UPDATE: The BBC is not backing down after coming under political pressure to refer to Hamas as a terror group. It has rejected a call from the government to review its editorial guidelines.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We always take our use of language very seriously. Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word ‘terrorist’ used many times – we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK government. This is an approach that has been used for decades, and is in line with that of other broadcasters. The BBC is an editorially independent broadcaster whose job is to explain precisely what is happening ‘on the ground’ so our audiences can make their own judgement.”


PREVIOUS: The BBC has been told by the British government to review its opposition to calling Hamas a terrorist organization amid the Israel-Gaza crisis.

The BBC refers to Hamas as a “militant” group or variations of this phrase, pointing to its editorial guidelines which state that the word “terrorist” should not be used without attribution.

It is not clear how long this position will hold, however, given the BBC is now under political pressure to use more specific language after 1,000 people in Israel were killed during Hamas attacks.

During a pre-planned meeting, culture secretary Lucy Frazer asked Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, if the corporation should review its guidelines.

She disclosed the meeting in a letter to Marie van der Zyl, president of Board of Deputies of British Jews, which has said it is “obscene” that the BBC refuses to brand Hamas terrorists.

“I made extremely clear [to the BBC] my view that these were acts of terror carried out by a terrorist organisation,” Frazer told the Board of Deputies.

“I noted that, as you have, Hamas have been proscribed as a terrorist organisation since 2021 by the UK government, and are designated as such by many other international organisations and governments.”

On Monday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “This is not a time for equivocation, we should call it out for what it is.”

The BBC is under no obligation to act on the concerns of ministers because it is editorially independent of the government.

Frazer questioned whether the BBC was observing its news style guide, which states that “an action or event can be described as a terror attack or an act of terror.”

The BBC’s guidelines also state that the word “terrorist” can be a “barrier rather than an aid” to helping audiences understand news stories.

“We should convey to our audience the full consequences of the act by describing what happened. We should use words which specifically describe the perpetrator such as bomber, attacker, gunman, kidnapper, insurgent and militant,” the BBC says.

“We should not adopt other people’s language as our own. Our responsibility is to remain objective and report in ways that enable our audiences to make their own assessments about who is doing what to whom.”

Van der Zyl said the BBC’s position was “insulting to the many British Jews whose friends and families are currently under attack by genocidally antisemitic terrorists and performs a profound disservice to millions of viewers.”

https://deadline.com/2023/10/bbc-hamas-terrorism-uk-government-pressure-1235568657/

EU's Borrell: Israeli moves in Gaza break international law

https://www.reuters.com/world/spain-opposes-suspending-aid-palestinian-territories-2023-10-10/

European Union reverses earlier announcement that it was suspending development aid to Palestinians

https://apnews.com/article/eu-palestinians-aid-israel-hamas-be4681a821bac98728e131a8c6abb552#tbl-em-lnldhosi328t0zthed