Complaint
The programme included an item in which a BBC correspondent recounted a conversation with a Jewish settler in the West Bank in which he asked whether the settler’s business activities might be regarded as “colonialism”. A listener objected to the use of a term which he said reflected an anti-Israel narrative, indicated bias against Israel on the part of the correspondent and, by implying that the settler’s presence was illegitimate, amounted to incitement to commit a terrorist act against him. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The correspondent’s question arose from the fact that the settler’s business incorporated Palestinian crafts, in a manner which some might consider to be cultural appropriation. The ECU saw no basis for regarding it as a reflection of the correspondent’s own view, and noted that he immediately set out the settler’s response: “No…Everyone benefits. And life isn’t black and white, it’s grey, like the Jordan Valley before dawn.” Accordingly the ECU found no departure from the BBC’s standards of impartiality (still less, incitement to terrorism).
Not upheld