Calls for new BBC leadership over damning report into Gaza coverage

A fresh row has erupted over the BBC Arabic Service’s coverage of the Gaza war amid claims it “chose to minimise Israeli suffering” in order to “paint Israel as the aggressor”.

A leaked memo, written by Michael Prescott, the former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), charges the Arabic Service with multiple instances of bias. These include that allegations against Israel were not properly checked and were instead “raced to air”, which Prescott declared smacked either of carelessness or “a desire always to believe the worst about Israel”.

Prescott said that BBC Arabic, which is partly funded by the Foreign Office, devoted significant coverage to Hamas statements, resulting in its editorial slant becoming “considerably different” to the main BBC website, although both were supposed to tell readers the same thing. He said that the BBC had also given “unjustifiable weight” to Hamas claims about the death toll in Gaza, which are widely accepted to have been exaggerated for propaganda purposes, and incorrectly claimed the International Court of Justice had ruled that genocide was taking place.

Prescott, who sent his findings to the BBC Board, said that in one case BBC Arabic gave a platform to journalists making extreme antisemitic comments. One such comment said that Jews would be burned “as Hitler did”: this man appeared as a guest on BBC Arabic 244 times in 18 months. Another man who described Israelis as less than human and Jews as “devils” appeared 522 times in the same period.

Prescott’s damning memo has drawn fury from both the Israeli embassy in London and the former BBC director of television, Danny Cohen. In a long and angry statement, a spokesman for the embassy said it was “extremely alarmed” by the findings which, it said, “confirmed its suspicions” about BBC Arabic’s “systematic bias”, of which it understood “high-ranking BBC officials were aware”.

The allegations, the Embassy said, were “a gross dereliction of the BBC’s responsibility to fair and impartial journalism, and have promoted false narratives about the conflict with Hamas to the region, which have a far-reaching impact on how Israel is viewed”.

It went on: “Today’s revelations show that senior staff were repeatedly warned about this bias but did not take action. We call on the BBC to investigate this immediately and take serious steps to ensure accountability. There have been repeated failures by the BBC since October 7 in their reporting of Israel, and this is, unfortunately, a further stain on their reputation …[The BBC] has abandoned the standards of credible journalism and has featured antisemites while promoting clear bias. Public funds cannot support a platform that undermines accuracy and journalistic integrity”.

Former BBC Television director Danny Cohen said: “The BBC used to represent the gold standard in journalism but scandal after scandal is destroying its reputation. This leaked report provides detailed and incontrovertible evidence of widespread journalistic failures in BBC News. It shows that the BBC can no longer be trusted to deliver impartial news”.

He added: “The report also shockingly reveals the failure of BBC executives to get to grips with these problems. Mr Prescott appears to have written the report because he had lost faith in their management. We cannot allow this situation to go on a moment longer. It is time for those who govern the BBC to take real steps to restore the BBC’s reputation. We need new leadership at the top of the BBC and real soul-searching in the BBC newsroom*.”

A BBC spokesperson told Jewish News: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.

“With regard to BBC News Arabic, where mistakes have been made or errors have occurred, we have acknowledged them at the time and taken action. We have also previously acknowledged that certain contributors should not have been used and have improved our processes to avoid a repeat of this.” But the broadcaster defended itself against specific charges relating to individual antisemitic comments, saying none of the three was a BBC member of staff.

The spokesman said: “In the case of the specific individuals referenced, we have previously publicly responded to each.

“On Samer Elzaenen, we have previously said: “There is no place for antisemitism on our services. We strongly condemn the hateful views expressed by this individual in 2011. Although he is not a BBC journalist, and quoting him does not mean we endorse his views, we should not have used him in this way.

“On Ahmed Alagha, we have said: “Ahmed Alagha is not a BBC member of staff or part of the BBC’s reporting team. His social media posts do not reflect the BBC’s view and we are absolutely clear that there is no place for antisemitism on our services. We will not be using him as a contributor in this way again.”

On Ahmed Qannan, we have said: “International journalists, including the BBC, are not allowed access into Gaza, so we hear from a range of eyewitness accounts from the Strip. These are not BBC members of staff or part of the BBC’s reporting team. We were not aware of the individuals’ social media activity prior to hearing from them on air. We are absolutely clear that there is no place for antisemitism on our services.”

It is not now clear what the BBC’s next steps will be. On Tuesday night there were calls for the director-general, Tim Davie, to resign.