The BBC has defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as ‘terrorists’ in its coverage of the deadly attacks in Israel, despite a huge backlash.
It comes as the corporation’s veteran foreign correspondent John Simpson defended the coverage claiming ‘calling someone a terrorist means you’re taking sides’.
The broadcaster justified its language use in the name of impartiality, adding its job is to explain ‘precisely what is happening on the ground so audiences can make their own judgement’.
Last night Mr Simpson took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to defend his employers decision, claiming ‘British politicians know full well’ why it avoids using the word terrorist.
He wrote: ‘British politicians know perfectly well why the BBC avoids the word ‘terrorist’, and over the years plenty of them have privately agreed with it.
The BBC has defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as ‘terrorists’ in its coverage of the deadly attacks in Israel
Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson defended the coverage claiming ‘calling someone a terrorist means you’re taking sides’
Last night Mr Simpson took to X, formerly known as Twitter , to defend his employers decision
‘Calling someone a terrorist means you’re taking sides and ceasing to treat the situation with due impartiality.
‘The BBC’s job is to place the facts before its audience and let them decide what they think, honestly and without ranting.
‘That’s why, in Britain and throughout the world, nearly half a billion people watch, listen to and read us. There’s always someone who would like us to rant. Sorry, it’s not what we do.’
Since the conflict broke out five days ago, the BBC has faced fallout from politicians and the Jewish community over its description of the group.
This morning Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the broadcaster to ‘explain’ why it calls Hamas, who became classified as a terrorist group in the UK in 2021, a militant group.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps added that the policy was ‘verging on disgraceful’ and the BBC needed to find its ‘moral compass’.
‘I actually think it is verging on disgraceful, this idea that there is some sort of equivalence, and they’ll always say, well there’s two sides,’ he told LBC.
He added: ‘They are not freedom fighters, they are not militants, they are pure and simple terrorists and it’s remarkable to go to the BBC website and still see them talking about gunmen and militants and not calling them terrorists.’
Houses are left in ruins in southern Israel after Hamas militants shot at and killed civilians in homes days earlier near the border with Gaza
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blasted the BBC for refusing to call the Hamas terrorists before attending Finchley United Synagogue in central London for victims and hostages of Hamas attacks on Monday
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the broadcaster to ‘explain’ why it calls Hamas, who became classified as a terrorist group in the UK in 2021, a militant group
Meanwhile, Britain’s largest Jewish community body slammed the BBC, saying its refusal to call Hamas a terrorist organisation ‘feels little short of obscene’.
The group said it had asked that the Government ‘pushes for an urgent review of the BBC’s guidelines’, saying it is clear that Hamas ‘should be described as what they are – terrorists’.
President of the group, Marie van der Zyl, wrote to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer with her concerns.
Even the former director of television at the BBC, Danny Cohen, expressed disbelief at the organisation’s reluctance to label Hamas as a terror group.
He said earlier this week: ‘This is no time for the BBC or any other UK news organisation to call terrorism anything but what it is.
‘Having worked for the BBC, I understand the delicate balancing act it aims to perform. I also know that the BBC employs a great number of dedicated journalists, committed to their profession and their belief in the important role it plays in a healthy democracy.
‘This is why it makes it even harder to understand why BBC News is unable to see something for what it is – and call it what it is, without prevarication, without qualification.
Palestinian militants fire rockets towards Israel from Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip this evening
Danny Cohen, the former director of television at the BBC, expressed disbelief at his former employer’s reluctance to label Hamas a terror group
‘Words matter. The BBC, and other UK news organisations, are failing the public when they fail to accurately report terrorism and war crimes for what they are.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared in relation to the broadcaster’s choice of language in its news programmes: ‘This is not a time for equivocation, we should call it out for what it is.’
Tonight the spokesperson for the BBC said: ‘We always take our use of language very seriously.
‘Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word ‘terrorist’ used many times – we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK Government.
‘This is an approach that has been used for decades, and is in line with that of other broadcasters.
‘The BBC is an editorially independent broadcaster whose job is to explain precisely what is happening ‘on the ground’ so our audiences can make their own judgement.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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