BBC staff quit journalists’ union after being told to dress in Palestinian colours

The National Union of Journalists has confirmed to Jewish News that BBC journalists have resigned from the union after it distributed directives from the TUC urging workers to dress in Palestinian colours, or wear a keffiyeh, as part of a Day of Action for Palestine.

The TUC has called for a permanent ceasefire, the cessation of violence in Gaza and release of all hostages. But in recommending Palestinian dress as part of the event, due to take place on Thursday 28 November, some NUJ members at the BBC feel their union has crossed a line.

One BBC staffer said the suggestion was a clear breach of the BBC’s commitment to impartial reporting, telling The Times: “BBC journalists, who pride themselves on impartiality and who fought to keep their NUJ free of politics, are being encouraged to break the BBC’s editorial guidelines by supporting a political cause”. They added that they were reconsidering their NUJ membership after the “hypocritical and antisemitic” action.

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Jewish staffers at the BBC say that Nigel Lewis, the broadcaster’s director of HR, has been alerted to the situation and raised it with HR leads across the Corporation. BBC Security has also been made aware of potential flashpoint situations. created by the wearing of Palestinian flag colours or headscarves.

In a message to NUJ members, the journalists’ union now says that “clearly members working across the BBC and in public service broadcasting have important duties in relation to impartiality and work within social media guidelines the NUJ would not wish members to breach”.

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Just as clearly, the union has been alarmed by the response and the resignations. Jewish chat groups speculate there might be at least a dozen more people handing in their NUJ membership cards.

Charlotte Henry, a freelance journalist who has also resigned, wrote on her newsletter, The Addition, that the union had become “a hostile environment for Jews, and I can no longer be part of that”.

The TUC was unable to say whether it had ever previously asked workers to wear the national colours of one side or another in a conflict. It did confirm, however, that it has never asked members to wear Ukraine coloured clothing during the country’s conflict with Russia.

As far as the Palestinian cause goes, however, the TUC is not simply asking participants to “wear something red, green, black or a Palestinian keffiyeh” to their workplace, but “visibly show solidarity” by posting pictures of themselves in such clothing on social media.

The Board of Deputies issued a strongly-worded statement accusing the trade unions of “playing student politics on a conflict on whose facts they appear to be plainly ignorant”, rather than following their core mission of protecting workers. The statement added: “Whatever the stated intent, attempts to bring this issue into the workplace in such a fashion will undoubtedly add to the belligerent atmosphere which many Jewish staff have been facing.”