BBC catalogues fear, but ducks the cause and its own role fuelling it

Because I have been observing and chronicling for many years the unashamed anti-Israel bias of the BBC, that I and many others believe to have been a key driver of antisemitism in the UK and across the globe, I was intrigued to see the BBC put out an edition of Panorama titled Antisemitism: Why British Jews are Afraid.

From the synopsis it seemed certain that it would record the frightening experiences of British Jews, would quote all the frightening statistics and would show us footage of  many of the antisemitic incidents. And indeed journalist and presenter Judith Moritz  – who declared herself in the documentary to be a member of the Jewish faith –  and producer Claire Burnett, did an excellent job doing a round-up of UK antisemitism.

They did, indeed, faithfully record the frightening experiences of a number of UK Jews who had suffered assaults, abuse and violations, including in one case a kidnap. Moritz did indeed speak to a brace of rabbis and a representative of the CST. And there was indeed footage of many of the antisemitic incidents that have taken place on these shores, including the  deadly attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue in October and the burned-out ambulances in Golders Green. There were even a few seconds from the Bondi massacre during Chanukah.

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It was an interesting compilation, but ultimately, it was like discussing the safety of chickens without once mentioning the chief predator, the fox. To fulfil its brief as a documentary this edition of Panorama would need to properly examine the causes of this resurgence in – and let’s call it what it is – Jew-hate.

But that would require real honesty and perhaps even a public mea culpa from the BBC, because their 30-plus years of ell-documented anti-Israel bias alongside 30-plus years of equally well-documented pro-Palestine bias and a decade or two of whitewashing of Israel’s enemies have brought us to where we are now. And where we are is with rampant Israel-hate; with “Zionist” as a term of abuse and Jew-hate at levels unseen since 1930s Germany.

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In fact, at levels worthy – ironically – of a Panorama documentary. And not just in the UK, but thanks to the broadcaster’s global reach and renown, Jew-hate across the planet.

Given the  UK Jewish community’s keen awareness of the BBC’s anti-Israel  bias – which may have been revealed by the never-released Balen Report – I’m frankly amazed that none of the UK Jews interviewed in this edition of Panorama mentioned BBC Middle East coverage as a driver of current Jew-hate. Perhaps they were too polite. Or perhaps they did mention it and it was edited. Panorama has form on that kind of thing.

The programme touched on the fact that opposition to Israel was the cause of this resurgent antisemitism with a brief reference  to the Oct 7 Hamas massacre as the trigger for Israel’s “war on Gaza” that sparked the protests”- swiftly followed, incidentally,  by the recitation of the widely-discredited Hamas death toll in Gaza for balance, presumably.

But without an acknowledgement that this Israel hate is the cause of the Jew-hate rather than the effect. And without an acknowledgement of its own role in the cause – its biased coverage fostering and amplifying this “opposition” –  this was simply a rehashing of old news.

But I’m sure the new DG feels he’s gained a  few brownie points.