‘If the King can call Hamas terrorists, so can you’: Hundreds of protesters boo BBC and chant ‘shame on you’ outside Broadcasting House amid backlash over failure to label Hamas murderers as ‘terrorists’

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House last night as Downing Street insisted there was no ban on the BBC describing Hamas fighters as ‘terrorists’.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman yesterday said Ofcom’s rules did not restrict the corporation from using the term.

It comes after a broadcast by Radio 4’s Today programme last week appeared to suggest the media regulator’s rules prevented the BBC from using the word to describe Hamas, whose fighters slaughtered Israeli civilians.

The BBC has faced mounting criticism over its refusal to describe those behind the attacks as terrorists, instead using words like ‘militants’ – despite the fact the Government classifies Hamas as a ‘terrorist organisation’.

Addressing a sea of protesters waving flags and chanting, Gideon Falter, the Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism asked: ‘How many dead Israelis does it take before the BBC can find the courage to call terror by its name?’

Pro-Israel rally gathers outside Broadcasting House on Portland Place last night 

Some protesters held banners addressed to BBC bosses, one read: ‘If the King can call Hamas terrorists, so can you’

Protesters outside Broadcast House called for the BBC to change its stance on not calling Hamas terrorists 

Some protesters held banners addressed to BBC bosses, one read: ‘If the King can call Hamas terrorists, so can you.’

When asked about the broadcaster’s decision not to use the term, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The legal position is that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group – the term terrorist is an accurate legal description.

‘The BBC has described other attacks as terrorism.

‘To put it into context, the attack we witnessed in Israel was the third deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970. So there is no restriction on the BBC using that term, certainly not from Ofcom.’

The BBC last night addressed the issue in statements on the complaints section of its website, insisting ‘careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality’.

It added: ‘The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organisations, does use the word ‘terrorist’ but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK.’