Complaint
The programme included a live report from Damascus by Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, in which she said “This is one of the most diverse countries in the Middle East, with multiple Christian and Muslim sects, and you can see it here in the old city, all the different quarters, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, they are all here, and they want to believe they have a space now, as Syria embarks on this new chapter”. Three viewers complained that this created a false narrative by suggesting the historic Jewish Quarter of Damascus was still populated by Jews, whereas their numbers had been reduced to single figures. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
In the ECU’s view the audience in general would have taken Ms Doucet to be illustrating the relative diversity of Syrian society rather than commenting on the size of any of the groups she mentioned. So, while it might have been preferable to have made clear that Syria’s remaining Jews were only a remnant of the former community, it was unlikely that the audience would have been misled on any material point.
Not upheld