The BBC has said it is “investigating the matter with urgency”.
The corporation also had to issue corrections eight times in their recent Arabic news coverage of the Gaza conflict, following complaints from Israeli media watchdog CAMERA Arabic.
In the recent build-up to Operation Guardian of the Walls, the BBC repeatedly used the Arabic words for “settlers” or “settlement” when simply referring to Jewish Israelis and towns not on the West Bank, appearing to imply that all parts of Israel lacked legitimacy.
According to the BBC Academy’s guidelines, settlements are “residential areas built by the Israeli government in the territories occupied by Israel following the June 1967 war”.
There was no evidence that the Jews in the reports qualified as settlers by this definition, yet the use of this term suggested their presence in Israel was somehow illegal.
In a “Trending” item, the BBC referred to tensions in Jerusalem between “Palestinians and extremist Orthodox Jews”.
CAMERA Arabic challenged the broadcaster for referring only to one side as “extremists”. The BBC subsequently changed the text to refer instead to “Jews and Palestinians”.
A spokesperson for CAMERA Arabic said: “Using words like ‘settlement’ or Mustawtana to describe undisputed parts of Israel and their Jewish inhabitants suggests that the entire Jewish political establishment within the historic League of Nations Mandate boundaries of 1947 is illegitimate.
“Used by Arab media, this reinforces radical ideologies which seek to deny Israel its right to exist.”
One senior producer for the BBC, Alaa Daraghme, shared a video on Twitter which he captioned: “An Israeli settler ramming a Palestinian man near the Lions Gate.”
The video, in fact, showed a car being driven into the pavement after an attempted lynching by Palestinians of the driver, who then lost control.
It is understood that Mr Daraghme published a subsequent tweet clarifying the position.
The revelations come as Director-General Tim Davie, who was appointed last September, has called for the BBC to renew its commitment to impartiality, in recognition of dwindling audience trust in the broadcaster.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC’s team of experienced editors and journalists that come from across the Middle East and around the world are subject to the same strict editorial guidelines that shape all of BBC output. BBC Arabic shares exactly the same principles of accuracy and impartiality as BBC News in English and we strongly reject the suggestion that its impartiality is compromised.
“BBC Arabic is an award-winning service and valued as a trustworthy and impartial source of news in what is a highly polarised media landscape; its large audience across the Middle East, and on all sides of the conflicts which divide the region, is testament to this.”
On Ms Halawa, the BBC said: “Whilst these tweets predate the individual’s employment, the BBC is taking this extremely seriously and is investigating the matter with urgency. We are clear there is no place for views like this to exist within the BBC and we deplore racism and antisemitism of any kind.”
