How many of BBC’s journalists are supporters of Hamas?

We don’t know exactly, because some are smart enough to keep their support for terrorism off social media. Seven, so far, have been suspended by the BBC for their open support of terrorism against Israelis, says a report from The Wrap. The New York Post has confirmed 6 so far, so…more than enough.

This shouldn’t surprise you, not only because the BBC has been steadfast in its opposition to characterizing Hamas as terrorists, sticking with the more neutral term “militants.” The institutional bias is hardly the only thing to be concerned about at the BBC or other mainstream outlets. The simple fact is that it is practically impossible to employ journalists in Palestinian territories who are NOT supporters of Hamas or Fatah, an outgrowth of the PLO.

Several BBC reporters taken off air for alleged pro-Hamas posts https://t.co/S1utmUAJQy pic.twitter.com/0uCWQKPQxG

— New York Post (@nypost) October 18, 2023

First the controversy at the BBC on how to refer to Hamas:

The BBC has already faced scrutiny over its position on Hamas from politicians demanding changes to its editorial policy on referring to the terrorists as militants.

On Monday, Downing Street insisted that the word “terrorists” was appropriate given that Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel was the third-deadliest terrorist attack since the 1970s.

“A number of reporting organizations are accurately describing Hamas as a terrorist group. I think accuracy is important in all circumstances,” a UK government spokesperson said, according to the Financial Times.

The broadcaster has argued that as an editorially independent organization, its role is to report the news so the public can reach its own judgments.

It said it has explained that Hamas was proscribed as a terrorist group by many Western governments and featured contributors who had referred to them as terrorists.

Noah Abrahams, a 22-year-old Jewish sports commentator who contributed to BBC Radio Derby, has said he will no longer work with the news service over its refusal to use the term “terrorists” for Hamas.

On this point, I agree with the criticism of the BBC, since Hamas is a designated terrorist group, but I think they have a leg to stand on. Were it not for the fact that the BBC has demonstrated a pervasive institutional bias against Israel I would be more sympathetic to them–after all, in order to cover the conflict they can’t spend all their time insulting people they seek to interview. I give the BBC two out of 4 stars for having a plausible explanation for their decision. Their decision was in my judgment wrong, but defensible.

As for employing Hamas sympathizers? The BBC is hardly alone in this. In fact, it is almost impossible to embed journalists in the Palestinian territories who are not outright pro-Palestinian propagandists. For the most part, the Western press depends on local “journalists” who can move more freely in the territories, and nobody gets to report from Gaza or the West Bank without the approval of the Palestinian authorities.

The BBC has removed several Middle East reporters from the air amid allegations that they posted support for Hamas in its terrorist attacks on Israel.

BBC News Arabic reporters — including those reporting out of Egypt and Lebanon — appeared to back Palestinians or criticize the Jewish state in posts they either tweeted or liked, the Financial Times reported.

One of the reporters liked a message that appeared to describe Hamas terrorists as “freedom fighters,” the outlet reported.

“We are urgently investigating this matter,” said a rep for the BBC, which is already under fire for refusing to refer to Hamas as terrorists.

“We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including taking disciplinary action.”

The FT report said six BBC journalists had been taken off the air, though they have not been formally suspended pending a probe.

However, a separate report in the Wrap put the number at seven, including a senior broadcast journalist and a freelancer.

Occasionally a Western journalist can make a report from the territories, but the information flow is generally skewed by the fact that everybody reporting is essentially an agent of the aggressors. This may explain how outright lies and propaganda get rushed out of Gaza, such as the hospital hoax. The major news outlets employ propagandists and print what they say credulously.

Propaganda is a normal part of war and we should always be wary of what anybody claims, whether you support or oppose their cause. But you have to understand that for the Palestinians the war is forever, and you should never trust anything they say. Not because Palestinians are more likely to lie than others, but because the information flow is always skewed due to their belief that until Israel is destroyed they will be at war.

Truth is the first casualty of war, and unlike Israel, everything is censored and filtered. It is 100% propaganda. And the news media know that and ignore it.

You should assume that anything you see from an embedded journalist in the Palestinian territories is massaged out of recognition. That doesn’t mean it is all lies, but it does mean that you will hear only what the Palestinians want you to hear.