Controversy is mounting in the United Kingdom over the BBC's decision not to describe Hamas as a "terrorist group," even though it is considered as such by the British government and has been banned from the country since November 2021. "I ask the BBC to call it for what it is [a terrorist group]," said Noam Sagi, a London psychotherapist and son of a 75-year-old Israeli woman taken hostage by the armed group in the Saturday, October 7 attack, at a press conference in London on Thursday. "Hamas is an organization that came to do one thing and one thing only," Sagi added.
The British public broadcaster justifies this choice in the name of a long-standing principle of neutrality in the treatment of current affairs, to which it adheres as much as possible and on which it is regularly challenged. John Simpson, world affairs editor of the BBC's international service, has commented several times in recent days, on social media and on the BBC News website, to explain the prestigious corporation's position.
"Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally," he wrote on Thursday, October, 12. "It's simply not the BBC's job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. We regularly point out that the British and other governments have condemned Hamas as a terrorist organization, but that's their business. We also run interviews with guests and quote contributors who describe Hamas as terrorists."
Since the Hamas assault on southern Israel on Saturday, October 7, the BBC has reported extensively, naming and documenting the atrocities committed by the terrorist group. Earlier this week, it launched a new podcast, "The Conflict: Israel-Gaza," hosted by Lyse Doucet, another of the broadcaster's renowned journalists, known for her balanced and empathetic reporting. The BBC is also one of the last media outlets to have a correspondent in Gaza, Rushdi Abualouf, who was still sending reports on Thursday, despite the extreme difficulties there, the lack of water and electricity and the bombings.
This principle of neutrality, already much questioned during the Brexit debate – the BBC was accused of giving a voice to both Brexiters and Remainers – is still coming up against a lot of backlash. It's "verging on disgraceful," said UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on LBC radio, adding that it's time for the BBC to get its "moral compass out." Hamas has "slaughtered innocent people, babies, festival-goers, pensioners. They're not freedom fighters, they're not militants. They're pure and simple terrorists, and it's remarkable this morning to go to the BBC website and still see them talking about gunmen and militants," Shapps said.
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