Lawyer says BBC ignored warning not to ‘parrot Hamas propaganda …

The BBC ignored a warning not to "parrot Hamas propaganda" in reporting on a Gaza hospital strike, a lawyer has claimed. Barrister Natasha Hausdorff says her complaints[1] about the broadcaster's impartiality regarding the war in Gaza have led to her being "stonewalled" by the corporation. Writing exclusively for The Daily Telegraph, Ms Hausdorff, legal director at UK Lawyers for Israel charitable trust, said the BBC ignored her concerns about the attribution of the attack on the Al-Ahli hospital[2] in Gaza City on Oct 17.

Ms Hausdorff had been booked by the BBC for an interview on the evening the hospital was hit to discuss the situation in Gaza. With reports of the blast starting to filter through, she says she was "bumped" from the live broadcast by an assistant editor of the BBC News Channel, so they could cover the "Israeli airstrike" on the hospital. Appeals to wait for clarification and not rush to attribution "fell on deaf ears" Ms Hausdorff said.

"I could predict the impact that spreading disinformation about the hospital would have on the Arab world.

"I was told the BBC's story had been confirmed by multiple sources. Yet we know that any 'Palestinian official' in Gaza is a Hamas official, and not a source that any self-respecting journalist can take seriously. "Parroting Hamas propaganda is not journalism.

I was told there wasn't time to discuss this further." Hamas claimed an Israeli airstrike led to the blast and killed at least 500 people. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was caused by a misfired rocket[3] from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group[4] and released imagery and communications intercepts to support their case.

The British Government later concluded the Israeli version of events[5] was more likely to be correct. Hamas's claims were further questioned when it emerged the hospital building was intact and any explosion had centred on the car park, claiming far fewer casualties than the first reports of 500 dead. In the first report on the BBC[6], correspondent Jon Donnison suggested Israel was behind the blast.

Speaking shortly after 8pm on BBC News, he said: "It's hard to see what else this could be really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli airstrike or several airstrikes." Mr Donnison's comments prompted the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Campaign Against Antisemitism to complain to the corporation. Tim Davie, the director-general, referred the complaints[7] to the corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU), which considered them in light of their "editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality".

However, the ECU ruled that Mr Donnison had not offered a "definitive judgment" but accepted that it was "not consistent with the BBC's standards of due accuracy to offer any view about responsibility for the incident at a point where so little reliable information was available". Ms Hausdorff said: "I maintained a naive hope that, with further opportunities to address this disinformation on air, the truth would out. I was stonewalled by BBC producers and executives, and their promotion of Hamas propaganda[8] has continued.

"The consequences of its coverage are plain and on regular display in the hate marches on the streets of the UK.

"The BBC has become a national broadcasting disservice."

The BBC had no comment on Ms Hausdorff's complaint but reiterated that it had apologised at the time for speculating on the nature of the blast at the hospital.

References

1. ^ Natasha Hausdorff says her complaints (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^ attack on the Al-Ahli hospital (www.telegraph.co.uk)
3. ^ caused by a misfired rocket (www.telegraph.co.uk)
4. ^ Palestinian Islamic Jihad group (www.telegraph.co.uk)
5. ^ Israeli version of events (www.telegraph.co.uk)
6. ^ In the first report on the BBC (www.telegraph.co.uk)
7. ^ referred the complaints (www.telegraph.co.uk)
8. ^ their promotion of Hamas propaganda (www.telegraph.co.uk)