Media executive Danny Cohen on Thursday reported in the Telegraph: “This week at the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee in Parliament BBC executives had an opportunity to speak openly about the serious problems of bias at BBC Arabic since the Israel-Hamas war began. Yet, Tim Davie, the director general, and Jonathan Munro, head of the BBC World Service, missed the opportunity for a mea culpa. Instead, it feels as though the BBC’s leadership has once again gaslit the Jewish community.”
Cohen was the Director of BBC Television from 2013 to 2015, and before that, he was the Controller of the BBC’s principal television channel in the United Kingdom, BBC One, for three years.
In a 2014 interview, Cohen, a prominent figure in London’s Jewish community, remarked that he had “never felt so uncomfortable as a Jew in the UK.” By 2016, his concerns about rising antisemitism had sharpened, particularly regarding the Labour Party. “If you are Jewish, how can you vote for them? How could you?” he asked. “For me, it would be like being a Muslim and voting for Donald Trump. How could you do it?”
Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war, Cohen has emerged as a frequent commentator for The Telegraph, focusing on antisemitism in the UK. He has been notably critical of the BBC’s coverage of the war, accusing the broadcaster of displaying anti-Israel bias.
Cohen noted that when Davie was questioned by MP John Whittingdale about the impartiality of BBC Arabic, he defended the service, asserting it was being managed “pretty well actually.”
Steering clear of deeper scrutiny, Davie deferred to Munro, who assured the MPs that he did not “recognize the picture that’s been painted by some of our critics about BBC Arabic.”
In a bid to bolster this positive portrayal, Cohen continued, the BBC released a statement affirming its commitment to impartial reporting, stating, “BBC News Arabic is committed to covering this challenging and polarizing conflict impartially.”
“At this stage in the conflict it would be possible to provide more than a hundred examples of BBC Arabic’s reporting failures, inaccuracies, and blatant lack of impartiality,” Cohen interjected, recalling several BBC Arabic reporters who faced criticism for expressing sympathy on social media for the Hamas terrorist attacks.
The service has also come under fire for describing Hamas supporters killed in Gaza as “journalists.” In response to mounting scrutiny, the BBC removed several contentious items from its online platforms. Among them was a video that cast doubt on the Kfar Aza kibbutz massacre on October 7, despite extensive evidence and eyewitness accounts documenting the atrocity.
Despite being fully aware of the substantial evidence, BBC executives, including the director general and his leadership team, have refrained from acknowledging issues within BBC Arabic. As public servants, their reluctance to be transparent has drawn sharp criticism. Instead of confronting the problems head-on, they seem more focused on protecting the broadcaster’s reputation than on providing a candid account to the public.
“The BBC World Service is partially funded by the Foreign Office,” Cohen concluded, suggesting “the time has come for the government to take action to ensure that strict impartiality is delivered by BBC Arabic. If the World Service can’t meet these standards why should the Foreign Office and we as license-fee payers continue to pay for it?”
