To think this was antisemitic and I should have said something?

[Koelaid]

NC in case outing. A colleague at work started a conversation about media coverage of Israel / Palestine after seeing an article in the paper.

He said that in his view media coverage is quite biased towards Israel and what did I think. I didn’t particularly want to have the conversation, tricky subject, not quite right for work etc. so I just said that while I didn’t agree with some of the Israeli government’s actions, I didn’t feel like I knew enough about the reality of the situation on the ground to know if the reporting of xx event was biased in favour of Israel or not. But that I did think the amount of coverage the conflict got was disproportionate compared to things like Kashmir or South Sudan, which were fairly similar in nature but got much less media time, and that there was something a bit strange in the big focus on Israel / Palestine and how invested people that were neither Israelis not Palestinians or had relatives there got in it, vs other conflicts.

He replied and said that he supposed that I was right (about other conflicts not getting attention) and then said that he supposed the conflict got so much pro Israel coverage because the majority of the senior people that worked at the BBC were Jewish.

I was a bit shocked / frozen that he’d said this in such a nonchalant way and mumbled something vague in response like, I’m not sure that’s the case. But it’s stuck with me since and I wish I’d said something a bit stronger. I mentioned it to a couple of people (not at work) afterwards. One was quite shocked and thought it was really AS and the other was like, what are you on about that’s a valid point to make.

Im not Jewish btw, not that it matters.

Views?

Personally though I had no idea of the Palestinian side of things growing up in the 1980s, all the reporting seemed to be that they were terrorists. When I did modern world studies in GCSE history in the early 1990s and we studied Israel/Palestine and NI conflicts, safe to say there were several lightbulb moments.

I think the reporting is more balanced now, FWIW.

Of course its antisemitic FFS. The only allowed racism. Those who are saying it isnt ...imagine he said "its because its all blacks at the top in BBC" that's rascism right

@memorial You think antisemitism is the only allowed racism?

TightDiamondShoes, not sure I'm reading you right, but your "is he care in the community" / "he must be ...interesting" comments sound as if you're suggesting these are the kinds of views held by people with learning disabilities?

Consistency and truth are alien bedfellows in the world of Trump - the speech was probably written for him by his team to appeal to some of the toxic elements of his base.

Here are American Nazis hailing Trump - they love the chaos he unleashed. Later some started to question his support for 'The Jews' initially they tried to internalise it as Ivanaka's "malign" influence through her husband Jared Kushner.

I don’t think it was anti-semitic, although I can see how others might. I think it’s very dangerous to police this kind of casual discussion and the person who suggested your report to HR is just stirring, that would be a huge overreaction and make you look like a snowflake.

I agree with him that media coverage can be surprisingly biased and it’s no great leap to speculate about why journalists might be biased.

The only allowed racism?! You apply for a job in Wales, or go to a pub in East Glasgow, and tell everybody you’re English, let me know how you get on.

Excellent mansplaining there. I am (non welsh) jew living and working in wales....so! Trust me the antisemitism is worse.
I really dontvget this thread. You would never dare tell a POC that there lived experiences are not racsism because....but its ok to tell Jews its not antisemitic because?? This thread is full of vile low level anti semitism and the fact that people spouting it don't even realise ot acknowledge it is why it's such a problem.
Try be a Jew. Then come back and tell me.

See my previous response. None of these would have been considered ok or defended if made about any other race. I'm not saying other rascism doesnt exist but it not acceptable. Antisemitism is minimised/allowed/joked/defended..imagine the OP about any other group. The putrage

Good to know the usual British anti-semitism is alive and well on this thread. Of course what he said was anti-Semitic. He might have been naive and stupid and wrong but it was anti semitic. The Jews control the media rhetoric is one of the most ridiculous anti-Semitic thoughts going back to forever.

Those of you who haven’t, please read David Baddiel’s don’t count. It’s one of the most important pieces of literature on this topic in recent years.

david is Jewish as most of you know, he’s also secular, his partner isn’t Jewish, he has no particular connection to Israel or historically a massive interest in it. He also wasn’t that interested in being connected particularly with being Jewish but he’s the one person who is standing up and speaking about the elephant in the room. That the lived experience of Jews just isn’t seen as relevant as other minorities or taken seriously because people who haven’t a clue about what it means to be a Jew think they know better.

fathomjournal.org/book-review-jews-dont-count/

Well said! Baddiel's book is a must read for so many posters on this board saying the comments about Jews and the BBC are a nothing.

David Baddiel deserves an award for the best rebrand I've ever seen. A man who did black face and is now a figure of anti-racism! It's amazing really - sort of like Boris lecturing us on family values. I still find it remarkable to think about.

Read his book - he addresses this point.