BBC ARABIC PRESENTERS: MISINFORMATION, DOUBLE STANDARDS AND BIAS

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A post by CAMERA Arabic.

Following the recent Jerusalem Post report about the way in which BBC Arabic presenters relate to Israeli and pro-Israel guests, the BBC replied as follows:

“BBC News Arabic invites a range of contributors on our programmes as we are committed to hearing from a broad spectrum of voices and perspectives.

Our journalists routinely question and challenge the views of contributors, as our audiences would expect. As with all our services, BBC News Arabic is committed to achieving due impartiality across its output.”

Below are video segments (all but one edited and translated by CAMERA Arabic) to help our readers understand just how far removed from reality that statement is.

Nour Eddine Zorgui’s misinformation and false equivalence:

The impartiality of BBC Arabic presenter Nour Eddine Zorgui towards Israel has been tainted on multiple occasions, as covered before the war both on our website and at the Jewish Chronicle. Since October 7th, live studio appearances have seen Zorgui:

  • Denying the fact that UK law criminalises Hamas.
  • Defending the false equivalence between underage stabbers and rioters on the one hand and kidnapped children, including infants, on the other (i.e. the Palestinian prisoners vs. the Israeli hostages released last November).
  • Speculating that Western governments turning against Israel (taking a more “pragmatic” and “balanced” approach, in his view) would help them in preventing terrorist attacks against their own citizens.
  • Spreading misinformation about Hamas, while risibly insisting he “does not defend” the terrorist organization. Thus, he denied the 7/10 rapes; argued that Hamas’s 1988 antisemitic charter which calls for Israel’s destruction is no longer in effect (even the BBC itself acknowledged that error); and claimed that Hamas refrained from killing civilians before the 1994 massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs (between September 1993 and February 1994, Hamas claimed responsibility for killing eleven Israeli civilians – in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel’s internationally recognised territory).

 

Akram Shaban’s misinformation, false equivalence and double standards:

Since October 7th, in interviews with Israeli speakers, BBC presenter Akram Shaban has:

  • Drawn false equivalence between Hamas targeting Israeli civilians and Israel’s offensive as early as 6 days into the war.
  • Denied the 7/10 rapes and the burning of children.
  • Speculated that Hamas terrorists who killed civilians in Jerusalem during the ceasefire did so because of exposure to scenes from Gaza.

However, Shaban fell remarkably silent when Palestinian “military expert” Wasef Eriqat argued on air that Hamas only attacked military targets and accused Israel of genocide less than 48 hours after the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip has begun.

 

Mahmoud Alsheikh’s double standards:

BBC presenter Mahmoud Alsheikh was so provoked by a comparison between Hamas and the Islamic State, that he could not allow his Israeli guest – CAMERA advisor Dr. Meir Masri – to use it on air. Not a week before, he was completely indifferent to “expert” Eriqat calling 7/10 a “heroic military miracle” and accusing Israel of “genocide”:

 

Notably, other BBC Arabic programs failed to challenge claims that were even more preposterous such as the allegation that Israel controls international media and that it has been carrying out a “Holocaust” against the Palestinians since its foundation (the first of the two was even uncritically amplified by one of the outlet’s X/Twitter accounts):

 

Issam Abdallah and Sawsan Sabouh’s biased terminology:

As published by author and researcher Elhanan Miller on his X/Twitter account, interviewer Issam Abdallah referred to the entire civilian population of Israel as “settlers” (translation by Elhanan Miller):

 

Sawsan Sabouh, meanwhile, prefers to call Israel’s Ministry of Defense “Ministry of War”:

 

Dina Waqqaf’s refusal to acknowledge prior Hamas statements:

As an October 19th video proves, the public figure most indifferent towards the high death toll is the Gaza Strip is Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who suggested that the Palestinian casualties are necessary sacrifice towards liberation. BBC presenter Dina Waqqaf struggled to accept the existence of the video:

 

 

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