Message from the Jewish Chronicle newspaper in London

[JC LOGO]( 28 Oct 2022 ● 2 Cheshvan 5783 From The Jewish Chronicle Sign our Petition [here]( Dear Jerusalem Post readers, I'm the Editor of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper in London, the oldest Jewish paper in the world. I'm writing to ask for your help with our campaign to demand a parliamentary inquiry into BBC bias against Jews and Israel. We don't need financial help. We just need your signature. The link is here: [thejc.com/BBCPetition]( Over the past two years, we have exposed numerous instances of apparent bias against Jews and Israel in BBC reporting. The broadcaster has responded by dismissing our concerns, sometimes in quite an offhand way. The most high-profile incident came last Chanukah, when a busload of Jewish youngsters were attacked on Oxford Street, in the heart of central London. A video of the incident showed the teenagers barricading themselves on their bus against a gang of men outside who were performing Nazi salutes, spitting and hammering on the windows. They were speaking mainly Hebrew. But when the BBC reported it, the story alleged that one of the victims had blurted out a racial slur against the attackers while cowering in the bus. In fact, the BBC didn’t allege it. It reported it as fact, even though the supposed slur was not audible to many people and the victims themselves denied it, saying that it was a Hebrew phrase which the BBC had misheard. The broadcaster refused to back down, causing great hurt to the Jewish community as it responded petulantly to complaints. As a result, the media watchdog, Ofcom, launched an investigation into BBC accuracy (which is yet to be concluded). This is just the tip of the iceberg. Over the years, the Jewish Chronicle has repeatedly reported on how the BBC’s Arabic-language output departs from impartiality guidelines, downplaying attacks on Israelis, using Hamas-inspired terminology (calling terrorists “resistance fighters”, for example), showcasing extreme views without challenge and publishing a map in which Israel was erased. But the iceberg goes deeper still. The BBC regularly features the Islamist Abdel Bari Atwan as a commentator on its high-profile programmes in both Arabic and English. London-based Mr Atwan has praised terror attacks against Israelis as a “miracle”, has stated that he would dance in Trafalgar Square if Iran attacked Israel, expressed sympathy with the man who attacked novelist Salman Rushdie, and – unbelievably – defended the 1972 massacre of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich. The Jewish Chronicle has brought this man’s track record to the attention of the BBC on numerous occasions, but it refuses to remove him from its programmes. Six weeks ago, we launched an open letter demanding that Abdel Bari Atwan no longer appears on the BBC, as well as asking for a more impartial approach towards reporting Israel and Jews. The letter was signed by 36 distinguished parliamentarians, public figures and all major Jewish communal groups. Signatories included Lord Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party; Lord Alex Carlile, the Government’s former terror specialist; Baroness Ruth Deech, a former BBC Governor; Lord David Triesman, the former Labour minister in charge of the BBC World Service; eminent historians Simon Sebag Montefiore and Andrew Roberts, playwright Steven Berkoff and many more. The BBC ignored the letter. Or at least, it ignored it until last week, when we launched a public petition demanding a parliamentary inquiry into BBC coverage of Jews and Israel. As luck would have it, on the same day as we started the petition, hapless Prime Minister Liz Truss was forced to resign. The BBC Director-General chose that moment to respond, meaning that his letter did not “cut through” the maelstrom of political news in the way it normally would. Astonishingly, the letter insisted that including Abdel Bari Atwan as a commentator was “in the public interest”. It was described as “vacuous” and “pathetic” by British politicians. JPost readers: Can you help? Our petition has started off nicely, but it needs more support. Please consider signing it so that together we can force the BBC to return to the values on which it was founded: accountability, accuracy, and above all, impartiality. Once again, [you can find the petition here](. Please sign it and share it far and wide. Thank you. Shabbat Shalom, Jake Wallis Simons Sign our petition [here]( [theJC.com]( - is the digital arm of Jewish Chronicle Media Limited, which publishes The Jewish Chronicle newspaper, the world's oldest and most influential Jewish newspaper. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Jerusalem Post, HaAhim MiSlavuta St 15, 6701026 Tel-Aviv, Israel