BBC stops calling Hamas ‘militants’ by default after backlash

The BBC has stopped describing Hamas as "militants" by default, after complaints by Jewish leaders about the broadcaster's coverage. The president of Israel is among those who have criticised the corporation for refusing to refer to Hamas killers as "terrorists"[1], and instead using terms that were less "emotive" like "gunmen" and "militants". The broadcaster revealed on Friday that BBC journalists would no longer use militants as the "default" term for Hamas, and will describe them as a group "proscribed as a terror organisation by the UK Government and others".

It is understood that the term "militant" may still be used, but not as the default choice. Tim Davie, the BBC's director-general, is set to appear before the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs on Wednesday, amid concerns about Left-wing bias at the broadcaster. He is expected to be grilled by MPs over coverage of the attacks on Israel, including a broadcast speculating about Israeli involvement in a recent explosion at a Gaza hospital.

On Friday, Mr Davie met the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who welcomed the BBC's decision to change its approach to describing Hamas.

Marie van der Zyl, the board's president, said of the meeting: "We emphasised our outrage at the refusal of the BBC to describe Hamas' barbaric actions as terrorism and the damaging, false report of the rocket which killed innocent civilians." Mr Davie said that the BBC would be "committed to continuing dialogue through this period". While the Board of Deputies is understood to consider the BBC's decision as "progress", it will continue to push for the broadcaster to brand Hamas as "terrorists", and to characterise their massacres of Israeli civilians as "terror attacks".

Since the beginning of the conflict, Jewish groups have accused the corporation of showing "double standards" by refusing to describe Hamas attacks as "terrorist" in nature, while BBC journalists have branded numerous other atrocities "terror attacks" in the past. This week, Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, joined the widespread criticism of the broadcaster, condemning it for its "atrocious" policy of referring to Hamas as "militants".

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, is among those who have criticised the BBC over its coverage of the conflictCredit: Simon Walker/No 10 Downing Street

Criticism has been compounded by the corporation's reporting of a blast at the Ahli Arab Hospital[2] in Gaza, during which a BBC journalist speculated that Israel was likely behind the explosion. This contentious broadcast is set to be the main topic of discussion during Mr Davie's planned meeting with the 1922 Committee.

One Tory MP who is expected to attend told The Telegraph: "I have no doubt we'll be challenging him on why the BBC refuses to call terrorists terrorists." The 1922 Committee tends to meet every Wednesday evening when Parliament is sitting and usually has a different cabinet minister giving a short speech and then answering questions. It is not the first time that an outside speaker has appeared, with past attendees including Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England.

Mr Davie has already faced pressure from the Government to look again at its use of language in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Lucy Frazer, the culture minister, met the director-general on October 9 to discuss whether the BBC's editorial guidelines could be altered. The guidelines, enshrined in 2018, have become a sticking point for the broadcaster, as they insist that journalists avoid using the words "terrorist" or "terrorism" without attribution as they could convey "value judgments".

BBC staff are instead told to "use words which specifically describe the perpetrator such as 'bomber', 'attacker', 'gunman', 'kidnapper', 'insurgent', and 'militant'". A BBC Spokesperson said: "The BBC regularly meets a range of groups and today met the Board of Deputies of British Jews. During the meeting we confirmed that we will continue to refer to Hamas as a proscribed terror organisation by the UK Government and others.

"What the BBC does not do is use the word terrorist without attributing it, nor do we ban words.

We also confirmed that for some days we had not been using 'militant' as a default description for Hamas, as we have been finding this a less accurate description for our audiences as the situation evolves."

References

1. ^ refusing to refer to Hamas killers as "terrorists" (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^ corporation's reporting of a blast at the Ahli Arab Hospital (www.telegraph.co.uk)