An episode of the recent BBC Arabic programme, “Trending”, has been taken down by the broadcaster after it stirred debate over the accuracy of its coverage of the Hamas attack on Kfar Aza kibbutz leading.
The attack on October 7 led to tragic deaths, including families and children, after 70 terrorists infiltrating the peaceful farming community of 750 residents.
The programme suggested that there were ‘different versions of the story’, and Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen was ‘simply repeating what he had been told by Israeli forces’.
Initially, the BBC’s headline read, “Hamas rejects accusations that its gunmen carried out atrocities in the Israeli Kfar Aza village”.
Later, the report was removed from the BBC website and YouTube due to ‘failing to meet editorial standards’.
A BBC spokesman said: “This report was quickly removed from BBC output as it failed to meet our editorial standards.
“It should not have remained on YouTube, it has been taken down and we are looking into how it remained accessible.”
It follows the BBC’s investigation into claims that its journalists appeared to justify Hamas’ killing of Israeli civilians.
BBC News Arabic faced criticism for comments likening Hamas to freedom fighters. The BBC has been pressured to call Hamas terrorists, but it cites impartiality rules.
Mishal Husain of BBC Radio 4’s Today explained their adherence to Ofcom guidelines but later, Ofcom stated it was up to broadcasters to choose their vocabulary.
During these debates, Downing Street clarified there is no restriction on the BBC calling Hamas fighters terrorists.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think ministers have set out our position on this already. The legal position is that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group – the term terrorist is an accurate legal description.
“The BBC has described other attacks as terrorism – 9/11, 7/7, the Bataclan. To put it into context, the attack we witnessed in Israel was the third-deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970.
“So there is no restriction on the BBC using that term, certainly not from Ofcom who have made it clear that, as long as they meet Ofcom rules on accuracy in news and due impartiality in news, it is for broadcasters to think about very carefully what they use to describe unfolding events.”
He added: “A number of reporting organisations are accurately describing Hamas as a terrorist group. I think accuracy is important in the circumstances.”
