‘Not phrased well,’ BBC admits, after anchor says IDF happily kills children
On Tuesday evening, Anjana Gadgil, a BBC anchor, drew upon language that evokes blood libels during an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Anjana Gadgil, a BBC anchor, interviews former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on July 4, 2023. Credit: Twitter screenshot.
Soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces “are happy to kill children,” she said at one point.
On Wednesday, the BBC issued a statement in response to a complaint, which it summarised as being related “to specific interview questions about the deaths of young people in the Jenin refugee camp.”
“Across the BBC’s platforms—including the BBC News channel—these events have been covered in an impartial and robust way. The United Nations raised the issue of the impact of the operation in Jenin on children and young people,” the BBC responded.
“While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologise that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate,” it added.
Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, tweeted that she is pleased that the BBC apologised “for the clearly unacceptable language which was used in their interview with Naftali Bennett.”
“Having written to the director general on this matter today, I appreciate the corporation’s speedy response,” she added.
Bennett tweeted a story about the apology in the Jewish Chronicle, adding: “We are not quiet about the State of Israel’s honour.”
JNS
The BBC is chronically obsessed with their presentation of Israel and the IDF being evil. This latest reference made by Anjana Gadgil is part of that and wildly, passionately, freely expressed, almost as her own blood lust. A mere apology, ensconced within the usual framework of journalistic excuses, is not good enough. The whole way in which the BBC operates its news platform and agenda needs overhauling to meet proper news standards that are bipartisan and give full context, without these kind of grotesque appellations.