BBC audiences could by now be forgiven for believing that their national broadcaster is more than willing to uncritically parrot any and every anti-Israel claim made by ‘acceptable’ organisations and individuals, UN bodies and representatives or inadequately presented ‘human rights’ NGOs.
Only last month the BBC News website gave extensive promotion to a highly problematic report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in five different items of content.
BBC COVERAGE OF THE IPC GAZA CITY FAMINE REPORT – PART ONE
BBC COVERAGE OF THE IPC GAZA CITY FAMINE REPORT – PART TWO
Since the publication of those items, the BBC – including its ‘fact checking’ department BBC Verify – has made no effort whatsoever to independently analyse that report’s much criticised methodology, to inform its audiences of the findings of people who did conduct such analyses or to report on the relevant topic of the IPC’s response to criticisms.
Just a couple of weeks later, the writer of one of those items (which was subjectively titled “How Israel’s policies created famine in Gaza”) was back to provide BBC wind to the sails of yet another ‘declaration’ condemning Israel.
Published on the evening of September 1st, that article by Emir Nader is headlined “Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s leading experts say” and opens as follows:
“The world’s leading association of genocide scholars has declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
A resolution passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) states that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as laid out in the UN convention on genocide.”
Had Nader bothered to take a closer look at “the world’s leading association of genocide scholars”, he would have discovered that anyone with a credit card could – and indeed did – join that organisation, at least until that was made public and the IAGS later scrubbed parts of its website and social media.
Readers of Nader’s report are told that:
“The IAGS is the world’s largest professional association of genocide scholars and includes a number of Holocaust experts. Out of its 500 members, 28% took part in the vote and 86% of those who voted supported the resolution.”
Nader does not however inform BBC audiences that according to some members of the IAGS, that resolution was passed without a debate having been held or that any paid up member – ‘scholar’, ‘expert’ or not – could vote.
Nader goes on to tell his readers that:
“Across a three-page resolution, the IAGS presents a litany of actions undertaken by Israel throughout the 22-month-long war that it recognises as constituting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
He does not however inform BBC audiences that the supposed “actions undertaken by Israel” cited in that “three-page resolution” are not based on any independent research carried out by the IAGS itself but rather on claims made by a variety of sources including the UN agency – UNRWA – that had to fire employees also working for Hamas, anti-Israel NGOs such as ‘Human Rights Watch’, ‘Amnesty International’, ‘Medecins Sans Frontiers’ and the Hamas-linked ‘Euro-Med Monitor’, the Turkish state media outlet ‘Anadolu’, the Qatari funded outlet ‘Middle East Eye’ and the antisemitic UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
Interestingly, the IAGS resolution also links to a February 2025 BBC News website report to support its claim that Israel’s prime minister has “endorsed the current US President’s plan to forcibly expel all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip”. Nader’s description of that part of the resolution fails to provide readers with context such as the highly relevant issue of Hamas’ use of human shields, its underground tunnel network or long-known Hamas tactics such as booby-trapping buildings with explosives and placing IEDs on roads.
“The resolution also highlights the support among Israeli leaders for the forced expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza, alongside Israel’s near-total demolition of housing in the territory.
The IAGS notes the statements by Israeli leaders dehumanising Palestinians in Gaza, characterising them all as the enemy, alongside promises to “flatten Gaza” and turn it into “hell”.”
Similarly, Nader’s uncritical description of the IAGS resolution (which was praised by Hamas) ignores context such as the fact that the Hamas-supplied – and UN quoted – casualty figures it uses deliberately fail to differentiate between civilians and combatants. Likewise, he fails to make any mention of Israel’s considerable efforts to facilitate humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the population of the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, later in the report he tells readers about “restrictions” that do not exist:
“In August, the UN-backed food monitor, the IPC, confirmed that famine was taking place in parts of Gaza. Israel is accused of causing the famine through ongoing restrictions on food and medical aid entering Gaza.”
Linking to one of his own previous reports promoting similar allegations from the political NGOs ‘B’tselem’ and ‘Physicians for Human Rights’, but failing to tell readers about the ‘moving of goalposts’ by B’tselem and other NGOs cited by the IAGS, Nader tells his readers that:
“A number of leading rights organisations, including two Israeli organisations, have also declared they believe Israel is committing genocide.”
Nader also tells his readers that:
“The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, is currently considering a case brought by South Africa in 2023 that argues that Israel is committing genocide. The ICJ has not yet made a determination on the subject and has granted Israel an extension until January 2026 to present its defence.”
He does not however reveal to readers that the IAGS resolution includes disinformation on the subject of the ICJ ruling of January 2024.
With nothing to tell BBC audiences about Egypt’s closure of the Rafah crossing, Nader closes his report with the following dubious claims:
“Israel controls all border crossings into the Gaza Strip, and as the occupying power bears responsibility for protecting civilian life under international law, which includes the prevention of starvation.”
Once again we see that the BBC was quick off the mark to uncritically amplify a political campaign intended to discredit Israel, this time using the false narrative of ‘genocide’.
Nader’s failure to provide BBC audiences with the context essential for proper understanding of the issue, or to fact-check any of the claims made in the shoddy ‘resolution’ he blindly promotes, means that rather than reporting on this story, all he and his editors did – yet again – was hand a ‘no questions asked’ virtual microphone to the political activists behind a badly disguised smear campaign.
