A Jewish politician and barrister in the United Kingdom spoke out about the deleterious effects of Middle East war coverage that has been churned out by the country’s state-sponsored news service since Oct. 7.
Sir Michael Ellis, who served as attorney general for England and Wales in 2021 and 2022, said on Feb. 26 at a Westminster Hall debate in London: “The BBC has found itself at the center of ever-increasing controversy in recent years, and it is the organization’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war which has led it to comprehensively fail the British public.”
Hamas operatives infiltrated the Gaza border with southern Israel on the morning of Oct. 7 and slaughtered 1,200 people—and wounded thousands more—before dragging another 250 or so men, women and children back to Gaza. Some 134 remain captive, though an estimated 20% have been confirmed dead.
Ellis described the BBC as “institutionally antisemitic.”
He said that “a careful review of BBC output shows a clear failure to uphold its obligation to impartiality and, in doing so, BBC news’s broadcasting and online content has actively inflamed community tensions here in the U.K., fueled the appalling rise in antisemitism, and in one particularly shocking case at least, harmed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the violence.”
