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Israel’s war on Palestinians from the outset has been fought in the media, and even at a more aggressive level since October 2023. Israel has poured huge resources into its propaganda drive, to persuade particularly Western powers that its war and actions were justified. It has denied journalists access to Gaza, and killed over 185 Palestinian media workers in the enclave in this period.
Few media networks have been under more sustained Israeli assault than the BBC. Its global reach of 450 million people puts it in the front line of Israeli government efforts. It parades its reputation for impartiality, but as a new data-driven report published last week highlights, when it comes to Palestinians this is far from the case. Some argue the BBC has become complicit in Israel’s war crimes. The Gaza coverage has been like walking on eggshells, the BBC refusing to call out what is going on. The abundant use of the passive voice where the party committing the crime is not identified is a notable feature.
The report from the Center for Media Monitoring, a Muslim Council of Britain project, examined the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza primarily between 7 Oct. 7, 2023 and Oct. 6, 2024. For this 12-month window, a total of 3,873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments were analyzed using AI and human verification.
Some of the findings are jaw dropping. BBC presenters shared the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective (2,340 vs. 217), even when interviewing neutral third parties, such as humanitarian organizations. That is not even close. BBC article headlines referred to Palestinian casualties just two times more than Israeli casualties, despite there having been 34 times more deaths in Gaza.
Some of the findings are jaw dropping
Chris Doyle
Statistics do not tell the whole story, as BBC editors are quick to point out, but this report highlights alarming patterns of coverage. The absence of proper context is stark. Previous Israeli wars and atrocities in Gaza get scant reference. That 70 percent of the population are 1948 refugees is not there. Even with the Israeli war on Iran, no mention is made of Israel’s nuclear arsenal and its refusal to sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The BBC’s coverage of international legal issues is incredibly poor, and again favorable to Israel. The BBC rarely used occupation to describe the legal status of Gaza. Only recently did it finally get its international editor to pen a still timid piece on whether Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza. Since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the fact that he is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity is rarely mentioned.
Worse, BBC presenters have actively shut down the widespread debate on whether Israel has been committing genocide in over 100 documented cases according to the report. This is extraordinary since the International Court of Justice determined that the situation in Gaza was so serious it had to order provisional measures against Israel to prevent genocide. That was in January 2024 and the situation is considerably worse now. Most human rights groups have determined Israel is committing genocide.
The widespread use of genocidal comments from Israeli leaders from the president down is also downplayed. This is extraordinary given that this constitutes a stated intent to annihilate Gaza, vital context when Israel obliterates civilian infrastructure, including the healthcare system.
The absence of proper context is stark
Chris Doyle
Remarkably, according to the report, the BBC never once referred to the Hannibal Directive and the Dahiya doctrine. The former, which we now know was invoked on Oct. 7, allows Israeli forces to launch attacks even if they might endanger hostages’ lives, while the latter, certainly deployed in Gaza and Lebanon, permits the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure. These protocols highlight the mentality of the Israeli armed forces.
The report also demonstrated how the BBC’s coverage of Russia’s crimes in Ukraine was so different to Israeli crimes in Gaza. Israel’s attempts to justify its actions were included in 75 percent of articles in that year, but only 17 when it came to Russian actions. Take the killing of journalists. The research found that 62 percent of journalists’ deaths in Ukraine were reported, but only 6 percent of Palestinian journalists’ killings by Israelis.
The BBC’s handling of documentaries echoes the above failures. It already withdrew the documentary “Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone,” which had rave reviews, even in the right-wing media. It then opted not to show a further documentary, “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” on the way in which Israel has targeted the Gaza healthcare system.
Just as Western political leaders have given a green light to Israeli crimes and facilitated a climate of impunity that Israel still enjoys in its attacks on Iran, the BBC and other outlets help to create this permissive environment. In fairness, the BBC has many excellent reporters who have succeeded at times in breaching the managerial and editorial firewall against criticism of Israel with compelling storytelling. But in the overall picture, as this report highlights, the BBC simply continues to give this extremist Israeli government an easy ride.
- Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech