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BBC Rejects Call For Investigation Into Its Alleged Anti-Semitism
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) rejected a call from more than 200 Jewish staffers, contractors, suppliers, and contributors for a formal investigation into its alleged anti-Semitic reporting.
The call came in a July 19 letter whose signatories included Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television; “9/11: Inside the President’s War Room” Executive Producer Neil Grant; Fulwell 73 managing partner and former “Cinderella” Executive Producer Leo Pearlman; Claudia Rosencrantz, former controller of entertainment for ITV; and Will Daws, managing director at Plum Pictures.
“We write to you today to request an urgent formal investigation by the BBC board into systemic problems of anti-Semitism and bias at the BBC, alongside senior management’s demonstrable failure to properly address the issue,” the letter stated, adding the signatories’ “anguish and disbelief because we fear we have now exhausted the process of raising our very serious concerns about anti-Jewish racism with BBC Management,” according to The Telegraph.
“The group also sent the board members what they describe as a non-exhaustive list of social media breaches and ‘impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,’ broadcast mistakes that ‘suggest bias,’ and an account from anonymous sources ‘of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work,’” Deadline reported.
The letter pointed out “impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,” broadcast mistakes that “suggest bias,” and an account from anonymous sources “of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work.”
But BBC Chairman Samir Shah dismissed the call for a formal investigation, responding that the BBC is “successful” in creating an “inclusive working environment where people from all backgrounds feel welcome, safe and supported. … I am satisfied, however, that where we have made errors, the executive has acted appropriately and handled matters in accordance to the guidance as they apply to my colleagues. Following your correspondence, I have asked the executive to review the papers you sent and to see if there’s anything included that has not been previously considered.”
Pearlman called Shah’s response a “dismissive letter,” adding, “No other minority has been or ever will be treated with this level of disdain. Over 200 Jews from within the industry, many of whom work at the BBC, felt the need to add their names to a detailed letter, over 30 pages of grievances beyond refute. The response, nothing to see here, not even worthy of an investigation, gaslighting by every definition.”
The BBC’s response to the letter “would have made that ex-employee George Orwell smile,” Daws snapped, calling it “disingenuous and frankly mealy-mouthed. … The BBC has a systemic problem with its reporting of Israel that often crosses the line into anti-Semitism. I for one will not be placated with merely sympathetic words. To quote Orwell – ‘Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear’ – unless you’re Jewish writing to the BBC board he could have added.”
In February, former British attorney general Sir Michael Ellis accused the BBC of institutional anti-Semitism, stating, “The BBC’s senior management has fundamentally failed to deal with this problem and uphold its own guidelines, and the organization now appears complicit in peddling misinformation and allowing anti-Semitism to fester. And in those circumstances I have come to the conclusion that the BBC is institutionally anti-Semitic. …What makes the BBC institutionally anti-Semitic is not that there is bias or anti-Semitism within – sadly, there’s a lot of that everywhere. It is the fact that management has not done what they should be doing about it. … To hold oneself up as neutral and to be biased is a form of corruption.”
“In January, the BBC was forced to apologize for airing an unverified December radio report that accused Israel Defense Forces troops of executing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” Fox News noted. “In November, BBC News Channel aired a report that claimed Israeli forces had descended on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza and targeted ‘medical teams and Arab speakers’ inside. While reports did indicate the IDF had entered the hospital, none corroborated the claim that soldiers had targeted those inside. … Following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, the BBC repeatedly referred to the organization as ‘freedom fighters,’ ‘gunmen’ or ‘militants’ rather than terrorists.”
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