BBC accused of ‘letting off’ staff who ‘supported Hamas terror attacks’ - The Jewish Chronicle

The BBC has been accused of “letting off” journalists who appear to have supported the Hamas terror attacks in wake of the October 7 atrocities.

Despite announcing in October an investigation into a number of inflammatory posts flagged by the Arabic department of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera), the JC now understands that no further action is to be taken.

Egypt All Sports, a website founded by Amr Fekry, a sports correspondent and pundit at BBC Arabic, posted warm wishes to his “Palestinian brethren in their war against the occupying entity” a day after Israeli women and children were raped, burned and executed.

BBC Arabic correspondent Sally Nabil liked a tweet posted on the day of the terror attack that said: “Here is Palestinian resistance taking the initiative and surprises the Israeli occupier with an operation of quality.”

Salma Khattab, a correspondent based in Cairo for BBC News, liked a tweet on October 7 which said: “You cannot support freedom fighters in Ukraine as they resist Russian occupation but not in Palestine against Israeli occupation, unless you have no conscience.”

Nada Abdelsamad, a Beirut-based programmes editor, retweeted a video entitled: “Settlers hiding inside a tin container in fear of the Palestinian resistance fighters” on October 7.

The posts were discovered by Camera last month and reported to the BBC. At the time the complaint was made, the BBC said it would investigate the posts.

However, the JC understands the BBC has now sent the journalists an email informing them that it would not take any disciplinary action against them.

In a letter to BBC Director General Tim Davie, Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl wrote: “This is unconscionable. The BBC cannot claim to provide neutral and balanced journalism while effectively letting off employees who appeared to have either written, shared or liked content which justifies, supports or even celebrates mass murder, by an organisation proscribed as a terror group in this country.

“To do so makes an utter mockery of the Corporation and its stated values, as set out in its charter.”

A spokesperson for Camera said: “This decision is another striking example of the BBC’s continued unwillingness to address bigotry and terror apologetics within its ranks.”

Following the announcement of the probe, Abdelsamad said she would sue the BBC for “professional abuse” and “the damage to my reputation”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We have received the letter from the Board of Deputies and will respond in due course.

"We do not routinely comment on individual staff matters and will not be commenting on these individual cases.

"We take any breaches of our social media guidance very seriously and always take appropriate disciplinary action wherever necessary. In this instance we took urgent action to investigate each case in detail and acted accordingly.”