{"id":276615,"date":"2023-11-26T14:00:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T14:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=276615"},"modified":"2023-11-28T08:22:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T08:22:48","slug":"as-israel-pounds-gaza-bbc-journalists-accuse-broadcaster-of-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=276615","title":{"rendered":"As Israel pounds Gaza, BBC journalists accuse broadcaster of bias"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anealla Safdar \u2013 Al Jazeera Nov 23, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The BBC has been accused by its journalists of failing to tell the story of the Israel-Palestine conflict accurately, investing greater effort in humanising Israeli victims compared with Palestinians, and omitting key historical context in coverage.<\/p>\n

In a 2,300-word letter written to Al Jazeera by eight UK-based journalists employed by the corporation, the BBC is also said to be guilty of a \u201cdouble standard in how civilians are seen\u201d, given that it is \u201cunflinching\u201d in its reporting of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Fearing reprisal, the journalists requested anonymity. The group does not plan to send the letter to BBC executives, believing such a move was unlikely to lead to meaningful discussions.<\/p>\n

They sent Al Jazeera the letter as a humanitarian disaster in Gaza escalates, and as grim milestones are reached at pace. At the time of writing, more than 14,500 Palestinians have been reported as killed<\/a> by Israeli bombardment, including at least 6,000 children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BBC has failed to accurately tell this story \u2013 through omission and lack of critical engagement with Israel\u2019s claims \u2013 and it has therefore failed to help the public engage with and understand the human rights abuses unfolding in Gaza,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cThousands of Palestinians have been killed since October 7. When will the number be high enough for our editorial stance to change?\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel declared war against Hamas<\/a> after the Palestinian group, which governs the densely populated enclave, attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostage.<\/p>\n

Rights groups and hundreds of thousands of protesters worldwide<\/a>, outraged by the soaring Palestinian death toll in Gaza, have called for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

The war has also divided newsrooms globally, with disagreements over how each side is being portrayed, the allegedly unequal level of empathy shown to Israeli and Palestinian victims, and the use of language.<\/p>\n

The BBC journalists said that across British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) platforms, terms like \u201cmassacre\u201d and \u201catrocity\u201d, have been reserved \u201conly for Hamas, framing the group as the only instigator and perpetrator of violence in the region. This is inaccurate but aligns with the BBC\u2019s overall coverage\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Hamas assault, while \u201cappalling and devastating \u2026 does not justify the indiscriminate killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians, and the BBC cannot be seen to support \u2013 or fail to interrogate \u2013 the logic that it does,\u201d their letter reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are asking the BBC to better reflect and defer to the evidence-based findings of official and unbiased humanitarian organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Humanising coverage of Palestinian civilians has been lacking\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The journalists appealed to the corporation to \u201censure that the equal treatment of all civilians is at the heart of its coverage\u201d.<\/p>\n

They claimed that the broadcaster carefully portrays Israeli suffering by, for instance, telling audiences the names of victims, covering individual funerals, and interviewing affected families.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn comparison, humanising coverage of Palestinian civilians has been lacking. It is a poor excuse to say that the BBC could not better cover stories in Gaza because of difficulties gaining access to the [Gaza] Strip \u2026 This is achieved, for example, by telling and following individual stories across weeks. Little attempt has also been made to fully utilise the abundance of social media content from brave journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journalists acknowledged \u201csome strong isolated examples\u201d, but said sensitively told stories about Palestinians were not \u201cconsistent\u201d, particularly after the outbreak of war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is largely in the last few weeks \u2013 as civilian deaths have exponentially increased and Western countries\u2019 appetite for Israel\u2019s attacks has waned \u2013 that the BBC has made more effort to humanise Palestinian civilians. For many, this feels too little too late, and shows that the positions taken by governments in the UK and US have undue influence on coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera interviewed two of the eight co-writers. Some of those behind the letter are people of colour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis organisation doesn\u2019t represent us,\u201d one of the co-writers told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, and definitely for other people of colour, we can see blatantly that certain civilian lives are considered more worthy than others \u2013 that there is some sort of hierarchy at play. That is deeply, deeply hurtful because actually, none of us struggle to empathise with Palestinian civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journalist said that to them, it appears some staff members and senior reporters \u201cdon\u2019t empathise as much with [Palestinians], as they do, for example, with Ukrainian civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n

The second co-writer Al Jazeera interviewed said they felt \u201csickened by the senseless loss of civilian life\u201d during the Hamas attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also felt a number of overlapping fears [including] that the coverage of my employer, the BBC, would fail in its duty to sufficiently interrogate this [Israeli] response or provide adequate context on decades of occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fears were immediately confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter says that the BBC has organised \u201ctrauma support and listening sessions\u201d for staff affected by the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for many of us \u2013 especially people of colour \u2013 the BBC\u2019s coverage has been part of our distress,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n

Further critiquing the BBC\u2019s storytelling, the journalists argue that while Palestinians have been asked whether they \u201ccondemn Hamas\u201d, the same cannot be said for guests who defend Israel\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[They] are not equally asked to \u2018condemn\u2019 the actions of the Israeli government, however high the civilian death toll in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

On October 9, the BBC was criticised as lacking compassion over its interview with Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, who lost several members of his family during the early days of Israel\u2019s bombing campaign.<\/p>\n

Zomlot, who does not represent Hamas, told presenter Kirsty Wark of his emotional pain. He listed the relatives who had been killed, describing them as \u201csitting ducks for the Israeli war machine\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wark replied: \u201cI am sorry for your own personal loss. I mean, can I just be clear though, you cannot condone the killing of civilians in Israel, can you? Nor the killing of families?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zomlot, taken aback, then said: \u201cNo we don\u2019t condone, no we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

"My cousin is not Hamas. These kids are not Hamas."<\/p>\n

Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, lost 6 family members amongst the almost 700 killed in Israeli strikes into Gaza.#Newsnight<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Oih0hpWhxt<\/a><\/p>\n

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n