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The corporation is coming under increasing pressure for telling its journalists to describe the Palestinians behind the atrocity in Israel as militants.<\/p>\n
Presenter Nick Robinson defended the broadcaster for following \u201clong-standing practice\u201d.<\/p>\n
But a group of the UK\u2019s most senior lawyers, Lord Wolfson KC, Lord Pannick KC, Lord Grabiner KC and Jeremy Brier KC, has written to broadcasting regulator Ofcom calling for it to investigate the decision.<\/p>\n
They said that the BBC has taken sides by talking about Hamas in \u201cmore sympathetic terms\u201d.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Picture shared of tiny baby among missing and dead children after Hamas attack<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOn 7th October 2023, Hamas launched a large invasion of the State of Israel which resulted variously in the slaughter, rape and abduction of over a thousand Israeli citizens,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is nothing controversial about that. It is a fact.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BBC has fallen well below the standards expressed in its Editorial Values in reporting of that invasion and the consequences therefrom.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawyers said by \u201cwatering down\u201d descriptions of Hamas, which is classed by law as a terror group, it is failing to be impartial.<\/p>\n \u201cIt necessarily involves the BBC \u2018stepping into the arena\u2019 and taking sides so as to describe Hamas in more sympathetic terms,\u201d the letter adds.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n \u201cPut another way: in trying to be impartial, the BBC has become partial.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson, a presenter on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, insisted the language rules are standard practice.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cNo one watching the reporting of my BBC colleagues in Israel can have any doubt of the horror of what has happened.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand entirely why some want the word \u2018terrorism\u2019 used. It is, though, the long-standing practice of BBC, ITV and Sky to report others using that language rather than using it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
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