The Board of Deputies has called for the BBC to commits to a series of actions in relation to concerns about its reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the wellbeing of Jewish staff during a meeting with Director-General Tim Davie.
A statement issued by Board president Phil Rosenberg said the corporation had been given seven areas of particular concern to address – including a commitment to a “thematic Review into the Corporation’s reporting on Israel-Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
At Thursday’s meeting with Davie, and other members of the senior leadership of the BBC, the Board issued an ultimatum insisting the corporation must commit to a clear series of actions ahead of the Passover Festival – beginning 12th April – at the latest.
The demands raised by the Board included: Formalising a commitment – with a timeframe – for an independent Thematic Review into the Corporation’s reporting on Israel-Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
A requirement for the BBC to consistently, across all its media platforms, inform their audience of the status of all organisations proscribed as terrorist groups by the British Government – including both Hamas and Hezbollah.
Calling for the BBC to rapidly change its current editorial policy of mistranslating the words “Yahud/Yahudi” – which mean “Jew/Jews” – as “Israeli/Israelis” when cited by Palestinians.
Making pledges: Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies
A ‘one-strike’ policy when its staff are found to have egregiously breached its rules of impartiality and or antisemitism.
A separate review of its BBC Arabic network, where multiple members of staff were found to have openly celebrated the mass-terror attack of October 7th and were briefly suspended – before being allowed to return to their jobs, which have included subsequent reporting on Israel.
A means of rapidly addressing serious editorial breaches.
And urgently addressing the serious deterioration in the health and well-being of Jewish staff, including a sense of pervasive hostility and isolation, over the last 18 months.
After the meeting Rosenberg said:“The Board of Deputies has met the Director-General and Senior Leadership of the BBC to discuss what it needs to do to address concerns about its reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the wellbeing of Jewish staff.
“We told them that the current situation was not good enough and needs to change. We called for the Corporation to commit to a clear series of actions ahead of the Passover Festival – beginning 12th April – at the latest.
“The British Jewish community has long been sounding the alarm regarding BBC misreporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; not just for years, but for decades.
“The refusal by the Corporation to commit to proper change has led to the situation it now finds itself in – one where a significant number of errors in its coverage have been logged during the last 17 months and a situation where the son of a senior Hamas official narrated its recent Gaza documentary.
“The BBC leadership needs to grip the issue with a seriousness and urgency we have not yet seen.
“We found the BBC to be active listeners to our concerns. But the community will judge them on the actions they take to address these serious matters.
“The Festival of Passover begins in mid-April. We believe that this is enough time for the BBC to demonstrate its determination to begin the significant changes which need to take place in order for it to return to the high standards we all expect from our national public broadcaster.”
