A debate programme on TV2, Højskolen, about integration and Islam has been the subject of intense discussion in the Danish media after a participant was accused of violence.
One scene in particular, which involves the founder of the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti), Pia Kjærsgaard, and the Muslim influencer Afrah al-Jabouri, has sparked intense debate.
Allegations of physical violence have also been made against Kjærsgaard, and against BBC Studios Nordic Production, which produced the programme, for not acting on the alleged violence.
The programme
Højskolen, a programme in which debaters are invited to spend 24 hours together and discuss controversial topics, is currently airing its second season.
The first season aired in March and featured the political party leaders during the general election.
In this second season, three episodes are being released through October, featuring a combination of politicians and debaters invited to spend 24 hours together to discuss particularly controversial issues.
The first episode aired last week and saw agriculture, nature, and animal welfare discussed by the participants.
Next week, the third and final episode of the season will take up the topics of school, education, and children.
A dramatic conclusion
The episode ended with a highly dramatic sequence in which Kjærsgaard produced a series of screenshots and accused al-Jabouri of supporting terrorism.
The screenshots, which have not been verified, appeared to be from al-Jabouri’s TikTok account.
One alleged post features an image of al-Jabouri with the text “Are you a terrorist?”, to which the post responds, “Yes.”
Another, also featuring an image of al-Jabouri, asks, “Have you ever bombed someone?”, to which the response is, “Not yet.”
When Kjærsgaard confronts al-Jabouri with this in the episode, al-Jabouri denies the allegation that she posted them and notes that they are not on her TikTok account now.
Kjærsgaard, and others around the table, suggest that the posts could have been deleted. Kjærsgaard has not confirmed how she came into possession of the screenshots.
Other participants joined the heated back-and-forth, including the political spokespeople for the parties Venstre and Liberal Alliance, Morten Dahlin and Mads Strange respectively.
Allegations after the airing
Following the release of the episode on Wednesday, the media have not been able to verify whether the images and screenshots are authentic or fabricated.
Kjærsgaard insists they are real, while al-Jabouri insists they are not. However, some outlets suggest the screenshots could be similar to an ironic social media trend in which people sarcastically respond to prejudices against them.
Since the episode aired, al-Jabouri has alleged that Kjærsgaard pushed her four times during the recording of the programme. She has, according to Berlingske, reported this to the police.
Al-Jabouri has also criticised BBC Studios Nordic Production’s team for not stepping in after witnessing the alleged pushes, suggesting there may even be video evidence of some of the incidents.
Kjærsgaard has entirely denied the allegations, telling TV2, “She’s not right in the head, it’s completely insane.”
In a comment to TV2, BBC Studios Nordic Production’s head of programming, Nicolai Würtz, said, “If we had footage of Pia Kjærsgaard pushing a woman in a headscarf, we would have published it.”
Heated discussions
Throughout the episode, several other discussions also turned heated.
In one instance, Dahlin and Strange confront another participant, TV personality Abud Mustafa, when he will not say whether he supports homosexuality.
In another, Anna Bjerre, a member of the Folketing for the Alternative (Alternativet), again confronts Mustafa about his views on homosexuality, noting that she is a queer person herself.
In another attention-grabbing sequence, Mustafa refuses to eat dinner with the other participants because they were having wine with their meal.