BBC workers revolt, slamming bosses for ‘performing PR for the Israeli government’

Over 400 media workers, including 111 BBC journalists, have slammed the organisation’s bias in favour of Israel. Releasing an open letter on the same day Channel 4 broadcast a Gaza documentary the BBC had refused to show, they insisted that it was “untenable” for pro-Israel right-winger Robbie Gibb to continue in his role on the board and editorial standards committee.

“PR for the Israeli government and military”

The signatories said:

All too often it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military. This should be a cause of great shame and concern for everyone at the BBC.

In their opinion:

The BBC’s editorial decisions seem increasingly out of step with reality. We have been forced to conclude that decisions are made to fit a political agenda

And regarding the BBC‘s “political decision” to reject the Gaza documentary, they added:

We believe the refusal to broadcast the documentary ‘Gaza: Medics Under Fire’ is just one in a long line of agenda driven decisions.

They also stressed that the public’s access to a wide range of sources makes the BBC‘s bias all the more apparent:

There is a gulf between the BBC’s coverage of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank and what our audiences can see is happening via multiple credible sources including human rights organisations, staff at the UN and journalists on the ground.

An insider told MailOnline:

The people at commissioner level who are experienced journalists and take these decisions on an almost daily basis are being overruled by people who are pretending to be journalists. There’s open revolt [at the BBC].

“Much of the BBC’s coverage in this area is defined by anti-Palestinian racism”

The letter lamented that:

As an organisation we have not offered any significant analysis of the UK government’s involvement in the war on Palestinians. We have failed to report on weapons sales or their legal implications.

And its not just arms transfers for war crimes. Because in January, we reported on a Declassified UK analysis of the BBC‘s woeful lack of context regarding Britain’s involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It highlighted the absence of coverage of: an Israeli military chief’s visit to the UK; British intelligence or military presence in Israel; the use of British airspace for supplying weapons to Israel; the 2023 ‘Roadmap’ agreement regarding UK-Israeli military collaboration, a secret 2020 military agreement, and ongoing free-trade negotiations; the arrest and intimidation of pro-Palestinian journalists and campaigners in the UK; and the influence of the pro-Israel lobby in parliament. It also emphasised the minimal mentions of RAF Akrotiri‘s participation in the genocide.

The BBC, the letter said, has a huge “fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government”. And it added:

This hasn’t happened by accident, rather by design. Much of the BBC’s coverage in this area is defined by anti-Palestinian racism.

Robbie Gibb’s links to the Conservative Party and pro-Israel propaganda outlet the Jewish Chronicle are a particular focus. As the letter stressed:

We are concerned that an individual with close ties to the Jewish Chronicle, an outlet that has repeatedly published anti-Palestinian and often racist content, has a say in the BBC’s editorial decisions in any capacity, including the decision not to broadcast ‘Gaza: Medics Under Fire’.

Despite his clear “conflict of interest”, it asserted, he continues in his positions while reporters have “experienced censorship in the name of ‘impartiality’”:

Gibb remains in an influential post with little transparency regarding his decisions despite his ideological leanings being well known. We can no longer ask licence fee payers to overlook Gibbs’s ideological allegiances.

“Opaque editorial decisions and censorship”

The BBC has ‘fallen short’ of the standards it claims to uphold. And the letter lamented that:

news in particular has failed to report the reality and the context of the war on Palestinians.

Referring to Israel’s recent unprovoked attack on Iran and the ensuing escalations, it said:

Again, BBC coverage has appeared to downplay Israel’s role, reinforcing an ‘Israel first’ framing that compromises our credibility.

It added that “opaque editorial decisions and censorship” have meant the organisation is “not reporting ‘without fear or favour’ when it comes to Israel”. And it stressed:

For many of us, our efforts have been frustrated by opaque decisions made at senior levels of the BBC without discussion or explanation.

The journalists aren’t asking for much. As they emphasised:

We are asking to be allowed to do our jobs in delivering facts transparently and with due context.

And they clearly think the pro-Israel bias of high-level figures like Gibb is what’s stopping them from doing so.

Featured image via the Canary