The controversy, she alleges, prompted ITV to remove her on repeated occasions from the line-up of its long-running lunchtime programme.
“ITV have continued to take 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,” she said.
Sawalha added that she 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”.
The presenter also said she wanted to express “how sad I am that it’s got to this – believe me, I have appealed to ITV’s hearts and minds, but to no avail”.
The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), external, which supports pro-Palestinian cases, has written to ITV on her behalf, alleging she has been discriminated against because of her “anti-Zionist beliefs, which are protected under the Equality Act 2010”.
Sawalha has appeared regularly on the daytime panel show, which sees four female media personalities discuss topical subjects, since 2013.
She also had an earlier stint on the panel between 1999 and 2002, shortly after playing Annie Palmer in EastEnders.
Her other TV credits include Casualty and The Bill, and she is also a former winner of Celebrity MasterChef.
