Journalists since fired from the British state broadcaster’s Arab section have alleged they were discriminated against and unfairly dismissed
© Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
The
BBC has been accused of restricting Gaza war coverage and misleading
the public in a case brought by five of its former Arabic journalists.
The
allegations emerged during a UK employment tribunal hearing, where the
journalists accused the British state broadcaster of discrimination and
unfair dismissal linked to their coverage of the Gaza war, Middle East
Monitor reported on Sunday.
The case is reportedly the first of
its kind to be brought by a group from the BBC Arabic service. Coverage
of the hearing has largely been limited to non-Western outlets,
including Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen and Middle East Monitor.
The complainants are Ahmed Rouaba, Dima Odeh, Nahed Najar, Mohamed El-Ashiry, and Amer Sultan.
Central to the case is Sultan, a 17-year BBC Arabic veteran who said
he was dismissed after raising concerns over editorial breaches. He told
the court internal communications showed “legal and editorial restrictions”
were imposed on BBC Arabic staff operating in Israel. The limitations,
he said, hindered coverage of an October 13 incident in which Israeli
police assaulted a BBC crew.
Court documents detail internal “listening sessions” led by Liliane Landor, then-director of the BBC World Service. Sultan testified Landor was “disturbed by what she heard,” told staff “we misled the audience,” and promised an investigation, although no findings were shared before he left in October 2024.
The BBC’s defense representative did not deny his account but downplayed the breach, arguing it “does not constitute whistleblowing” as no “legal obligations” were violated.
The hearing follows an attack on RT war correspondent Steve Sweeney
and his cameraman, Ali Rida Sbeity, who were injured by an Israeli
strike while filming in southern Lebanon last week.
Critics have
accused Western media outlets of rushing to amplify claims of
journalists in peril but being more selective when the culprit is Israel
and the agency is RT.
Specifically, the BBC listed Sweeney – an experienced war correspondent – as a “presenter,”
and was accused of treating the incident as minor and portraying the
missile’s origin as ambiguous. UK outlet The Independent did not mention
Israeli bombings of Lebanon at all in its reporting of the incident.
In
a separate case, the BBC’s Middle East editor, Raffi Berg, who has
boasted of his links to Israelis secret services, is currently suing a
columnist for libel over claims he shaped coverage to favor Israel.