BBC accused of breaching standards over 1,500 times on Israel coverage
The BBC breached its own editorial standards 1,553 times during the height of the Israel-Hamas war, defying impartiality, accuracy, editorial values and public interest guidelines, according to a new report seen by the Telegraph.
The report underlined a “deeply worrying pattern of bias” against Israel, analysing four months of the broadcaster’s coverage across its media platforms and found that, for example, Israel was associated with war crimes four times more than Hamas – 127 versus 30 – with genocide 14 times more – 283 versus 19 – and with breaching international law six times more – 167 versus 27.
Around 40 lawyers and data scientists contributed to the report, led by British lawyer Trevor Asserson.
The report outlines 11 cases where BBC reporters were featured despite making statements in support of violence, such as BBC Arabic contributor Mayssaa Abdul Khalek, who allegedly called for “death to Israel” and stood up for a journalist who tweeted: “Sir Hitler, rise, there are a few people that need to be burned”.
Despite the corporation’s broad criticism after its failure to accurately describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the report identified that Hamas is only being called a “proscribed”, “designated” or “recognised” terrorist organisation just 409 out of 12,459 times (3.2 per cent) by the BBC over the sample period.
CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE said: “There’s a clear pattern. Other broadcasters have also made errors, but the BBC keeps getting it wrong. It’s shameful, it’s wrong and what’s worse – the BBC knows it”.
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver Dowden CBE MP called the “slipping” of standards “severe” and warned that it “risks tarnishing the reputation of our news service”, adding that “serious questions should be asked as to why this has been allowed to happen, and licence-fee payers should expect to see the BBC stick to its own editorial guidelines”.
Shadow Business and Trade Minister Greg Smith MP said that “we knew in the aftermath of October 7 that the BBC was struggling to call a terrorist a terrorist. There are now clear grounds for Ofcom and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to use every tool they have in their arsenal to bring about greater compliance with the rules around neutrality and fair coverage in the BBC charter”.
The report also singles out the BBC’s International Editor Jeremy Bowen for “excusing Hamas terrorist activities” and of “stressing the callousness of Israelis”, while also raising comments made by Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet OBE which allegedly “removes agency from Hamas”. During their joint BBC Sounds podcast series from October to December last year, the report found an 84% anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian bias, with only one section of 33 found to be pro-Israel.
Three Israelis killed in Allenby Crossing terror attack
Three Israelis were killed in a terror attack at the Allenby Crossing, the route linking Israel to Jordan, on Sunday. 13 people were arrested today on Route 6, after allegedly crossing into Israel via the West Bank, on suspicion of intending to carry out a terror attack.
“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by the Iranian axis of evil”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the incident. Israel’s President Isaac Herzog added that “the peace agreements between Israel and its neighbours are cornerstones in the quest for stability in the region”.
Yohanan Shchori, 61, from Ma’aleh Efraim, Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from Naama, and Adrian Marcelo Podsmeser, 57, from Ariel, were named as the three victims.
Security forces killed the terrorist, a Jordanian national who entered the area in a truck from Jordan, before getting out at the commercial cargo area under Israeli control where the attacker opened fire at Israeli personnel. The workers were carrying out checks on the vehicle, suspecting explosives, before the attack.
After a temporary closure, the crossing has now reopened to pedestrians but remains closed to trucks.
Scotland Yard: Police “did not move quickly enough” on anti-Israel protests
Scotland Yard has admitted that the Met Police was too slow to arrest extremists during the near-weekly anti-Israel protests in London that erupted after the Hamas-led 7th October attacks.
“We didn’t get everything right”, admitted Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, who was responsible for the Met Police’s approach, adding that the force has become “faster and more decisive” after they “did not move quickly to make arrests” in early October “for example the man chanting for ‘Jihad’”.
The concession follows a new report by the think tank Policy Exchange warning that hesitation amid fears of disciplinary procedures has led to the police’s failure to “prioritise the rights of ordinary members of the public over the ‘rights’ of disruptive protesters”.
Protests held between October 2023 and June 2024 have cost taxpayers at least £42.9 million, according to The Express.
The author of the new report, David Spencer, said that Labour’s entry into Government “has the potential to shift the dynamic of different protest movements” resulting from “different expectations of a Labour Government”, and warned that “should those expectations not be met, the response by activists may well lead to an evolution in protest tactics which the police, prosecutors and Government should be prepared for”.
Policy Exchange warns that police have become too hesitant amid fears they could infringe free speech and face disciplinary procedures. Spencer added that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley must urge his officers to make immediate arrest after offences made during protests, urging the force to be more “interventionist”.
Assistant Commissioner Twist told Policy Exchange that “we are neutral as to the cause that is being protested (…) based on the information and intelligence available to us”, despite the think tank finding that – in nearly a third of cases – the Crown Prosecution Service is not prosecuting public order suspects on ‘public interest’ grounds, almost double the number in robbery or murder cases.
“This is still a very real policing challenge and there is no doubt the cumulative impact causes significant concern within the Jewish community in London”, he stated, acknowledging “around five to ten thousand people on marches every third weekend”.
