The Government’s antisemitism advisor has met with the BBC’s director-general to express ‘major concerns’ over its reporting of a Hannukah bus attack and the Texas synagogue stand-off, sources say.
Lord John Mann and BBC boss Tim Davie met for nearly one hour at Broadcasting House in central London yesterday where, it is understood, the former said there could be ‘a real problem’ when it comes to coverage of anti-Jewish racism.
The pair discussed the outlet’s coverage of two events – last year’s Oxford Street Hanukkah bus threats incident and last weekend’s Texas synagogue hostage crisis, Jewish News reports.
The BBC had sparked fury following its reporting of an anti-Semitic incident on Oxford Street on November 29, with video showing a group of men hurling abuse and spitting at a group of Jewish teenagers sitting inside a bus.
The incident was treated as a hate crime by police, but in its original report, BBC News said ‘racial slurs about Muslims could be heard inside the bus’.
The claim was criticised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, and lawyers acting on behalf of the victims – who ‘categorically deny’ the slur was said – wrote to the corporation to contest it.
Mr Davie was eager to listen to the concerns raised by Mann over the BBC’s reporting during their meeting at Broadcast House yesterday, sources say.
It is believed that Lord Mann also raised concerns that a BBC News at 10 broadcast did not mention the word ‘antisemitism’ in connection with the Colleyville synagogue siege.
Footage showed the group of Jewish teenagers dancing as they celebrated Hanukkah moments before the attack (left) on November 29. A group of men were seen shouting abuse and gesturing at the bus after the teenagers got on board
Lord John Mann (left) and BBC boss Tim Davie (right) met for nearly one hour at Broadcasting House in central London yesterday where, it is understood, the former said there could be ‘a real problem’ when it comes to coverage of anti-Jewish racism
A source said: ‘John [Mann] really went hard on how important it is for the BBC to get that tone of reports on incidents like Texas right. To miss out the word ”antisemitism” was a massive own goal by the BBC.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We value feedback and constructive scrutiny of our programming and we will always listen and reflect on it. The Director-General was pleased to meet Lord Mann and it was a positive and productive discussion.’
Police are investigating the November 29 Oxford Street incident.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews commissioned its own independent report by forensic audio experts and a linguist which concluded there were no anti-Muslim insults.
It found the phrase thought to be a slur was actually a Hebrew phrase, ‘Tikrah lemishu,ze dachuf’ meaning: ‘Call someone, it is urgent.’
Writing in the Jewish Chronicle, Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl described the BBC’s ‘misreporting’ as ‘a colossal error’, which ‘has added insult to injury in accusing victims of antisemitism of being guilty of bigotry themselves’.
She continued: ‘What takes this from an egregious failure to something far more sinister is the BBC’s behaviour when confronted with its mistake. Instead of admitting it was wrong, it has doubled and tripled down.’
Ms Van der Zyl demanded the corporation publicly apologise, and said the Board of Deputies would be holding a meeting with Director General Tim Davie later this month, which will include ‘a full and frank discussion of this issue’.
She said the corporation’s behaviour ‘raises serious questions about deep-seated biases within the BBC towards Israelis, and indeed towards Jews in general’.
At the end of last month, the BBC stood by its report of the incident, and a spokesman said: ‘Antisemitism is abhorrent. We strive to serve the Jewish community, and all communities across our country, fairly.
‘Our story was a factual report that overwhelmingly focused on the individuals the police want to identify; those who directed abuse at the bus.
Pictured: Malik Faisal Akram, at a Dallas homeless shelter on January 2. The siege at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, ended in gunfire on Saturday night with all four hostages released unharmed and Akram shot dead
Hundreds of Jews gathered outside Broadcasting House for a protest in December, with attendees holding banners and chanting ‘BBC News where’s the proof!’ and ‘BBC News tell the truth!’
‘There was a brief reference to a slur, captured in a video recording, that appeared to come from the bus. We consulted a number of Hebrew speakers in determining that the slur was spoken in English.
‘The brief reference to this was included so the fullest account of the incident was reported.’
Hundreds of Jews gathered outside Broadcasting House for a protest about the story last month, with attendees holding banners and chanting ‘BBC News where’s the proof!’ and ‘BBC News tell the truth!’
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