BBC staffer accused Israeli ‘Zionists’ of genocide in internal chatroom
A BBC staffer has accused Israeli “Zionists” of genocide on an internal company chat platform.
The female employee, who is understood to be connected to the BBC’s charity work, used the platform to share her “distress” at the broadcaster’s coverage of the Gaza conflict.
Her message related to a story about Muhammad Bahr, a Palestinian man with Down’s Syndrome, who died after being mauled by an IDF combat dog.
An online article by the BBC was initially published with the headline: “The lonely death of Gaza man with Down’s syndrome”, which was widely criticised for not reflecting the manner of his death.
The employee posted a link to the story on the internal messaging platform “to express my deep distress at the headline BBC News put out”.
She said he died “in the hands of Zionist Israeli soldiers”, adding: “Expressing this in a professional manner that fits into workplace guidelines is beyond me, but hopefully it will be understood by BBC journalists covering this genocide.”
‘Shock and outrage’
Her message, which was liked by several people, was posted on a network chat called Yammer which is open to all BBC employees and used by thousands of staff.
It is understood that the employee was spoken to and the post subsequently removed, but BBC staff who are Jewish, have expressed concern at the open expression of political views on the network.
One employee who wished to remain anonymous said: “There was shock and outrage among Jewish staff over the posts.
“Worse still, thousands of other staff who had already seen it had not bothered to object, which tells you how normalised it has become.
“Anti-Zionism is absolutely rife at the BBC, which creates a terrible climate for Jewish staff.”
Another said the open use of the word genocide on a work platform was “deeply depressing and a sign of how so many in the organisation now think they have a licence to say what they like about Jewish people”.
BBC spokesman said: “We don’t think a single deleted post on an internal messaging tool made by one person in an organisation of over 17,000 people usefully demonstrates anything about the BBC, except that we require everyone to follow the mandatory standards in our code of conduct.”