BBC to investigate reporter's pro-Palestinian views
3 Min Read
In the latest development highlighting the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices in Western media, the BBC has announced plans to probe its staff's social media activity.
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BBC building covered in red paint (X/Victoria Derbyshire)
BBC plans to investigate staff social media activity after a reporter liked posts criticizing "Israel" as a genocidal regime and advocating for Palestinian rights against the Israeli occupation.
The BBC said it views violations of its social media guidelines, which demand strict impartiality from employees, with utmost seriousness and will thoroughly investigate each instance.
“As we have said previously, we take allegations of breaches of our social media guidance very seriously and we took urgent action to investigate each case in detail,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said.
“We do not comment on individual staff matters, however, if we find breaches we take the appropriate action,” the spokesperson added.
In further detail, the situation unfolded when BBC Arabic reporter Soha Ibrahim expressed approval by "liking" several posts on social media platform X. These included a post made shortly after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which described members of the Palestinian Resistance as "freedom fighters".
She also liked a video suggesting that "Israel" was planning to conduct "massacres", along with multiple posts stating that "Israel" was perpetrating a "genocide".
One of the posts she liked included Jeremy Corbyn defending pro-Palestine demonstrations happening across the UK, where the former Labour leader asserted, "Protesting against the mass slaughter of civilians is not a threat to democracy."
Furthermore, the London-based journalist endorsed a post criticizing her employer, the BBC, for inadequate coverage of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The big picture
This is happening shortly after Ibrahim took part in a report documenting instances of Palestinian medical personnel in Gaza being blindfolded, detained, stripped, and subjected to repeated beatings by Israeli troops following a hospital raid last month.
Ahmed Abu Sabha, a doctor at Nasser Hospital, recounted to BBC a week-long detention where he endured attacks by muzzled dogs and suffered a broken hand by an Israeli soldier.
Two other medics shared similar experiences and chose to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation. They detailed being humiliated, beaten, soaked with cold water, and forced into uncomfortable positions for extended periods. They also reported being detained for days before eventual release.
The Israeli occupation forces conducted a raid on the hospital in Khan Younis, a southern city in Gaza, on February 15. This hospital was one of the few still operational in the besieged region.
BBC also obtained video captured clandestinely within the hospital on February 16, the same day the medics were apprehended.
In the footage, a line of individuals can be seen stripped down to their underwear, kneeling in front of the hospital's emergency structure with their hands behind their heads. Some of them have medical attire strewn in front of them.
The BBC, however, has affirmed the accuracy of the report, with a spokesperson stating, "We stand by our journalism."
This statement follows concerns raised by Camera, an organization dedicated to monitoring media coverage of "Israel", regarding BBC staffing.
Read more: CfMM report unveils bias in Western coverage of Gaza genocide
