LOL!!! BBC could be perceived as ‘institutionally antisemitic’ says leading ‘academic’

“The BBC plays a significant role in the creation and or maintenance of negative attitudes towards British Jews.”

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

The BBC could be perceived as “institutionally antisemitic”, according to a leading academic expert on Jew-hatred.

Lesley Klaff, senior law lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, accused the BBC of “recycling antisemitic tropes”.

She said that the disproportionate attention afforded to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the BBC suggested it could be seen as institutionally antisemitic.

Ms Klaff made the comment in front of an audience of 300 people, at Finchley United Synagogue, north London, on Tuesday, at an event co-organised by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) and monitoring group BBC Watch.

Citing studies from the Community Security Trust and the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism which showed a correlation between media coverage and antisemitic incidents during the Gaza conflict in the summer of 2014, she concluded: “The BBC plays a significant role in the creation and or maintenance of negative attitudes towards British Jews.”

Fellow panellist Jonathan Turner, chairman of the UK Lawyers for Israel group, asked audience members to raise their hands if they had ever made a complaint to the BBC. Almost everyone in the room had.

Hadar Sela, the British-born managing director of BBC Watch, said the group had made a submission as part of the government review of the Corporation’s charter. It called for increased historical accuracy in the corporation’s reporting, better management of historical online content and a dedicated complaints page on BBC News website.

She urged audience members to contact their MPs to gain support for the proposals.

In response to the accusation that the BBC could be perceived as “institutionally antisemitic”, a BBC spokesperson said: “We strongly reject these claims – the BBC News is cited as the most trusted news source in the country because of our commitment to impartiality. BBC News reports widely on many different aspects of this complex conflict that has deeply held views. We will continue to report and analyse the sometimes fast moving events in an accurate, fair and balanced way using a range of voices.”