More than 100 BBC employees have written to director general Tim Davie to complain about the corporation becoming a mouthpiece for Israel.
The open letter (available below), which was signed by a further 300 media professionals including Miriam Margolyes, Charles Dance, and Mike Leigh, represents a deepening of the crisis engulfing the BBC over its coverage of the war in Gaza. It follows widespread revulsion over the BBC platforming Glastonbury Festival act Bob Vylan, a punk band who chanted “death to the IDF” on a live iPlayer stream.
The letter savaged the BBC for its perceived failure to reflect the reality of the situation in Gaza and argued that reporting “falls short” of editorial standards. “All too often it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military. This should be a cause of great shame and concern for everyone at the BBC,” the letter said.
The BBC welcomed robust discussions among editorial teams and said it is “fully committed to covering the conflict impartially.”
Addressed to Davie and the BBC board, the letter said content creators at the corporation have “experienced censorship in the name of impartiality.” It claimed some insiders had been “accused of having an agenda because they have posted news articles critical of the Israeli government on their social media.”
Signatories took issue with the BBC’s decision to drop the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, despite it being approved for broadcast by senior editorial policy figures. The BBC said the film, which has since been acquired by Channel 4, had not undergone “final pre-broadcast sign-off processes” and risked “creating a perception of partiality.”
The corporation stopped short of saying why this perception might exist, but sources said it was because of comments made by filmmakers involved in the project. This included journalist Ramita Navai describing Israel as “a rogue state that’s committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and mass-murdering Palestinians.”
“This appears to be a political decision and is not reflective of the journalism in the film,” the letter continued. “This illustrates precisely what many of us have experienced first hand: an organisation that is crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government.”
The letter added that Robbie Gibb’s position on the BBC board is “untenable” because of his links to the Jewish Chronicle, which the letter said had published “anti-Palestinian and often racist content.”
The letter alleged that the BBC board, and therefore Gibb, had input into the decision not to screen Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. The BBC’s position is that the board’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee did not have any input into the decision to drop the documentary. The open letter did not provide evidence of Gibb resisting Doctors Under Attack or meddling in any other Gaza output.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Robust discussions amongst our editorial teams about our journalism are an essential part of the editorial process. We have ongoing discussions about coverage and listen to feedback from staff and we think these conversations are best had internally.
“Regarding our coverage of Gaza, the BBC is fully committed to covering the conflict impartially and has produced powerful coverage from the region. Alongside breaking news, ongoing analysis, and investigations, we have produced award-winning documentaries such as Life and Death in Gaza, and Gaza 101.’
Other signatories of the letter included Juliet Stevenson, Zawe Ashton, and Aiysha Hart.
