BBC Arabic apologises for claiming Jews spit on Christians in ‘holiday ritual'

Telegraph

14-06-2025

The BBC has been forced to apologise following claims by its Arabic service that Jews spit on Christians in a 'holiday ritual'.
Claims were made in a video released by the corporation alongside an article titled 'Sukkot: Spitting and Assault on Christians and Harassment of Muslims on the Jewish Holiday'.
In the video, released in October 2023, a caption claimed observant Jews celebrated their religious holiday, Sukkot, in Israel by spitting on Christians.
After the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) complained to the BBC, the caption was corrected to say: 'Some observant Jews consider spitting on Christians a holiday ritual.'
However, Camera had to wait 19 months for a written apology to be issued.
In the correspondence, the BBC said: 'We apologise for the errors and thank you for your patience in waiting for this reply/confirmation of corrections that were made in October 2023.'
The footage sparked outrage after ultra-Orthodox Jews could be seen spitting on the ground alongside a procession of foreign Christian worshippers carrying a wooden cross in Jerusalem.
The spitting scene, captured by a reporter at Israel's Haaretz newspaper, showed a group of foreign pilgrims beginning their procession through the limestone labyrinth of the Old City.
They were retracing the steps along the route they believe Jesus took before his crucifixion, raising a giant wooden cross.
However, ultra-Orthodox Jews in dark suits and broad-brimmed black hats squeezed past the pilgrims through narrow alleyways, their ritual palm fronds for the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot in hand.
At least seven ultra-Orthodox Jews spit on the ground beside the Christian tour group.
A second BBC Arabic article, published on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 and titled 'The story of suicide bombers throughout history: from the fanatical Jews, through Assassins, to the Jihadists', linked 'fanatical Jews' to the US terror attacks.
The article describes the Sicarii, a militant Jewish group active during Roman occupation, as the earliest example of suicide attackers. It then went on to link them to modern jihadist tactics.
The Sicarii seized Jerusalem with other forces during the Jewish revolt in 70AD, before retreating to Masada.
However, Camera complained and argued that while the Sicarii did commit mass suicide at Masada, they did not carry out suicide attacks.
Camera wrote in a complaint to the BBC: 'Since the Sicarii's attacks weren't suicidal, and their mass suicide was not an attack, they do not fit a narrative about suicide attacks at all. Yet, they are the only ones labelled 'fanatics' and 'extremists' in the entire article.'
'Material inaccuracy'
The BBC executive complaints unit agreed the original article contained a 'material inaccuracy' after Camera made further complaints.
In a ruling issued on April 10, they said: 'Although the Sicarii may have preferred suicide to capture, there was no evidence of their using suicide as a means of an attack.'
The headline was changed to 'The Story of Suicide Bombers Throughout History: From Assassins to Jihadists'.
Lord Carlile, the government's former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, condemned the piece at the time and warned the BBC about publishing 'deliberate and sometimes even casual anti-Semitism'.
He told The Telegraph after the apology was issued: 'I'm glad they have apologised.'
Camera also said there were six other complaints about BBC Arabic content that have not been resolved as of June 9.
A Camera spokesman said: 'Having demonstrated such ignorance in covering Jewish affairs, it seems that part of the problem lies not only with the Arabic service's inability to respond to complaints on time, but also in the lack of training its staff undergo upon hiring.'
Last month, the BBC announced it would appoint an independent figure to investigate its Arabic channel over repeated allegations of anti-Semitism exposed by The Telegraph.
The Telegraph has previously revealed a number of BBC Arabic's contributors have posted anti-Jewish sentiments and expressed their apparent support for Hamas, both before and after the Oct 7 attacks.
Speaking to Times Radio in May, Dr Samir Shah, the chairman of the BBC, said: ' The Arabic service, we are looking at it, we've been examining it. I think this whole business of how we've covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we're going to identify... we're going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.'