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Middle East Eye
3 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
War on Gaza: How the BBC sanitises Israel's genocide
The BBC, Britain's most powerful media institution, has played a pivotal role in shaping public understanding of Israel's war on Gaza - and in doing so, has repeatedly chosen to obscure, minimise and sanitise one of the most brutal military campaigns of the 21st century. A comprehensive new report by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) reveals a damning pattern in the BBC's coverage of the war: a relentless privileging of Israeli voices, a dehumanisation of Palestinian suffering, and a willful refusal to name - let alone interrogate - the context of occupation, siege and apartheid that underpins this catastrophe. This is not about minor editorial missteps. It is about a systematic failure to treat Palestinians as fully human - as people whose lives and deaths deserve to be represented with the same dignity, gravity and moral clarity afforded to Israelis. It is about a publicly funded broadcaster abandoning its duty of impartiality in favour of a deeply politicised, one-sided narrative. From the outset of Israel's assault on Gaza following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack, the BBC framed the war not as a continuation of decades of colonisation, blockade and dispossession, but as a symmetrical clash between two sides. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Articles that failed to mention the word 'occupation' were not the exception but the rule. Terms like 'settlements', 'blockade' and 'apartheid' - used by the UN and Amnesty International - were almost entirely absent. Instead, the conflict was flattened into a series of tit-for-tat exchanges, with Palestinian resistance divorced from any historical or legal context. Grotesque distortion The result? A grotesque distortion of reality in which the structural violence inflicted by one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world, against a besieged population of two million people, is erased in favour of empty euphemisms and passive constructions. The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza now exceeds 55,000, most of them women and children. But in BBC coverage, the CfMM report shows, Palestinians were most often described as having 'died' or been 'killed' in air strikes, with no mention of who launched them. Israeli victims, by contrast, were described using more emotive language, such as 'slaughtered', 'massacred' and 'butchered'. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war The CfMM report, published this week, examined more than 35,000 pieces of BBC content related to Israel's war on Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 6 October 2024. The BBC used the word 'massacre' 18 times more often to describe Israeli deaths than Palestinian ones. It offered almost equal numbers of victim profiles for both populations - even though a vastly higher number of Palestinians have been killed. This is not a neutral editorial choice; it is a devaluation of Palestinian lives. And it doesn't stop there. Palestinian guests on BBC programmes were routinely interrogated, interrupted, and pushed to condemn Hamas - as if that were the price of being allowed to speak. Israeli spokespeople, many of whom defended war crimes on air, were treated with deference. Not one Israeli guest was asked to condemn the deliberate bombing of hospitals, refugee camps or schools - despite mountains of evidence and international outrage. This type of editorial blindness is not accidental. It flows from a deeper institutional culture that refuses to see Palestinians as people The asymmetry extends to reporting on hostages and prisoners. Israeli hostages were the subject of intense coverage, complete with emotional interviews, wall-to-wall updates, and sombre, humanising details. Palestinian prisoners - thousands of whom have been held without charge or trial - barely registered. Even in cases of prisoner exchanges, BBC coverage focused almost exclusively on Israeli returnees. Who were the Palestinian prisoners? How long had they been imprisoned? Were they tortured, abused, or denied due process? These questions were largely left unasked and unanswered. This type of editorial blindness is not accidental. It flows from a deeper institutional culture that refuses to see Palestinians as people with legitimate grievances, aspirations and rights; a culture that demands Palestinians speak only as victims or terrorists, never as human beings resisting subjugation. Nowhere is this clearer than in the BBC's treatment of language. The report documents more than 100 instances in which presenters interrupted or challenged guests for using the term 'genocide' to describe Israel's actions in Gaza - even as the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide could proceed. Profound betrayal When it comes to Ukraine, the BBC has no problem platforming such language, with journalists freely invoking allegations of 'war crimes' when describing Russian aggression. But on Israel, the BBC ties itself into rhetorical knots to avoid saying what millions around the world can see with their own eyes: a systematic, unrelenting campaign of annihilation. This is not balance. This is censorship - one that shields the powerful and silences the oppressed. The betrayal is perhaps most profound when it comes to journalists themselves. More than 170 journalists have been killed in Gaza over the course of the war - the deadliest period for media workers in living memory. Yet the BBC saw fit to report on just six percent of those deaths. The graver Israel's atrocities in Gaza, the quieter the BBC grows Read More » These were not nameless casualties. They were mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, documenting their people's suffering with extraordinary courage. Many died with their cameras still in hand. Their deaths should have been a central part of any newsroom's self-reflection. Instead, they were treated as background noise. Compare this with Ukraine, where 62 percent of journalist deaths were covered by the BBC. The disparity speaks volumes. In Gaza, even the deaths of journalists - the people through whom we see the world - are deemed unworthy of sustained attention. Late last year, more than 100 BBC staff signed an open letter warning that the broadcaster was failing in its duty to report fairly on Gaza. They pointed to a culture of fear, editorial double standards, and an unwillingness to allow Palestinian voices and perspectives to be aired without hostility. The BBC defended its coverage of Gaza, saying it was 'transparent' when mistakes were made and 'clear with our audiences on the limitations' of its work due to access restrictions on reporting from the ground. The concerns raised by BBC staff echo those raised in the CfMM's report - and they demand more than a defensive PR response. What's at stake here is not just the BBC's credibility, but the role of media in times of mass violence. The BBC likes to position itself as a global gold standard for journalism. But when its coverage consistently amplifies the voices of the powerful while muting those facing obliteration, it ceases to be a neutral observer. Silence in the face of injustice is not impartiality. The public deserves better. So do the dead Palestinians - and those still living. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Watch as journalist Peter Oborne calls out BBC double standards over Gaza
Peter Oborne, former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph, questioned the BBC's director of news content, Richard Burgess, during the launch of the Centre for Media Monitoring's (CfMM) report on the BBC's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza. The 188-page document analysed the broadcaster's coverage between October 7, 2023, and October 6, 2024, and found a 'pattern of bias, double standards and silencing of Palestinian voices' by the BBC. Despite there being 34 times more Palestinian deaths, the CfMM found this was not reflected in the number of victim profiles the BBC ran for Palestinians (279) and Israelis (201). READ MORE: Kneecap 'plaster' London with support messages for band member in court Findings also showed that the BBC interviewed twice as many Israelis as Palestinians when reporting on Gaza, and despite Israel being credibly accused of committing genocide in Gaza, the CfMM said BBC presenters interrupted or dismissed genocide claims more than 100 times, yet made no mention of genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders. 'You never educated your audience about the genocidal remarks, and according to this report on 100 occasions, 100 occasions, you've closed down the references to genocide by your guests,' Oborne said to Burgess. 'This makes you complicit,' he said. Peter Oborne calls out the BBC's Director of News Content for double standards and dehumanising coverage of Palestinians. He spoke for the public. — Hamza Yusuf (@Hamza_a96) June 17, 2025 Obrone argued that it is a 'grotesque omission' by the BBC to only mention the Dahiya doctrine, an Israeli military strategy involving the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure, in passing once. He added that people cannot understand what has been going on in Gaza in the last two years without the historical context of the Dahiya doctrine. The report also showed that when compared with the BBC's coverage of the war in Ukraine, the BBC mentioned Russian war crimes 2.6 times more than Israeli ones and used sympathetic language for Ukrainian victims two times more than for Palestinians. Oborne added: 'I can't believe what I'm going to say, this figure of 6%, 170 something journalists murdered by Israel. 'The BBC's only bothered to report 6% of them, whereas you duly reported 60% of Ukrainian journalists.' During the report's launch on Tuesday, the CfMM, which is a project by the Muslim Council of Britain, called for an independent public review of the BBC's reporting on Gaza. The CfMM said: 'This report is evidence-based, rigorous and damning. The BBC must reform.' Commenting on the report, Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said: 'In spite of the genocidal rhetoric of the Israeli leadership, the media persisted in projecting an inaccurate equivalence, distorting realities on the ground.' Following the reports publication a BBC spokesperson said: 'We welcome scrutiny and reflect on all feedback. Throughout our impartial reporting on the conflict we have made clear the devastating human cost to civilians living in Gaza. We will continue to give careful thought to how we do this. 'We believe it is imperative that our journalists have access to Gaza, and we continue to call on the Israeli government to grant this. 'We agree that language is vitally important but we have some questions about what appears to be a reliance on AI to analyse it in this report, and we do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words. We make our own, independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise. 'However, we will consider the report carefully and study its findings in detail.'
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Peter Oborne calls out BBC double standards over Gaza coverage
Peter Oborne, former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph, questioned the BBC's Director of News Content, Richard Burgess, during the launch of the Centre for Media Monitoring's (CfMM) report on the BBC's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza. The 188-page document analysed the broadcaster's coverage between October 7, 2023, and October 6, 2024, and found a 'pattern of bias, double standards and silencing of Palestinian voices' by the BBC. Despite there being 34 times more Palestinian deaths, the CfMM found this was not reflected in the number of victim profiles the BBC ran for Palestinians (279) and Israelis (201). READ MORE: Kneecap 'plaster' London with support messages for band member in court Findings also showed that the BBC interviewed twice as many Israelis as Palestinians when reporting on Gaza, and despite Israel being credibly accused of committing genocide in Gaza, the CfMM said BBC presenters interrupted or dismissed genocide claims more than 100 times, yet made no mention of genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders. 'You never educated your audience about the genocidal remarks, and according to this report on 100 occasions, 100 occasions, you've closed down the references to genocide by your guests,' Oborne said to Burgess. 'This makes you complicit,' he said. Peter Oborne calls out the BBC's Director of News Content for double standards and dehumanising coverage of Palestinians. He spoke for the public. — Hamza Yusuf (@Hamza_a96) June 17, 2025 Obrone argued that it is a 'grotesque omission' by the BBC to only mention the Dahiya doctrine, an Israeli military strategy involving the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure, in passing once. He added that people cannot understand what has been going on in Gaza in the last two years without the historical context of the Dahiya doctrine. The report also showed that when compared with the BBC's coverage of the war in Ukraine, the BBC mentioned Russian war crimes 2.6 times more than Israeli ones and used sympathetic language for Ukrainian victims two times more than for Palestinians. Oborne added: 'I can't believe what I'm going to say, this figure of 6%, 170 something journalists murdered by Israel. 'The BBC's only bothered to report 6% of them, whereas you duly reported 60% of Ukrainian journalists.' During the report's launch on Tuesday, the CfMM, which is a project by the Muslim Council of Britain, called for an independent public review of the BBC's reporting on Gaza. The CfMM said: 'This report is evidence-based, rigorous and damning. The BBC must reform.' Commenting on the report, Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said: 'In spite of the genocidal rhetoric of the Israeli leadership, the media persisted in projecting an inaccurate equivalence, distorting realities on the ground.' Following the reports publication a BBC spokesperson said: 'We welcome scrutiny and reflect on all feedback. Throughout our impartial reporting on the conflict we have made clear the devastating human cost to civilians living in Gaza. We will continue to give careful thought to how we do this. 'We believe it is imperative that our journalists have access to Gaza, and we continue to call on the Israeli government to grant this. 'We agree that language is vitally important but we have some questions about what appears to be a reliance on AI to analyse it in this report, and we do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words. We make our own, independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise. 'However, we will consider the report carefully and study its findings in detail.'
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
BBC's 'pattern of bias' on Gaza and clash with Scottish minister
Welcome to this week's Media Watch. Remember you can sign up to receive this newsletter for free every week by clicking the banner above. Fresh report on BBC 'bias' in Gaza coverage We have been covering accusations of bias over the BBC's reporting of Israel's assault on Gaza for some time now, and a fresh report has now found the broadcaster has demonstrated 'double standards and the silencing of Palestinian voices'. The Centre of Media Monitoring (CfMM) analysed the BBC's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza between October 7 2023 and October 6 2024, looking at 3873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments. Despite there being 34 times more Palestinian deaths, the CfMM found this was not reflected in the number of victim profiles the BBC ran for Palestinians (279) and Israelis (201). During the timeframe analysed by the CfMM, 42,010 Palestinians and 1246 Israelis were killed. The death toll in Gaza has now reached more than 55,000 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children. READ MORE: Rest of Madleen crew released after being detained by Israel The report also found that the BBC interviewed twice as many Israelis as Palestinians when reporting on Gaza. During the analysis period, the BBC interviewed 2350 Israelis compared to 1085 Palestinians. The CfMM said that while the BBC asked 38 guests to condemn Hamas, it asked zero to condemn Israel's mass killing of civilians. The report concluded there is 'a pattern of bias' in the BBC's coverage. Despite Israel being credibly accused of committing genocide in Gaza, the CfMM said BBC presenters interrupted or dismissed genocide claims more than 100 times, yet made no mention of genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders. Further, the term "war crimes" in relation to Israeli violence against Palestinians was mentioned in only 121 BBC articles analysed – just 3 per cent of the total. When the BBC was asked about the report, it said there appeared to have been 'some reliance on AI' to analyse language adding 'we do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words'. (Image: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) 'We make our own, independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise,' a spokesperson said. The report comes after Dr Tom Mills, who analysed the corporation in The BBC: Myth of a Public Service in 2016, collected data via Nexis UK earlier this year to determine how often the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or International Criminal Court (ICC) is mentioned in BBC news reports in relation to Israel and Gaza coverage. Mills found the bodies were "almost never" mentioned. In more than 200 BBC1 reports he collected mentioning Israel and Gaza between February 20 and March 19 this year, the institutions were only mentioned five times. This is despite the ICJ saying Israel is under an obligation to end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as rapidly as possible, cease all new settlement activities, evacuate settlers, and make reparations for damages caused. Scottish minister clashes with BBC presenter Elsewhere, SNP minister Gillian Martin has clashed with a BBC Radio Scotland presenter over Scottish independence. The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy appeared on Radio Scotland on Monday morning and dismissed claims that the First Minister John Swinney had not spoken with the Prime Minister about Scottish independence. She appeared on the show to discuss the Scottish Government's plans on how to mitigate waste when "black bag" waste is banned from being buried in landfills at the end of the year. READ MORE: UK must 'constrain Israel' after attacks on Iran, John Swinney says According to the BBC, up to 100 truckloads of Scotland's waste could be transported each day to England once a landfill ban comes into effect. However, Martin argued that the measure was only temporary while local authorities adjusted to the change in waste policy. Shortly after this discussion, Radio Scotland host Laura Maxwell changed the topic towards independence as she highlighted that Swinney is set to deliver a speech in Edinburgh on Tuesday outlining how self-determination could achieve Scotland's long-term goals. After saying that independence was the right route forward for Scotland, Maxwell then interrupted Martin, asking: 'In a couple of sentences, just lay out how the current government plans to achieve independence.' Martin replied: 'Scottish independence will happen when the majority of people in Scotland want it.' However, Martin was again only seconds into her reply when Maxwell cut her off again by saying: 'That's the political argument, but actually doing it, how do you plan to achieve it?' Martin replied: 'It is an untenable situation for the UK Government to deny democracy to the people of Scotland. 'If they vote for independence-promoting parties, then there has to be a rethink.' Martin also suggested she did not believe Keir Starmer when said Swinney had not broached the subject with independence with him.
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza shows 'pattern of bias'
The 188-page report from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), published on Monday, analysed the BBC's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza between October 7, 2023 and October 6, 2024, looking at 3873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments. Despite there being 34 times more Palestinian deaths, the CfMM found this was not reflected in the number of victim profiles the BBC ran for Palestinians (279) and Israelis (201). READ MORE: Windows smashed and graffiti sprayed on BBC building in Gaza protest During the timeframe analysed by the CfMM, 42,010 Palestinians and 1246 Israelis were killed. The death toll in Gaza has now reached more than 55,000 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children. The report found that the BBC interviewed twice as many Israelis as Palestinians when reporting on Gaza. During the analysis period, the BBC interviewed 2350 Israelis compared to 1085 Palestinians. The CfMM said that while the BBC asked 38 guests to condemn Hamas, it asked zero to condemn Israel's mass killing of civilians. And despite Israel being credibly accused of committing genocide in Gaza, the CfMM said BBC presenters interrupted or dismissed genocide claims more than 100 times, yet made no mention of genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders. Further, the term "war crimes" in relation to Israeli violence against Palestinians was mentioned in only 121 BBC articles analysed by the CfMM – just 3% of the total. When it comes to the words used by the BBC when discussing Gaza, the CfMM said that the BBC "deploys a hierarchy of language for Israelis and Palestinians", as it found that emotive language such as "slaughter" and "massacre" was used four times more often when reporting on Israeli deaths than Palestinian. READ MORE: BBC bosses draw up plans to win over Reform UK voters The report also highlights how the words "butchered", "butcher" and "butchering" were used exclusively for Israeli victims by BBC correspondents and presenters, while "murder[ed]" was referenced 220 for actions against Israelis and just once for Palestinians. Further, when reporting on the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the BBC "consistently" referred to Israeli captives as "hostages" and Palestinians detained by Israel, even those held without charge, were labelled as "prisoners". The CfMM said this implied "criminality and reinforc[ed] Israeli government narratives". The BBC was also found to attach the "Hamas-run" qualifier (for example, "Hamas-run health ministry") to Palestinian casualty figures in 1155 articles – almost as many times as the Palestinian death toll was mentioned across BBC articles. The CmFF said this "undermin[ed] Gazan casualties and Palestinian suffering, more generally". When compared with the BBC's coverage of the war in Ukraine, the report states that the broadcaster mentioned Russian war crimes 2.6 times more than Israeli ones and used sympathetic language for Ukrainian victims two times more than for Palestinians. The CfMM, which is a project by the Muslim Council of Britain, called for an independent public review of the BBC's reporting on Gaza. Sharing the report on social media, the CfMM said: "This report is evidence-based, rigorous and damning. The BBC must reform." Commenting on the report, Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said: "In spite of the genocidal rhetoric of the Israeli leadership, the media persisted in projecting an inaccurate equivalence, distorting realities on the ground." READ MORE: BBC issues statement after staff 'held at gunpoint and strip searched' by IDF Meanwhile, Karishma Patel, a former BBC journalist who left the corporation last October because of its Gaza coverage, said: "I could see every editorial failure in this report playing out as it happened, and now the data is utterly clear in supporting what I witnessed." And Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said: "Most mainstream media have failed in their most basic duty: they have largely manufactured consent, enabling a genocide in real time." A BBC spokesperson said: 'We welcome scrutiny and reflect on all feedback. Throughout our impartial reporting on the conflict we have made clear the devastating human cost to civilians living in Gaza. We will continue to give careful thought to how we do this. 'We believe it is imperative that our journalists have access to Gaza, and we continue to call on the Israeli government to grant this. 'We agree that language is vitally important but we have some questions about what appears to be a reliance on AI to analyse it in this report, and we do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words. We make our own, independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise. 'However, we will consider the report carefully and study its findings in detail.'
