Outrageous Accusation by the BBC

This week’s counter-terrorism raid on Jenin has stirred-up much controversy over the number of Palestinians killed and injured. By Tuesday evening, the death toll among Palestinians had risen to 11, all of whom were terrorists.

However, four of the dead were said to be younger than 18 and thus classified by the United Nations as ‘children’. This led to the BBC broadcasting an outrageous accusation against Israel.

In a BBC News interview with former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennet, the BBC’s Anjana Gadgil stated that the deaths of these young terrorists means that:   "The Israeli forces are happy to kill children."

In response to Bennett pointing out that the 16 and 17-year-old’s who died were terrorists, the BBC presenter persisted with her claim that they should be called children rather than terrorists and that it was, therefore, inappropriate for the Israelis to kill them.

It seems as if the BBC believes it is acceptable for armed Palestinian teenagers to kill Israeli civilians but unacceptable for the Israelis to take action to defend those civilians.

What is worse is that the accusation that "The Israeli forces are happy to kill children" is likely to prompt hatred towards Israelis and towards Jewish people around the world.

UPDATE - THURSDAY 6TH JULY

After complaints from the Jewish community, the BBC issued an apology on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman saying: "While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologise that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate."

However, the spokesman also claimed that "Across the BBC’s platforms - including our news channel - these events have been covered in an impartial and robust way."

While ‘robust’ would seem to be an appropriate term to use, there are many who would question the impartiality of the BBC’s coverage. In December 2022 more than 10,000 people signed a petition demanding an inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of Jews and Israel.