By Dina Newman
Following the terror attack on a Manchester synagogue, and President Trump’s uncertain peace deal for Gaza, Jews and Israelis in the UK are discussing the British media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, and of community relations in the country. Has the coverage been balanced and fair? How did it affect Jewish life in the UK? Most importantly, has public service media served its diverse audiences well?
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) calls the UK coverage of the Hamas-Israel war “appalling” and blames it for the “surge in antisemitism” in the past two years.
A spokesman for the Campaign said: “Throughout the war, the BBC and other broadcasters have continually claimed that the Jewish state is committing genocide and is wilfully and gratuitously killing children in Gaza, an assertion redolent of the classic antisemitic blood libel trope. To this day, a video is on the BBC’s website claiming that 14,000 Gazan babies would die within 48 hours if certain conditions were not met. That was immediately debunked and of course never happened, yet the segment was still aired and the video is still there. The Manchester terrorist was reportedly heard saying during the attack: “this is what they get for killing our children.” These things are not unconnected. If this is what people constantly hear from mainstream media, why shouldn’t they come to believe it – particularly when it fits classic stereotypes about Jews?”
Moreover, CAA notes that “numerous channels, including the BBC, have compared Israeli hostages – innocent people abducted from their homes by Islamist terrorists who murdered 1,200 people – to terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli jails who have been freed as part of a deal to secure the release of the hostages”.
The BBC’s refusal to call Hamas a terrorist organisation adds to the long list of CAA’s grievances against the national broadcaster. With regards to the coverage of the hostage release, The Jewish Chronicle published its own list of inaccuracies and mistakes in the UK and the US coverage, which appeared to downplay Hamas atrocities, and overstate the claim of “famine” in Gaza.
According to the data released by Campaign Against Antisemitism, British Jews feel unsafe, with many considering emigrating.
On the opposite side of the political spectrum, pro-peace Israeli activists living in the UK are also uneasy about some aspects of the UK media coverage, but for very different reasons.
Yael, an Israeli living in London and active in the group Mi-neged, or Israelis Against Apartheid, says: “In the past two years the UK reporting has not been fair. For example, the detailed and humane way in which the plight of the Israeli hostages is covered in British media makes us feel seen, but it is infuriating to witness the lack of reporting on the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who were also released from torture and torment, many of whom having been held by Israel for months without charge.
“As an Israeli in the UK, I also find it troubling that the horrific Manchester attack was immediately used by the media to shut down criticism of the atrocities in Gaza. Jews everywhere should feel safe and this sort of violence is always wrong. It must never be conflicted with the movement against Israel’s genocide and apartheid, a movement may Jews and Israelis, such as myself, are a part of.”
An anonymous Israeli pro-democracy activist in the UK is also concerned: “It is sad that the UK media took the issue of antisemitism seriously only after a terrorist attack. That’s when the BBC wrote about Standing Together – which is all well and good, but where have they been until now? Why did they not do more reporting on the initiatives which try to reconcile our communities? On the other hand, the BBC recently reported on someone who went and cut yellow ribbons for hostages, and all kinds of people were shocked – but it has been going on for two years now, and why has no one talked about it?”
Jenny Kananov, an Israeli in the UK from We Democracy, a grassroots movement of Israelis and Jews, insists that criticism of the current Israeli government is not antisemitic, does not mean an attack on Israel, and does not deny Israel’s right to exist. She would like to see more media coverage of anti-government protests and peace initiatives in Israel. “Stop treating us as if all Israelis and all Jews speak with one voice. Whenever someone says: “All Jews feel this way,” – a reporter should question it,” she says.
John Strawson, Professor of Law and a specialist in the Middle East at the University of East London, has given over a hundred interviews to the BBC in the past two years. He points out that since the start of the war, journalists were not permitted to enter Gaza which made accurate and nuanced reporting of the conflict particularly difficult.
“The BBC as other broadcasters and the print media were dependent on reports from people (a) in a desperate personal situation due to the war, and (b) people expressing views in the context of Hamas political control. That meant if you listen to the thousands of reports from Gaza you hear people talking about the undoubtedly terrible conditions they were living in, and often using the language of Hamas, such as reference to the “occupation forces” etc. This combined to give a drip-by-drip picture of the situation in Gaza in which the terrible humanitarian conditions and the Hamas narrative appeared without context.”
Prof Strawson points out the legal complexities of the conflict. “Little was really said about the way Hamas fought the war – from civilian areas and using protected buildings (under international law) like hospitals, mosques, schools as military installations. Thus, Israeli military action against hospitals for example were portrayed as particularly shocking, but Hamas use of them was downplayed”.
“A discrete issue has been the accusation of genocide against Israel. This was highlighted in the South Africa case at the International Court of Justice and the recent UN Independent Commission report. Again, it is not that any broadcaster has said that genocide is taking place but rather that this is a credible view that should be considered”.
The role of Iran as Hamas sponsor has been almost entirely omitted, says Prof Strawson.
“Overall, the Jewish state has been increasingly seen as using extreme violence against civilians, questionable at the least and genocidal at the worst”.
This impression has damaged attitudes to Jews in the UK.
“The media images of Israel as using excessive destructive force have nourished the views of a section of the British public that the Jewish State is particularly violent, and this has had undoubtedly impacted the Jewish community. The rise in antisemitism immediately after October 7 has to a degree been sustained by the way in which the media has talked about war but rarely talked about both sides of the conflict.”
Prof Strawson notes that over the past two years British Jews were not given a platform to talk about their experiences of antisemitism. “It is shocking that it took the murder and injury of Jews in a synagogue on Yom Kippur to bring this about. It will be interesting to see if this continues.”
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Media Diversity Institute. Any question or comment should be addressed to [email protected] of the Media Diversity Institute (MDI).
