BBC apologised for joke in which comedian compared Palestine to a cake being 'punched to pieces by a very angry Jew'

Frankie Boyle has accused the BBC Trust of cowardly behaviour after it apologised for a joke in which he compared Palestine to a cake being "punched to pieces by a very angry Jew".

The controversial comedian published an open letter on chortle.co.uk today, describing the situation in Palestine as "in essence, apartheid", and lamenting the fact that the BBC was "now cravenly afraid of giving offence and vulnerable to any kind of well-drilled lobbying".

Boyle said he had only learned of the "rebuke" from newspaper reports.

The entire joke, which he made on the Radio 4 programme Political Animal, ran: "I've been studying Israeli army martial arts. I now know 16 ways to kick a Palestinian woman in the back. People think that the Middle East is very complex but I have an analogy that sums it up quite well. If you imagine that Palestine is a big cake, well … that cake is being punched to pieces by a very angry Jew."

Following a complaint from a listener who said the comments were "disgusting" and "antisemitic", the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee investigated and apologised. The committee said it endorsed the editorial complaints unit's finding about the use of the word "Jew".

It said: "As a result, the committee wished to apologise to the complainant on behalf of the BBC for any offence the remark may have caused him and other listeners to the programme."Boyle criticised the corporation's governing body for its actions. "I think the problem here is that the show's producers will have thought that Israel, an aggressive, terrorist state with a nuclear arsenal, was an appropriate target for satire," he wrote. " The Trust's ruling is essentially a note from their line managers. It says that if you imagine that a state busily going about the destruction of an entire people is fair game, you are mistaken. Israel is out of bounds."

Noting that the BBC had refused to broadcast a humanitarian appeal in 2009 to help the people of Gaza rebuild their homes, he added: "It's tragic for such a great institution but it is now cravenly afraid of giving offence and vulnerable to any kind of well-drilled lobbying. I told the jokes on a Radio 4 show called Political Animal. That title seems to promise provocative comedy with a point of view. In practice the BBC wish to deliver the flavour of political comedy with none of the content."

The BBC Trust said it had nothing to add to its previous statement.