The BBC’s coverage of both the Hamas attacks and of Israel’s war to eliminate Hamas as a fighting force has been widely criticized. Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared it “atrocious.” Others were even more outraged. It is not only the British reporters — Yolande Knell, Orla Guerin, Lyse Doucet, Jeremy Bowen, and John Simpson — who have for years exhibited an anti-Israel animus, who are in the dock, but also the BBC Arabic staff, who are more difficult to monitor because of the language barrier. The monitoring of their on-air reporting, and of their social media posts and re-posts, requires someone with native fluency in Arabic. Until now the BBC has relied on other Arabs to keep tabs on the BBC Arabic staff; those doing the monitoring have unsurprisingly found nothing to complain about — because they share the views of those they are supposed to be monitoring. But recently members of BBC Arabic have been so nauseatingly approving of the Hamas killers who beheaded babies, burned children alive, murdered children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children, gang-raped and murdered girls and women, tortured, by gouging out eyes, cutting off tongues, eviscerating and then decapitating IDF soldiers, that the BBC could not ignore the findings presented to it by CAMERA, and has been compelled to open an investigation into these staff members. More on the BBC Arabic staff, and what is now being done about these cheerleaders for Hamas atrocities, can be found here: “BBC suspends several Arabic journalists for social media posts endorsing Hamas terror attack,” by Thomas Brooke, Remix News, October 16, 2023:
The BBC has suspended several of its journalists associated with the BBC Arabic news portal and launched an internal investigation into their actions after staff appeared to endorse Hamas’ terror attack in Israel.
Reporters working for the British taxpayer-funded corporation in the Middle East were found to have made several communications and interactions on social media in relation to the bloody offensive by Hamas that left more than 1,300 [1,400] Israeli civilians dead, sparking a number of complaints over perceived bias within the organization.
An independent investigation by the U.S.-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), reported its findings to the BBC, providing evidence of concerning behavior by several members of the organization.
One journalist allegedly described the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 as a “morning of hope,” while another posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the attack had left “Israel’s prestige crying in the corner.”
Others, including Cairo-based correspondent Salma Khattab, liked a post describing Hamas as “freedom fighters,” while Beirut-based programs editor Nada Abdelsamad reposted footage of Israeli civilians in hiding who were described as cowering “inside a tin container in fear of the Palestinian resistance warriors.”
Another senior correspondent was reported to have poked fun at the relatives of an Israeli grandmother who was abducted by Hamas and is being held captive in Gaza.
In addition to the remarks of certain individuals, the impartiality of BBC Arabic’s output, both through its TV channel and news website, has been called into question after referring to towns within the recognized state of Israel as “settlements” and the local residents as “settlers.”
In total, six reporters and a freelance journalist have become the subject of an investigation into alleged anti-Israel bias, and some of those involved have been suspended.
Freelancer Aya Hossam liked a post that suggested that no Israeli could be classed as a civilian, as “every member of the Zionist entity served in the army at some point in his life, whether men or women, and they all had victims of explicit violations… This term ‘civilians’ applies to the animals and pets that live there and they are not seriously at fault.”
Hossam also reposted a comment that read, “The Zionist must know that he will live as a thief and a usurper.”…
Aya Hossam, a free-lance reporter, has now been told her work will no longer be taken by BBC Arabic. It was she who reposted these comments: “The Zionist must know that he will live as a thief and a usurper” and another that claimed no Israeli was a “civilian” because service in the IDF is mandatory for all Israelis.
It is good that CAMERA employed a native speaker, or speakers, of Arabic who could amass the evidence of support for Hamas terrorists among staff members of BBC Arabic. Now that the BBC has already cut its ties to Hossam, may it now discharge those on its staff who took such ghoulish pleasure in Hamas’ atrocities and mocked Israeli victims, both living and dead. And here’s an idea: why not replace those who, one hopes, will soon be discharged from the staff of BBC Arabic with native speakers of Arabic who will not be shills for Hamas or other Islamic groups. Among the Jews of Israel, there are a good many with native fluency in Arabic. Egyptian Copts, too, are native speakers of Arabic. Members of both groups could be usefully employed by BBC Arabic, if it is serious about ending staff support for, and praise of, terrorism by Hamas, PIJ, and Hezbollah.
Alex Dutka says
All staff that praised Hamas should be fired
Grikus says
Agreed. Did you notice Guerin in kow-tow mode, shariah scarf for her interview with the Hezbollah brute this week?
somehistory says
the U.K. is in serious trouble. Many years ago, it was reported that the BBC had mozlums working on the decisions about what was written and how regarding islam.
Sounds like they are still there.
Now….
“Police let fans of mass murder claim the streets”
“On Saturday’s pro-Palestine London march, someone complained that the marchers were using symbols associated with Isis. He posted a photo illustrating this. The Metropolitan Police put out a response: “The flags [in this photo] are not those of Isis. They are the ‘shahada’ which is a declaration of faith in Islam. Isis flags may appear similar but are not the same. We have specialist officers with knowledge of flags working on this operation to assist with these assessments.”
In London, a Jewish anti-Semitism campaigner tried to drive in the centre of the capital, displaying illuminated pictures of some of those murdered by Hamas. The police forbade him, for his own safety. That was probably wise, but again, the message it gives out is grim: “You are not safe, on British streets, to protest against mass murder.” So the fans of mass murder claim the streets. ‘
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/police-let-fans-of-mass-murder-claim-the-streets/ar-AA1iI1HD?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=45ad2f096c2c407cab929216c96285a5&ei=8
Lez says
Well said @somehistory. It is crazy that someone is stopped from showing the truth. I would have thought Muslims would welcome and celebrate this display as this is THEIR agenda.
somehistory says
Thank you, Lez.
Hudders. says
Now they want to play semantic over the meaning of Jihad for goodness sake too!
They want to be allowed to chant Jihad at pro pali marches at a time such as this.;
And they are being allowed to get away with it!
The UK institution as a whole has been compromised & corrupted from within.
How long before Jihad REALLY epoldes on the British streets again?
It’s time to shut these marches down. Period.
somehistory says
Yes, Hudders, it’s like years ago when the claim was made that ‘jihad’ just meant inner struggle….and now some want to go back to that fake definition.
Lez says
I cannot understand what these Israel haters want. In my country (UK), they call for “free Palestine”. Are they saying they want to turn Israel into Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Iran.
Maybe they want to transform it into a Gaza totalitarianism, repressive, mono-religious, mono-cultural society.
Perchance they seek to turn Israel into Pakistan where all non-Muslims were expelled in 1947.
Even Jordan which is fairly stable, is very repressive and dictatorial.
If the people calling for free-Palestine had their way, the people they are (supposedly) camping for would end up Inferior, unfree, nonautonomous, captive and subordinate
Rufolino says
Very good point Lez.
John1 says
BBC should be kicked out of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank:
bagsgroove says
And should be kicked out of this world.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Shut down this service. Arabs need the BBC about as badly as the Brits need al Jazeera
Michael says
I find all these comments utterly hilarious in the context of the totally one-sided coverage of this conflict in the West.
There are two sides to every story and we will only be getting one on mainstream news channels if the BBC bows to Establishmenty pressure and toes the official line.
somehistory says
There are actually *three* sides….one is the Absolute Truth, not colored by the views of either of the other two. ..and the third side is rarely heard.
And JW takes stories/accounts/news articles from all over the world….not just “the West.”
Shema says
There is one side to every story. Either you have the intelligence to see who is good and who is evil. Or you don’t. If you don’t you are unwittingly on the side of evil, which you like anyways. F you
Tony Rice says
The B B C, hitherto regarded world-wide as the organ of truth is now so discredited both at home and abroad. Needs going through with a fine tooth comb and weeded out of the anti white Brits, pro E U and everything foreign and alien.