“When a globally recognized organization allows antisemitism to creep into its reporting, it makes it all the more insidious and dangerous.”
A major global Jewish group listed the BBC third on its annual “Global Antisemitism Top Ten List,” prompting a flustered response from the publicly-funded British broadcaster.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Daily Mail that the BBC came so high on the list — just behind Iran and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — because it was “guilty of several incidences of antisemitism during the past year.”
“People might assume we would put neo-Nazi groups on our list,” Heir said, “but the BBC is there because when a globally recognized organization allows antisemitism to creep into its reporting, it makes it all the more insidious and dangerous.”
Hier pointed to the network’s widely-criticized reporting of an antisemitic attack in London last month, in which a group of men made Nazi salutes and yelled “Free Palestine” at a bus filled with Jewish passengers.
“The BBC falsely reported that a victim on the bus used an anti-Muslim slur,” he pointed out. “But what was heard on tape was a distressed Jewish man speaking in Hebrew appealing for help.”
Despite audio evidence, the BBC has refused to correct its report.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also pointed to a scandal involving a former BBC journalist who was caught tweeting antisemitic statements like “Hitler was right.”
Hier echoed accusations that the network harbors a bias against Israel, citing a case in which a BBC producer claimed “an Israeli settler” had attempted to ram a Palestinian with his car.
“In fact, the car drove on to the pavement after an attempt by Palestinians to lynch the Jewish driver who lost control of the vehicle,” Hier said.
A BBC spokesman responded, “Antisemitism is abhorrent. The BBC strives to serve the Jewish community, and all communities across our country, fairly with accurate and impartial reporting.”