After an investigation revealed that the BBC reported an anti-Semitic attack at Oxford Street, Jewish leaders will confront Tim Davie.
An earlier video showed a group hurling abuse and spewing at Jewish teenage boys sitting in buses. Then, they banged on their windows, as the bus pulled away.
This incident was treated by police as a hate crime, and condemned both by the Prime Minister (London) and the Mayor (London).
BBC News reported that ‘racial slurs regarding Muslims could be heard in buses’. However, this claim has been criticized by British Jews’ Board of Deputies and Campaign Against Anti-Semitism.
Police treated the incident at Oxford Street this month as hate crime and it was condemned by both the Mayor and the Prime Minister.
Now, the board has commissioned an independent report of forensic audio professionals and a language expert. The report concluded that there was no anti-Muslim slur.
The phrase was thought to have been a slur but it turned out that the Hebrew phrase ‘Tikrah lemishuze dachuf,’ which means: ‘Call someone urgently.
Marie van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies, wrote in The Jewish Chronicle that the BBC’s “misreporting” was a “colossal mistake”, which she called “a insult to injury by accusing antisemitic victims of being guilty of racism themselves”.
“What makes this an even more serious failure is BBC’s response to its error.” She said. The BBC has not admitted it made mistakes, but it doubled and tripled its efforts to correct them.
Ms Van der Zyl demanded that the corporation publicly apologize and indicated that the Board of Deputies would hold a meeting next month with Tim Davie. This will involve ‘an open and honest discussion of this matter’.
She claimed that this corporation’s behavior raises serious concerns about the BBC’s biases towards Israelis and Jews as a whole.
BBC has not changed its reporting on the incident. A spokesperson said, ‘Antisemitism in any form is unacceptable. Our goal is to be fair and serve all the communities in our country including the Jewish community.
“Our story was an objective report which overwhelmingly concentrated on those the police wanted to identify, the people who directed abuse towards the bus.
The video recorded a short reference to an allegedly slur that was spoken from the bus. To determine that the slur had been spoken in English, we sought out a variety of Hebrew speakers.
“The short reference was made to it so that the most complete account was possible was published.
Video footage showed the teenagers celebrating Hanukkah as they danced moments prior to the attack.
After the teens boarded, the men could be seen screaming abuse at each other and gesturing towards the bus.
The men banged on the windows and spat at the bus as it pulled away from Oxford Street
Two weeks ago, hundreds gathered at Broadcasting House to protest the story. Participants held banners and sang ‘BBC News is the proof’. “BBC News is telling the truth!”
Dame Maureen Lipman insisted that people join the protest because they care. She said, “You will be demonstrating against me often-times employer asking to parity among other victims of racism. Prejudice and abuse.”
This was after the BBC was placed third, just behind Iran’s terrorist group Hamas.
The centre’s head Rabbi Marvin Hier said that the BBC had been guilty of a number of instances of antisemitism in the last year.
Sunday, he told Mail that people might think we would include neoNazi groups on the list. But the BBC is still there. Antisemitism can creep in to the reporting of a worldwide recognised organization making it more dangerous and perilous.
“People trust BBC worldwide and can rely on them for accurate reporting about global events.”
Rabbi Hier explained that inclusion of BBC on the list annual was a decision made after months of intensive debate and discussion.
He singled out the report of a group of anti-Israeli men attacking a bus that was carrying Jewish teenages.
It took place in central London’s Oxford Street. Video footage showed a group shouting threats and spitting abuse at the bus windows.
The Jewish Board of Deputies stated that it was holding a meeting next month with Director General Tim Davie. It will feature ‘a complete and frank discussion of the issue’
This incident was treated by police as a hate crime, and condemned both by the Prime Minister (London) and the Mayor (London).
Rabbi Hier stated that the BBC had falsely reported that the victim of the bus accident used an anti-Muslim slur.
The man said that the recording was of a Jewish man who was in desperate need of help and spoke Hebrew.
In a statement, the BBC said earlier in the month that the BBC’s story focused on individuals who were directing abuse at the bus.
In its report, the Wiesenthal Center also criticized BBC for “often” referring to Israelis in the same way as settlers. The video was tweeted by Alaa Daraghme (a senior BBC producer).
Caption: “An Israeli settler pushing a Palestinian man close to the Lions Gate.”
Rabbi Hier stated that the car actually drove onto the sidewalk after Palestinians tried to execute the Jewish driver, who had lost control.
Sunday’s Mail report was confirmed by a BBC source. The original tweet was made when there had been’some confusion’ about the situation. Later, Mr Daraghme published another tweet clarifying the incident.
Two weeks ago, hundreds gathered at Broadcasting House to protest the story. Participants held banners and sang ‘BBC News is the proof’. “BBC News is telling the truth!”
In 2014, the Wiesenthal Center also criticized Tala Halawa (former BBC reporter) who sent a number of tweets in which she said that Hitler was correct and Zionists couldn’t get enough blood.
Three years ago, she started working at BBC.
Later she claimed that she made these comments because she was a young Palestinian girl tweeting in heat and that her views were not represented by the ‘offensive words and ignorance’. She stated that her BBC experience was marked by ‘professional journalism and impartiality’.
Tomorrow (Tues), the Wiesenthal Center report will be published. This ranks Iran second in antisemitism and follows the Palestinian group Hamas.
It also includes ‘social media giants’ in its top ten for allowing hate to spread online, and the Unilever corporation, which owns Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Ben & Jerry’s announced this year that its products would no longer be sold in the West Bank, but denied it amounted to a boycott of Israel.
Fiyaz Moughal OBE was the founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism. Fiyaz Mughal OBE, founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism (Majority Against Jews), spoke at the protest. He stated that it was sad to have to return here when institutions are blaming Jews for not trusting in them.