BBC staff sign letter accusing broadcaster of pro-Israel bias
More than 100 BBC staff have signed a letter accusing their employer of pro-Israel bias. Anonymous signatories have joined former Tory party chairman Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and pro-Palestine actress Juliet Stevenson in demanding that the corporation report “without fear or favour”.
In an open letter to Tim Davie, the director-general, they accused the BBC of failing to provide “fair and accurate” coverage of events in Gaza and of “dehumanising Palestinians”.
The letter sets out a series of demands, including that the BBC provide “historical context predating October 2023” when reporting on the war which broke out when Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 civilians and took 251 hostage.
The letter, also co-signed by historian William Dalrymple, pushed for the corporation to make it clear “when there is insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims, and making clear where Israel is the perpetrator in article headlines”.
It adds: “Every television report, article and radio interview that has failed to robustly challenge Israeli claims has systematically dehumanised Palestinians.”
The letter is also signed by the Guardian columnist Owen Jones and Rizwana Hamid, the director of the Muslim Council of Britain’s Centre for Media Monitoring.
The letter comes after growing concerns among Jewish staff at the BBC about the corporation’s coverage of the conflict in the Middle East, and the threat of anti-Semitism at work.
In February, Mr Davie acknowledged anti-Semitism at the corporation for the first time and promised to stamp out “abhorrent” abuse.
He told staff in an email: “As many of you may have seen, sadly in recent weeks we have been alerted to some anti-Semitic behaviour by people who have worked with us.
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“I want to be clear that there can be no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind, whether towards our Jewish colleagues or indeed colleagues from any background or belief.”
The pledge came after The Telegraph revealed comments by Dawn Queva, a BBC staffer, who wrote in Facebook posts that Jews were “Nazis” and white people “mutants” and “a virus”.
Jewish staff at the time raised concerns that they were working alongside colleagues who might be anti-Semitic.
The BBC launched an “urgent investigation” when it appeared that some of its journalists appeared to justify the killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas.
BBC News Arabic endorsed comments likening Hamas, a designated terrorist group, to freedom fighters, as well as describing the Oct 7 atrocity as a “morning of hope”.
A BBC spokesman said in response to the letter: “When we make mistakes or have made changes to the way we report, we are transparent.
“We are also very clear with our audiences on the limitations put on our reporting – including the lack of access into Gaza and restricted access to parts of Lebanon, and our continued efforts to get reporters into those areas.”
Written by Sakinat Musa Abubakar, Editor at Neptune Prime
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