A Jewish peer has accused the BBC of double standards for not taking any action against Oxford don Tom Paulin for his anti-Israeli views while suspending Robert Kilroy-Silk for his comments about Arabs.

Lord Janner of Braunstone has spoken out after the corporation disassociated itself from Mr Kilroy's claims -- made in hisSunday Express column -- that Arabs were "suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors", and took his daytime chat show off air pending an investigation.

In an interview on Channel 4 News, Lord Janner said Mr Paulin, a panellist on BBC2's Newsnight Review show, should have received similar treatment when he described Jewish settlers in the occupied territories as like "Nazis". Lord Janner, the former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the programme: "What he Mr Paulin said about Jewish people was terrible and nothing happened to him.

"We found Mr Paulin's remarks extremely offensive and were obviously shocked and surprised that the BBC decided to do absolutely nothing about it."

Lord Janner said he was writing to complain to the corporation for being "inconsistent" following its suspension of Mr Kilroy-Silk's show.

He added: "What they the BBC have to do is to be totally consistent and not inconsistent. They have got to have single and not double standards."

Mr Paulin, a poet, English lecturer and member of Hertford College, was quoted in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly in April 2002 as saying that American Jewish settlers in the occupied territories were "Nazis, racists", that he felt "nothing but hatred" for them, and that they should be "shot dead".

The comments attracted widespread criticism and calls for him to be sacked by the university.

The BBC said it did not wish to comment on Lord Janner's complaint while the investigation into Mr Kilroy-Silk's remarks was still ongoing.

Mr Paulin was not available for comment.