Over Gaza Coverage: Distraught BBC Journalists ‘Cry at Work’

October 26, 2023

BBC journalists have been “crying at work” over their channel’s ‘dehumanizing’ coverage of Palestinians, the Times reported. (Photo: Screenshot)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalists have been “crying at work” over their channel’s ‘dehumanizing’ coverage of Palestinians, the UK-based newspaper Times reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, BBC staff accuse the corporation of being “too lenient” on Israel while deliberately “dehumanizing Palestinian civilians.”

“Many people are feeling disturbed,” The Times quoted a source as saying. 

In an email shared with BBC News’ International staff, reporters have also noted that words such as “atrocities”, “massacre”, and “slaughter” were often used to refer to the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, while Israel’s actions were described using a watered-down language. 

The Times quotes Lebanon-based correspondent Rami Ruhayem as saying that he expressed “the gravest possible concerns” over BBC coverage of the ongoing war.

According to Ruhayem, BBC journalists tend to “go easy” on Israeli officials during interviews, allowing them “comfortable airtime” to justify Israel’s atrocities on Gaza. 

Israel has, thus far, killed over 7,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including nearly 3,000 children, and wounded over 18,000 more. 

Palestinian Ministry of Health reports and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

Israel says that 1,400 of its citizens were killed in Hamas-led attacks on October 7. Many of those killed are soldiers and officers in the Israeli occupation army. 

Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)