BBC’s Gaza Coverage: New Report Reveals Deep Bias

[purpletablet]

I’ve just read the 2023–24 report by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), and it raises some serious concerns about how the BBC has covered Israel’s war on Gaza.

The report analysed over 3,800 BBC articles and 32,000 broadcast segments. Despite a 34:1 death ratio between Palestinians and Israelis, BBC coverage gave Israeli deaths far more attention, used much more emotive language, and consistently personalised Israeli victims while depersonalising Palestinians.

Some key points that stood out:

• Israeli deaths were mentioned 33 times more per person than Palestinian deaths in BBC articles
• The word “murdered” was used over 200 times for Israelis, but just once for Palestinians
• Presenters echoed Israeli perspectives 11 times more than Palestinian ones
• Historical context like occupation or blockade was mentioned in less than 1% of coverage
• Genocide claims were repeatedly shut down or ignored, despite being raised in international courts

They also compared this to the BBC’s Ukraine coverage, where victims were humanised, civilian deaths highlighted, and military justifications questioned far more frequently.

This isn’t just about bias in tone. It’s about shaping how the public understands the conflict and who is seen as human and worthy of sympathy.

I’m curious how others feel about this.
Have you noticed this imbalance in BBC reporting?
Should a public broadcaster be doing better?

Let's make a deal.

If Israel puts on masks, parachutes into Jordan saying that theyre going to annihlate it, and in a single day intentionally butchers 1200 people on live feed going from house to house killing every person they see, from grandma's to disabled people to ensure families who are trying desperately to hide and escape, if they gang rape people, shoot their genitals, burn them alive whilst they're hiding, sit down in their houses surrounded by their dead bodies having a snack, runs around a music festival shooting hundreds of young people to death, hacks people's heads off with garden tools, kidnaps hundreds of people randomly including kids and live streams the lot with their voices in the background audio screaming with joy "I've killed a Muslim"!!!

If that happens, then I will not find you to split hairs over who in particular they killed when they went into a kindergarten trying to find people to murder.

How about we agree that?

And while we're at it, lets agree there's a very large difference between disputing who happened to be in a building when terrorists went in and deliberately murdered everyone there - on a day where they openly and very proudly indeed with no dispute of any kind, deliberately murdered every civilian they could find.

Completely making up things about the army of a democratic state which never happened is not the same, is it?

Nobody needs to inflate the evils of Hamas. They openly do it. They record themselves doing it. They do not care what war crimes they commit, they do not care if the entire world knows they deliberately murder civilians including babies.

They are PROUD.

They showed off.

They paraded some of the bodies. They paraded some of the coffins and had a macabre party.

Israel on the other hand, is lied about constantly, often with little or no evidence.

Which people are okay with, because it allows them to draw false equivalence with the army of a democratic nation fighting a completely just war, with a bunch of terrorists who want to kill every Jew on earth.

How about the deal where given you've apologised for totally making up an act of terrorism from scratch, you now don't try to justify doing so.

It's not just that you passed on disinformation, you seem to have literally made them up in the first place. Then denied doing so, called me a liar, and only actually accepted it when I called you out on it.

It worries me that you seem to think that once someone or something is declared as 'bad' that you can make any claim against them without evidence, and that's ok. It's not. I have a strong interest in truth and justice. To me that means the right blame, for the right things, to the right people. Not just throwing mud to see if it sticks.

That's why when we prosecute people, we need evidence of the specific crimes, not just go on previous offences. It's why if someone is accused of rape and murder, we need sufficient evidence of both to convict for both. We don't just go 'oh well he killed her so he probably did both'. So yes I'll fact check. And yes I'd fact check for a serial killer. And if someone said that the IDF had been using Palestinian heads as footballs, I'd fact check that too.

There are two scenarios here.

1. you made up to lie deliberately, as propaganda and disinformation. I won't speculate as to why, but it's quite unpleasant and morally wrong to do so.
2. I'm hoping it's this one. You thought you'd heard 12 toddlers from somewhere, couldn't quite remember where went back to check that picture's what you found. You put 2 and 2 together and made 10. It was a genuine mistake (albeit one that you forgot making and denied that you said).

If it is number 2 and it was a mistake, then surely you are glad that I fact checked, so that you aren't contributing to the spreading of false information. You should be thanking me for this rather than slating me.

So was this a genuine mistake and you're grateful that I picked you up on it? Or was it a liberate lie?

as per pp

It's not just that you passed on disinformation, you seem to have literally made them up in the first place. Then denied doing so, called me a liar, and only actually accepted it when I called you out on it.
It worries me that you seem to think that once someone or something is declared as 'bad' that you can make any claim against them without evidence, and that's ok. It's not. I have a strong interest in truth and justice. To me that means the right blame, for the right things, to the right people. Not just throwing mud to see if it sticks.

I think you'll find that many of us echo these sentiments on these boards (in an occasionally more humble way), but from differing viewpoints.

I've found@ForgesOfEmpires posts to be well written and informative, unlike many other posts on these boards and I hope they continue to post.

I already answered you.

I’m sitting at home, juggling threads, phone calls, and other things and I genuinely didn’t remember saying “dozens of children.” in that sentence. When you brought it up, I was surprised myself to an extend I do not remember it. When pointed out I immediately retracted and apologised. Odds are I meant “dozens of children were murdered that day” - which, incidentally, they were.

If I were running some Machiavellian misinformation op, don’t you think I’d have edited the post?

No one needs to exaggerate what Hamas did on October 7. It was one of the most proudly and sadistically brutal attacks carried out by any group in living memory. Whether those civilians were murdered in a nursery or next door - or whether the attackers found teachers or toddlers - is an odd detail to obsess over.

I’m baffled why you care so deeply about that nuance. Does it materially change anything? Does it somehow make Hamas more respectable if the nursery had only adults in it when they stormed in with guns and killed everyone?

There’s a world of difference between deliberately inventing lies and misremembering one detail in the middle of recounting an atrocity that absolutely did happen.

I can tell you exactly why I take time to challenge misinformation about Israel:

1. Because I support Israel

2. Because Jews are being targeted, beaten, and threatened globally thanks to the disinformation campaign against that country.

3. Because 80 years ago, lies about Jews led to actual genocide - and I’ve never in my life seen a propaganda war like the one I’m seeing now against Israel.

Meanwhile, I despise Hamas.

They’re terrorist murderers and very proudly and openly tell you that.

And unlike Israel, they’re not the victims of some global smear campaign. I don’t see people photoshopping fake atrocities to slander them. No one’s circulating Sudanese war images pretending they’re of Hamas victims. This targeted disinformation is a one-way street - and you’re marching right along it.

So if you support Hamas, own it. Say it with your chest and at least be honest.
If you don’t, maybe take a moment to ask yourself why you’re wasting time nitpicking where, precisely, Hamas murdered civilians - instead of asking why you’re running PR for them at all.

Which people are okay with, because it allows them to draw false equivalence with the army of a democratic nation fighting a completely just war, with a bunch of terrorists who want to kill every Jew on earth. @ForgesOfEmpires

Wow, you've certainly fallen into the "black and white" camp.
Is there any aspect of the Palestinian call for a nation state that you can sympathise with ?

Also, "want to kill every Jew on earth" is as ridiculous a statement as saying that Israel wants to kill every Palestinian. Comments like those are neither accurate nor helpful and they just cause anxiety amongst the hard of understanding.

@Babyboomtastic if you are worried that Hamas are being unfairly labelled as being worse than they are and feel strongly about attributing "the right blame" maybe you should head over to the thread on Sexual violence as a weapon of war during October 7th massacre.

I notice you haven't commented on that one yet but it's all about Hamas having to take the right blame for their sexual attacks on the day they chose to massacre, rape, humiliate and mutilate mainly females in Israel.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/conflict-in-the-middle-east/5369592-sexual-violence-as-a-weapon-of-war-during-october-7-massacre?page=6

Are people making up false allegations there then?

We all know there was horrific sexual violence on that day. There are numerous reports and it's discussed widely in the media and had been widely condemned.

There's no need for me to go to another thread where I agree with the blame being attributed.

More importantly though, why are you deflecting and using whataboutery target than criticising the literal making up of a terrorist incident that a poster did here.

Hamas are a bunch of terrorists who want to kill every Jew on earth. It's in their founding document. I do not feel any need for a grey area on this.

Everyone’s different, but personally, I’m far less embarrassed about making a minor error in an otherwise accurate account than I would be about spending hours nitpicking the finer details of how Hamas murdered children on October 7.

As I said, I genuinely don’t care who exactly they butchered in that kindergarten. What matters is that they walked into a kindergarten planning to kill whoever they found - and they did.

Whether it was 38 kids in their bunk beds or crying in safe rooms is beside the point. My judgment isn’t based on the location of their murders. It’s based on the fact that they committed the murders by going to find as many people as they could to kill.

I’m interested to know if Is there a word for misinformation from the Palestinian side in the same way as there is ‘Hasbara’ for the Israeli side?

The events of Oct 7th is exactly the reason why all of these thousands of threads have been created due to the war they started, and the reason we are discussing this now.

Are you saying that a country with a superior military force cannot engage in a defensive war if its country has been invaded, thousands slaughtered and hundreds taken hostage?

Do you regard seeking and carrying out the destruction of a terrorist organisation, which carried out an unprecedented terrorist attack on a sovereign nation, as ‘genocide’?

"I'm to know if Is there a word for misinformation from the Palestinian side in the same way as there is ‘Hasbara’ for the Israeli side?"

I'd question why there was ever a need for a word to describe the huge amount of misinformation from the Israeli side in the first place?

The thing with the Hasbara is that it's often literally paid for by the Israeli government. As in, we know they pay people to come on to forums and social media and post pro Israel comment.

They aren't totally unique in this - Russia, China, the US and India have been known to do it as well, but for the most part, it's not exactly a great club to be a part.

This is an utterly, utterly bizarre post. Mumsnet is such an odd place.

Hopefully the Jews on the border with Gaza will be reassured they only need to worry, a little.

I am Egyptian, so yeah, probably who is over the border of my home country is relevant, but even if they weren't I would still want them stopped.

The original 1988 Hamas Charter contains explicit calls for killing all Jews, not just Israelis. It says:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him"

I'd imagine that's quite clear in their intent. Not even Hitler was quite as clear!

True, they did swap the word for Zionist 30 years later. To me that is the same thing, they just swapped a word for the politically acceptable one.

So what happened in the space of that 39 years that made them decide they didnt hate Jewish people anymore?

Two countries are at war, and somehow defending the Jewish one must mean you're being paid?

In reality, there is documented evidence that some pro-Palestinian activism, especially in the West, is backed by foreign states like Iran and Qatar. Iran has funded online influence campaigns, paid protest organisers, and backed media aligned with Hamas. US. intelligence even confirmed Iranian funding of pro-Palestinian demos in the US. Qatar pushes aligned narratives via media and soft power.

Groups like SJP and AMP have come under scrutiny for ideological and financial ties to these states.

After October 7, 26% of social media content on major platforms was fake or automated, most of it pro-Palestinian. NewsGuard found 74% of viral misinformation on X came from verified users. TikTok showed 109B views on #Palestine vs 23B on #Israel - algorithmically slanted and largely unchecked.

Yes, both sides spread disinfo.

But the volume, virality, and foreign backing behind the pro-Palestinian narrative make it dominant by every documented bit of evidence available.

Because foreign words make ot seem more scary?

The word actually means ‘explanation’ in Hebrew iirc.

The word has been hijacked by pro-Palestinians to try to discredit Israel.

Surprising you are not aware of this.

No. Firstly, why are you equating Israel with Jewish - I thought it was anti-Semitic to conflate the two.

And secondly , it doesn't mean they 'must be', but more 'might be' given it's known that Israel do pay people to post pro Israel content online and in social media.

I had done some checking online to see which countries engaged in this, Iran and Qatar were not on the list. After seeing your post I had another look, and yes they do engage in similar, albeit it's not as well known or well publicised. In contrast (and I'm not saying this is good or bad) Israel have admitted paying people for this purpose for decades.

Perhaps we should all be aware then, especially where people are constantly trying to change the subject away from a thread, that it is possible they are being paid to do so.

They became more pragmatic and more realistic about what they could hope to achieve. They realised that living alongside Israel, rather than calling for its elimination was an achievable outcome. Hence the offer of a long term truce in the 2017 update ( reiterated April 2024) if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders. Though it would still refuse to recognise Israel. But better to have neighbours that are not speaking, rather than trying to kill each other. Surely ?

I'm just glad that the oft parroted canard about Hamas/ Iran/ Hezbollah being an existential threat to Israel, is no longer doing the rounds. They never were and are unlikely to be so.

The assertion that 'we know' from @Babyboomtastic is so far from the truth, but it least now I have 'everybody knows' as an earworm and it is a crackingly cynical song.

And you seriously think Palestinian supporters aren’t paid to spread false information and the demonisation of Israel?

So supporters of Israel haven’t come up with derisory term for this?

Interesting.