The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said sorry for a mistake made by one of its presenters, Maryam Moshiri. She described people participating in marches supporting Palestine as supporters of Hamas. The BBC admitted that this was not the right way to talk about the demonstrations.
On the weekend, thousands of people joined marches to show their support for Palestine. They wanted Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip, where many Palestinians live. Sadly, these bombings have led to the deaths of many Palestinians, including over 1,000 children.
Maryam Moshiri’s comment caused a lot of criticism. Some people were shocked and unhappy with how the BBC described the protesters as supporters of Hamas. They even suggested canceling their TV licenses in protest.
On X, Moshiri stated: “Earlier we reported on some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the weekend. “We spoke about ‘several demonstrations across Britain during which people voiced their backing for Hamas.
“We accept this was poorly phrased and was a misleading description of the demonstrations.”
Following the publication of a news report on Monday, the BBC faced criticism from users of X who expressed their dismay at the depiction of protestors as Hamas sympathizers.
X user @SaulStaniforth commented simply: “BBC News. No words.”
Co-founder of Novara Media Aaron Bastani stated on X: “Utterly appalling from the BBC. That means 150,000 in London breached the 2000 Terrorism Act on Sat – who is writing this stuff?”
The BBC has also said sorry on their live broadcast.
This issue comes during a time when there’s been a lot of violence between Hamas and Israel, with journalists reporting on it. This conflict began when Hamas attacked Israel, and then Israel responded with airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of many Palestinians.
These events have led to protests around the world, with people supporting Palestine, Israel, or calling for peace. It’s also caused debates about how organizations like universities are reacting to the situation.
In the past, there has been a discussion about whether to call groups like Hamas “militants” or “terrorists.” The U.S. government has long labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization.
