On the afternoon of August 3rd the BBC News website published a report headlined “Israeli minister sparks anger by praying at sensitive Jerusalem holy site”.
The original version of that report – which is credited to “Hugo Bachega, Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem & Alys Davies in London” – opened by telling readers that: [emphasis added]
“Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and prayed there, violating a decades-old arrangement covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.
Photos and videos of his visit show Ben-Gvir leading Jewish prayers at the compound, which is known by Jews as the Temple Mount, in occupied East Jerusalem.”
Four hours later an amendment was made to that report but those opening paragraphs remained untouched.
The following day – some seventeen hours after its initial appearance – someone at the BBC News website apparently remembered that the BBC has a related style guide entry.
The opening paragraphs of the report were amended to read as follows:
“Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has prayed at a disputed holy site in occupied East Jerusalem, violating a decades-old arrangement at one of the most sensitive places in the Middle East.
Photos and videos of his visit to the site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount show Ben-Gvir leading Jewish prayers there. The site is also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.”
As readers may recall, the BBC began to adopt the politicised terminology “Al Aqsa Mosque compound” – or even just “Al Aqsa Mosque” – to describe the area that its style guide says should be referred to as Temple Mount and Haram al-Sharif immediately after the November 2014 publication of a PLO ‘media advisory’.
MAPPING CHANGES IN THE TERMINOLOGY USED BY THE BBC TO DESCRIBE TEMPLE MOUNT
PLO RECOMMENDED TERMINOLOGY CONTINUES TO APPEAR IN BBC CONTENT
PLO TERMINOLOGY RETURNS IN BBC JERUSALEM DAY REPORT
BBC NEWS REPORT ON JERUSALEM VIOLENCE PROMOTES A PARTIAL NARRATIVE
BBC NEWS PROVIDES A STAGE FOR ISLAMIST NARRATIVE ON TEMPLE MOUNT
BBC AGAIN PROMOTES PLO NARRATIVE IN TEMPLE MOUNT REPORTS
The two earlier versions of Bachega and Davies’ report told BBC audiences that “Praying at the site breaks a long-time arrangement that allows Jews to visit the site but not pray” while the latest version states “Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there”. All versions of the report include the following:
“The Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying there had been no change to Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo agreement that allows only Muslim worship there.”
And:
“Palestinians accuse Israel of taking steps to undermine the arrangements and complain that in recent years Jewish visitors have often been seen praying without being stopped by Israeli police.”
Notably, Bachega and Davies had nothing to tell BBC audiences about other changes to that “status quo agreement” over the years, which include four new mosques, limitations on entry routes for non-Muslims and restrictions on visiting times.
They did however find fit to provide amplification for statements from parties including a designated terrorist organisation:
“Jordan, custodian of the site, called Ben-Gvir’s latest visit “an unacceptable provocation”.
Hamas called it “a deepening of the ongoing aggressions against our Palestinian people”, while a spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the visit “crossed all red lines”.”
All versions of the report employ the BBC’s usual tactic of reporting history as having begun in June 1967:
“The site is the holiest place for Jews because it was the location of two Biblical temples. It is the third holiest place for Muslims, who believe it was where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
It was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Under the status quo, Jordan was allowed to continue its historical role as custodian of the site, while Israel assumed control of security and access.”
As is overwhelmingly the case in BBC content, Bachega and Davies have nothing whatsoever to tell their readers about Jordan’s illegal invasion and 19-year occupation of parts of Jerusalem, during which Jews and Israeli Arabs were denied access to their holy sites.
As we have observed here in the past, whatever one’s views on Itamar Ben Gvir’s visits to Temple Mount (or on discriminatory restrictions on visits and prayer by non-Muslims in general), it is obvious that BBC audiences cannot fully understand such stories – and their relevance to current affairs – if they are not provided with an accurate and impartial account of the history of Temple Mount and if the BBC continues to employ politicised terminology, despite instructions to the contrary in its own style guide.
Related Articles:
THE BBC AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT STATUS QUO
MORE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED ERASURE OF JERUSALEM HISTORY BY BBC NEWS
Complaint sent to Tim Davie on 5 August 2025
Dear Mr. Davie,
It appears the BBC has taken upon itself as a matter of policy to promote a pro-Palestinian agenda in all its news and opinion outlets.
The attached screen shot from yesterday confirms this when the text below the headline reads “Far right Itamar Ben – Gvir prayed at Jerusalem’s al-Aksa mosque compound violating a decades old arrangement”.
The minister actually prayed on the Temple Mount known for many centuries as the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif – in Arabic).
Extensive historical evidence exists to confirm that the Temple Mount was known as such and not as the BBC politically reported it as al-Aksa mosque compound. Such evidence extends to recent documents published in 1987 “Mamluk Jerusalem – an architectural study” by Michael Hamilton Burgoyne ISBN 0 905035 33X published on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by World Islam Festival Trust. The publication was supported by King Hussein I and Queen Noor with donations made to the cost of publication by:-
His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sulltan al Nahayyan
Diana Tamari Sabbagh Foundation
Al Tajir Trust
His Highness the Amir of Qatar
The Royal Palace, Amman
The Arab Bank
Mr. Abdu l Muhsen al-Qattan
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, London
Al-Saudi Banque, Paris
Welfare Association, Geneva
Nowhere in the text of this definitive study of 622 pages was the Noble Sanctuary defined as the al-Aksa compound, on the contrary it is stated to be Haram al –Sharif and nothing else in Arabic.
The BBC has deliberately besmirched the connection of the Temple Mount with Judaism and this act must be seen for what it is – anti Semitic.
Islam, founded in 610 CE has two holy sites in Saudi Arabia, Mecca and Medina yet Judaism’s connection to the Temple Mount goes back 3000 years to the time of King David as recorded in the Bible is being deliberately denied by the BBC!
Of course the BBC also failed to mention that according to the Jewish Calendar, yesterday marked the 1955 anniversary of the destruction of the Temple on the Temple Mount by the Romans in 70 CE, hence the reason for the minister’s ascent!