The BBC complaints procedure is notoriously difficult to navigate and sometimes takes a great deal of perseverance to follow through to the bitter end. But it can be done. Credit to HR UK subscriber Stephen Franklin who sent in a complaint regarding the BBC2 programme “Generation Jihad” broadcast on 8 February 2010.
In the programme, the narrator stated:
In September 2000, 12 year old Muhammad al-Dura was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
This assertion, perhaps the original Big Lie (see here for our interactive presentation) has been throroughly debunked. Yet, thanks to media outlets such as the BBC, al-Dura remains an iconic poster boy for the so-called Palestinian Second Intifada.
Despite the fact that the al-Dura affair occurred nearly a decade ago, Israel continues to live with the terrible consequences – much of which were the result of skewed and biased media coverage. Indeed, the mainstream media still fails to acknowledge that their coverage of the affair fell far short of objective journalism.
Indeed, Franklin’s initial complaint was rejected. He appealed, however, to the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit where Fraser Steel, Head of Editorial Complaints, replied:
even in the absence of an “official” Israeli Government position on the shooting of Al-Durrah, the fact remains that many people believe that the bullets which killed him could not have come from Israeli positions. The Director of the Israeli Government Press Office believes that “there was no basis for the accusations levelled against Israel”. He is quite clearly not alone in this view, as evidenced by the recent trial of Philippe Karsenty (to which your complaint refers), who had expressed the view that footage of the incident had been faked. An internet search shows a significant number of people similarly believe that the IDF could not have killed Al-Durrah (and some who believe he was not killed at all).
In the light of these points, I think that, in stating as fact that Muhammed Al-Durrah was killed by the Israeli Army, the programme went beyond what could be said with certainty. …
I hope you will accept my apologies, on behalf of the BBC, for the breach of standards in relation to accuracy which we have identified.
While some may not see this as a dramatic victory over the BBC in the continuing battle over its Israel coverage, nonetheless we believe that this is an important benchmark. By publicising this ruling widely, it sends a clear message that the BBC (and other media) can no longer promote the al-Dura libel without acknowledging that the incident is not as clear cut as the Palestinians and their supporters would like you to believe.
