\nAbdullah Al-Yazouri, the son of a senior Hamas official, who narrated the BBC documentary. (credit: screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Under the BBC’s appeals system, complaints that are rejected can be escalated to the Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU), which acts as the broadcaster’s internal regulatory body.<\/p>\n
For BBC Arabic, ECU rulings are final, and domestic watchdog Ofcom does not intervene.<\/p>\n
Out of the decisions that were rejected, CAMERA appealed on 31 occasions, with 22 being rejected, while nine await an outcome.<\/p>\n
The report noted two examples of rejected appeals, including one where the activists asked the broadcaster to reconsider a story that referred to dead Hamas terrorists, but did not mention their affiliation with the terror organization.<\/p>\n
Another instance concerned a profile of slain Hamas arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif, which included “accusations” that he had killed civilians, rather than insinuating any evidence.<\/p>\n
“While claiming to \u2018assess complaints independently,\u2019 the BBC\u2019s Executive Complaints Unit has failed to uphold even a single one about BBC Arabic\u2019s output over more than two years of war \u2013 revealing that, in practice, it serves not as an impartial watchdog but rather as a rubber stamp for the service\u2019s misinformation and bias,” a CAMERA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“Both BBC Arabic editors and the ECU have repeatedly dismissed our concerns, sometimes gaslighting us and other times throwing up arbitrary and even Kafkaesque bureaucratic hurdles when complaints were underway,” the activist group added.<\/p>\n
“BBC News Arabic strives for the highest standards of journalism. Whenever mistakes are made or clarifications are needed, we take action to ensure clarity and accuracy for our audiences,” the broadcaster responded.<\/p>\n
Political figures across parties denounce BBC’s ‘blind eye, blanket dismissals’<\/h3>\n “If the BBC is to regain trust after this crisis, its commitment to impartiality cannot stop at Britain\u2019s borders,” opposition leader Kemi Badenoch (Conservatives) said.<\/p>\n
“The blind eye turned to the antisemitism on BBC Arabic is heinous,” Badenoch added, affirming that the British public broadcaster needs to be reformed.<\/p>\n
MP Damien Egan (Labour), the vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, denounced the broadcaster’s “blanket dismissals” as “evidence of deep, institutional failings and a culture of denial.”<\/p>\n
“The BBC must ensure that its Arabic coverage reflects the high standards and isn\u2019t a channel more interested in confirming prejudices than reporting the facts,” Egan added.<\/p>\n
MP Richard Tice (Reform) said that BBC Arabic “has serious questions to answer [and] must prove it is not just a pro-Hamas mouthpiece.”<\/p>\n
“Every complainant, not just Jewish viewers, has been incensed by the delays, the total defensiveness of the editors, and failing to uphold procedural natural justice,” Baroness Ruth Deech (Crossbench) said.<\/p>\n
Deech insisted on an “outside expert ombudsman” to handle the Arabic-language service, affirming her view that it is a “swamp of antisemitism and Israel hatred.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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