Much of the outrage has been over the BBC’s Arabic Channel which has been perpetuating a biased narrative against Israel post Oct. 7.
Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon have added their names to an open letter accusing the BBC of anti-Israel bias in its Gaza coverage. They’re part of a growing chorus of more than 200 entertainment industry figures demanding accountability from Britain’s national broadcaster.
The controversy erupted after the BBC aired last month “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” a documentary narrated by 14-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri.
What viewers weren’t told was that Abdullah’s father is Hamas’s deputy minister for agriculture.
Facing intense backlash, BBC director Tim Davie hastily pulled the documentary and was forced to acknowledge “serious flaws” in screening processes when questioned by MPs last Thursday.
It’s an issue that falls flat for the top talent in the industry, including Jewish actresses Mayim Bialik and Debra Messing, who accuse the BBC of making a mockery of its founding principles of fair reporting established by the UK’s Royal Charter.
“It is time for the BBC to acknowledge that it has a systemic problem of bias against Israel, of which this is the tip of the iceberg,” their letter states. “This is a true crisis for the broadcaster, which it is treating as a minor inconvenience whilst its highest-paid presenter is allowed to openly deny there is an issue at all.”
Much of the outrage has been over the BBC’s Arabic Channel which has been perpetuating a biased narrative against Israel post Oct. 7.
BBC Arabic’s Egypt Mean Time program recently hosted Dr. Gamal Salama, an Egyptian commentator who previously praised the Hamas attacks which killed more than 1,200 Israelis as a “brave and courageous operation.”
Meanwhile, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) reports that a retired Egyptian army general who described the massacre as a “month of victory” has been interviewed nine times by BBC News Arabic.
Rather than addressing its anti-Israel bias, the BBC retreated behind empty rhetoric about commitment to a “variety of views.”
“BBC News Arabic is committed to hearing from a range of contributors with a variety of views and perspectives from across Egypt and the wider Middle East. Throughout our coverage, our journalists routinely question and challenge the views of contributors on air, and will continue to do so robustly,” a spokesperson for the BBC said.
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