fee, which we have no choice but to pay, is shovelled in directions opposite to the national interest.

Actor Sebastian Croft, 24, and comedian Romesh Ranganathan won The Celebrity Traitors, with Croft choosing to donate half of their £83,000 prize to refugee charity Choose Love The BBC are supposed to be impartial and should not be handing money to political activists. If they had any backbone, they would refuse to let public funds bankroll pro–migrant crusades.' Choose Love also bankrolled a legal challenge to the then–Tory government's immigration policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda to make their claims.

Choose Love admitted meeting the 'staff costs' of charity Asylum Aid, which led – and lost – a High Court fight against the Tory scheme, which was ruled lawful.

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What we found (4)

The Daily Mail treats a refugee charity's statement that Palestinians are experiencing a genocide as a scandal. It puts genocide in scare quotes and calls it an accusation and a claim, when a UN Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel committed genocide. It calls Israel's assault 'its war on Hamas' in its own voice, and lets a Tory MP brand the charity extremist with no reply from Choose Love and nothing in the article to back the charge.

Hedges the documented record
Severe
“has accused Israel of 'genocide'”
Why this matters
The headline calls the genocide an accusation and puts the word genocide in scare quotes.
The impression it gives
That saying Israel is committing genocide is a fringe charge, and that a charity saying it is newsworthy because it is outrageous.
The context
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found on 16 September 2025 that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The ICJ has issued provisional measures in the genocide case. The article never mentions either finding, though the whole story turns on whether the charity's statement is acceptable.
How we know
- On the recordThe UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found, on 16 September 2025, that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.ohchr.org (opens in a new tab)
- On the recordThe International Court of Justice has issued provisional measures in the genocide case against Israel; this is a documented finding, not an allegation awaiting a reporter's verdict.icj-cij.org (opens in a new tab)
- Elsewhere in the article“despite claiming on its website”
Show it in the article
“despite claiming on its website that Palestinians 'are still experiencing a genocide'”
Why this matters
The words "despite claiming" set the charity's statement up as something that should disqualify it from receiving the prize money.
The impression it gives
That the charity's statement is a dubious claim at odds with the facts, and that the BBC prize should not go to a body that makes it.
The context
The charity's statement matches the documented record: the UN Commission of Inquiry found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The Daily Mail presents a documented finding as a discrediting claim.
How we know
- On the recordThe UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found, on 16 September 2025, that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.ohchr.org (opens in a new tab)
- On the recordThe International Court of Justice has issued provisional measures in the genocide case against Israel; this is a documented finding, not an allegation awaiting a reporter's verdict.icj-cij.org (opens in a new tab)
Show it in the article
Written straight
A refugee charity set to benefit from The Celebrity Traitors prize money has said Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing a genocide, as a UN Commission of Inquiry found in 2025.
Smears a named person
Serious
“When activists nakedly misuse charitable designation to peddle their extremist agenda”
Why this matters
The Daily Mail prints a Tory MP's charge that Choose Love misuses its charitable status and pushes an "extremist agenda", and gives the charity no chance to answer it.
The impression it gives
That Choose Love is an extremist body abusing charity law.
The context
Nothing in the article backs the charge of extremism or misuse of charitable status. The only evidence given is that the charity called the assault on Gaza a genocide, which a UN Commission of Inquiry has found, and backed a lawful legal challenge. No response from Choose Love appears anywhere in the article.
How we know
- On the recordThe UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found, on 16 September 2025, that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.ohchr.org (opens in a new tab)
- Elsewhere in the article“meeting the 'staff costs' of charity Asylum Aid”
Show it in the article
Written straight
Tory MP Jack Rankin accused the charity of pursuing an extremist agenda. Choose Love's response was not included.
States one side's claim as fact
Minor
“its war on Hamas in Gaza”
Why this matters
In its own voice the Daily Mail calls Israel's assault on Gaza "its war on Hamas", which is Israel's own description.
The impression it gives
That Israel's military campaign is aimed at Hamas, so a charity calling it genocide is being extreme.
The context
Israeli occupation forces have killed 74,392 Palestinians according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, and the UN Commission of Inquiry found Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Calling it a war on Hamas states one party's framing as fact.
How we know
- On the recordThe UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found, on 16 September 2025, that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.ohchr.org (opens in a new tab)
- On the recordGaza's Ministry of Health recorded the Israeli occupation as having killed 74,392 Palestinians, a cumulative toll that NewsCord's reading of BBC coverage cites as of October 2026.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
Show it in the article
Uses a loaded word
Minor
“Choose Love admitted meeting the 'staff costs'”
Why this matters
The word "admitted" casts the charity's funding of another charity's staff as a confession of wrongdoing.
The impression it gives
That funding Asylum Aid's legal challenge was something shameful the charity had to own up to.
The context
The article gives no sign of wrongdoing. Funding a lawful legal challenge in the High Court is a normal charitable activity.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“bankrolled a legal challenge”
Show it in the article
“bankrolled”
Why this matters
In its own voice the Daily Mail uses "bankrolled", a word suggesting the shady financing of a cause.
The impression it gives
That the charity covertly funded something improper.
The context
The article itself describes an open legal challenge in the High Court to a government policy, a lawful use of the courts.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“a High Court fight against the Tory scheme”
Show it in the article

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Everything we scored from Daily Mail

Refugee charity set to benefit from The Celebrity Traitors' prize money has accused Israel of 'genocide'

Hedges the documented record

Smears a named person

States one side's claim as fact

Uses a loaded word

More from Daily Mail