BBC Director-General Tim Davie has insisted that inviting an Islamist who has praised acts of terror, including the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, to express his views on the BBC was in the “public interest”.

Mr Davie’s comments, made in a letter to 36 prominent critics, were dismissed by Lord Alex Carlile, the government’s former terror czar, as “mostly characterised by obfuscation”, while former BBC governor Baroness Ruth Deech described the 517-word message as “vacuous”.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Palmer strongly condemned the response as "pathetic", saying: “The BBC seems to feel that it’s OK to give a platform to extremists."

And Harlow MP Robert Halfon told the JC that said the letter “appears to have been written by Sir Humphrey at the BBC rather than someone who really understands these issues."

The Director-General’s remarks came in a belated response to the open letter published in the JC six weeks ago, signed by 36 distinguished parliamentarians and public figures.

The letter was ignored for six weeks until the JC launched a public petition demanding a parliamentary inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of Jews and Israel.

You can sign that petition here: theJC.com/BBCpetition.

This week's JC front page: Demand for probe into BBC coverage of Jews and Israel pic.twitter.com/128vhQDhmp

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) October 20, 2022

Mr Davie’s response, apparently forced by our petition, was finally sent on the day that Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned, raising serious questions over whether the BBC was trying to “bury bad news”.

In addition to Baroness Deech and Lord Carlile, signatories of the original open letter included Lord David Triesman, the former Labour minister responsible for the World Service, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, playwright Steven Berkoff and all major Jewish community groups.

The open letter demanded that the BBC stop inviting Islamist Abdel Bari Atwan as a commentator on its flagship programmes in English and Arabic.

Atwan, who recently expressed sympathy for the Rushdie assailant’s extremism on the BBC, wrote in a recent article: “I support [Mahmoud Abbas’s] refusal to apologise for the killing of 11 Israeli participants at the 1974 Munich Olympics (sic), and his use of the term ‘holocausts’ to describe the many massacres to which Palestinians have been subjected by Israeli forces.”

Abdel Atwan 4

BBC pundit: Abdel Bari Atwan

He has a history of honouring terrorists as “martyrs” and has described the murder of three Israelis by a Palestinian gunman in Tel Aviv earlier this year as a “miracle”.

Atwan also appeared to express sympathy with the attacker of novelist Salman Rushdie in an appearance on the BBC’s flagship Dateline London programme.

The JC has brought Atwan’s track record to the BBC’s attention a number of times, but a spokesperson has repeatedly insisted that his inclusion was “editorially justified”.

In his controversial letter sent this evening, included below in full, Mr Davie once again reinforced this position.

“As our editorial guidelines state, this means we will sometimes include in our output people whose views may cause serious offence to many in our audiences, but where we do so the potential for offence must be weighed against the public interest,” he wrote.

“We do not ban contributors, for good reason, but nor do we give them ‘a BBC platform’ as your letter suggests.

“We question them, and when they hold or express controversial views we should always aim to challenge them. This is not the provision of a platform – it is part of an independent editorial process that helps us to meet our obligations of due impartiality.

“The alternative, I am afraid, would lead us down a dangerous path, which is one that would allow others to decide, however fine their motives, and in whatever area of coverage, who is and who is not ‘a fit and proper person’ to appear on our output.”

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The BBC's Broadcasting House (Photo: Getty Images)

In response, Baroness Deech, a former BBC governor, described Mr Davie’s letter as “vacuous”.

“The point about Atwan was that he was not challenged and almost certainly was guilty of glorifying terrorism, not just of giving the Muslim point of view,” she said.

“The rest of the letter is rather vacuous and fails to mention what action, if any, was taken as a result of the Balen and Thomas reviews of the coverage of the Middle East.”

Lord Carlile added: “Very disappointed by a response that is plainly mostly characterised by obfuscation.”

Robert Halfon, Conservative MP, said Mr Davie's reply was worrying: "The reply is very worrying. It doesn't seem to understand the justified concerns of the Jewish community.

"I would urge Tim Davie to re-read the reply as it appears to have been written by Sir Humphrey at the BBC rather than someone who really understands these issues."

Marie Van Der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: “The Director General’s response is troubling. It fails to address the key points in the letter we signed - Abdel Bari Atwan’s views were not properly challenged by the BBC, his clear and repeated breaches of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and the fact that, in the wake of a terror attack, the BBC allowed him to put across a viewpoint which could be seen as an attempt to justify that attack. It is remarkable that the BBC thought the letter in response was in any way acceptable.”

In a strongly-worded condemnation, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Palmer said: “The BBC seems to feel that it’s OK to give a platform to extremists. Are there no extremists that are unacceptable? I found the response pathetic.“

Lord Ian Austin also expressed concern, saying: “This is a very disappointing response. Mr Davie doesn’t deal with the main points. The response illustrates the need for the Parliamentary inquiry the JC has called for.”

Conservative peer Lord Polak added: “The response from Mr Davie is all too predictable - the comment in his reply that ‘In its centenary year, I would like to assure you that this still the same BBC’ - is precisely the problem. Perhaps Mr Davie could invite us to the BBC to discuss our concerns.”

And Tory peer Lord Leigh of Hurley said: "It is clear to me following Mr Davie's response that there is a greater need than ever for a proper enquiry."

Today the JC launched a public online petition demanding a parliamentary inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of Jews and Israel.

The move came after a string of controversial stories by the BBC caused concern in the Jewish community — followed by BBC responses that only deepened that concern.

This week, the BBC admitted unfairly criticising Israel in a report on the beheading of a gay Palestinian by other Palestinians.

It followed the BBC’s contested coverage of an attack on Jewish youngsters on Oxford Street last Chanukah, which reported as fact the disputed allegation that the victims had used a racial slur. The BBC’s reaction to complaints triggered an ongoing probe by Ofcom.

In a statement to the JC in September, the media watchdog said: “[BBC’s complaint handling] raises issues under our due accuracy rules and we have launched an investigation.”

The JC has also repeatedly exposed apparent anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s Arabic output, including a significant investigation last year.

To sign the petition, visit theJC.com/BBCpetition  

Letter from Tim Davie in full 

Dear All

I am replying to your open letter that was published in the Jewish Chronicle. My apologies on the delay in replying and in addressing your concerns. I would add that my email address is always open and when you have matters to raise, please do contact me or my office directly.

Let me deal first with your complaint that we chose to interview the commentator, Abdel Bari Atwan.

We do not ban contributors, for good reason, but nor do we give them ‘a BBC platform’ as your letter suggests.

We question them, and when they hold or express controversial views we should always aim to challenge them. This is not the provision of a platform – it is part of an independent editorial process that helps us to meet our obligations of due impartiality.

The alternative, I am afraid, would lead us down a dangerous path, which is one that would allow others to decide, however fine their motives, and in whatever area of coverage, who is and who is not ‘a fit and proper person’ to appear on our output.

As our editorial guidelines state, this means we will sometimes include in our output people whose views may cause serious offence to many in our audiences, but where we do so the potential for offence must be weighed against the public interest.

Such judgments should be made carefully. In this case, Abdel Bari Atwan appeared on Dateline London primarily to give his view on Saudi Arabia’s dealings with Donald Trump, but it was also important to cover the attack on Sir Salman Rushdie.

Mr Atwan reflected the views of many in the Muslim world who view ‘The Satanic Verses’ as blasphemous and this is a key aspect of the story.

I note your comments about wider BBC coverage issues. We are a fully accountable organisation, and there is a proper and independent process for investigating complaints, either at the Executive Complaints Unit within the BBC, or at our regulator, Ofcom.

Such findings are published and, as in the case of the bus incident, we learn lessons from them.

The Middle East is one of the most complex areas of the world for us to cover. Set against the many hours of output of the region that we produce on our domestic and global services, I believe we have a record of which we can be proud.

In its centenary year, I would like to assure you that this is still the same BBC: impartial and accountable, ready to listen and learn from our many different audiences, but recognising that the demands of due impartiality mean we must make our own independent decisions.

As you may know, I have recently appointed Deborah Turness to be the CEO of BBC News and she is ensuring that the most robust standards are applied to all our news coverage.

Thank you again for your patience and please do keep in touch with Deborah and I about any concerns you have. It’s vital to us that we continue to have an open and honest conversation.

Best wishes,   

Tim Davie 

Director-General