BBC ruled it was acceptable to say Jew and Israeli are same thing

Credit: BBC/Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone

The BBC Trust ruled that it was acceptable and accurate to use the words “Jew” and “Israeli” interchangeably in coverage of the Middle East.

The editorial standards committee in 2013 ruled against a complaint over the mistranslation of the word Yahud, Arabic for Jew, to Israeli, arguing it was not a breach of its guidelines.

The phrase was mistranslated most recently in the BBC’s controversial Gaza documentary, which has prompted claims that the corporation whitewashed anti-Semitism.

On Tuesday, The Telegraph revealed the words Yahud or Yahudy – Arabic for “Jew” or “Jews” – were changed to “Israel” or “Israeli forces” at least five times.

The film also omitted references to Jihad in its subtitles translating praise for Yahya Sinwar, the late former leader of Hamas, for “Jihad against the Jews” to fighting “Israeli forces”.

The BBC is also under pressure to reveal whether any taxpayers’ money was paid to Hamas during the making of the film Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

More than a decade ago, the BBC Trust’s editorial standards committee, which handled complaints, ruled that wrong translations of the word were an appropriate exercise of editorial judgement.

The committee was asked to investigate a complaint over a report by the correspondent Jon Donnission on Radio 4’s PM about Hebrew being taught in Hamas-run schools in Gaza.

During the report, a pupil was asked about why she considered it useful to be taught Hebrew, with her contribution voiced over by an English translation.

It was possible to hear the original Arabic and the word Yahud, but this was translated to English as Israeli.

“If we meet an Israeli, and they’re speaking in Hebrew, it means that if they are planning to do something bad to us, we will know what they are up to,” the girl was quoted as saying.

A complainant said that the translation was significant because “portraying Jews as ‘deceitful creatures’ is part and parcel of the Hamas education”.

BBC Audience Services initially rejected the complaint arguing the term was used “colloquially” to refer to Israelis.

It was later sent to the BBC Trust with the complaint arguing there was no justification for assuming the girl had meant Israelis. The standards committee also decided not to uphold the complaint.

The committee found that it was “not the case that only a literal translation would have met audience expectation for due accuracy” and that the “chosen translation did not dilute the girl’s hostility or soften the impact of her words”.

The report said: “The committee therefore concluded that the programme had achieved due accuracy as required by the editorial guidelines.”

It later added: “The committee emphasised that no interpretation of the editorial guidelines requires content producers to make direct word-for-word translations without also taking account of relevant context”.

Dr Yusri Hazran, a senior lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Shalem College, said: “Not only is it false to translate the word ‘Yahud’, Jews, into English as ‘Israelis’/’Israel’/’Israeli forces’, it also whitewashes the prominence of anti-Semitism in Gazan society after more than 17 years of Hamas rule.

“Hamas’s animosity towards Jews worldwide, regardless of their country of residence, is evident already in its 1988 charter which has been continuously in effect ever since.”

Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was trailed as revealing in “gripping detail the lives of four young people living in Gaza”. It said it would present “an unflinching and vivid view of life in a warzone”.

However, the broadcaster issued an apology and removed the film from its iPlayer service after it was revealed that the son of a Hamas minister featured prominently in the film.

The BBC initially kept the documentary online with an added disclaimer at the start, arguing that it remained an “invaluable testament” to Palestinians’ experiences of the war.

But the corporation has since removed it from its iPlayer service while it conducts “further due diligence” with Hoyo Films, the production company.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said that if the BBC finds evidence money was given to Hamas, then counter-terrorism police should investigate.

The chairman of the BBC Trust who made the ruling in 2013 was Alison Hastings, while the other trustees were David Liddiment, Richard Ayre, Sonita Alleyne and Bill Matthews.

Mr Liddlement is now the creative director of All3Media, the international distributor of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

‘Misleading in number of ways’

The BBC has not addressed the mistranslations in the documentary but sources yesterday pointed to the 2013 findings, which they said showed previous translations were found to be an appropriate exercise of editorial judgment

Alex Hearn, the co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, said that the findings in 2013 were “misleading in a number of ways” and it was “remarkable that this long-term failure is being used as an excuse”.

He said: “The committee failed to note that there is already a word for Israelis in Arabic, which is different to the word for Jews.

“Their conclusion about ‘taking account of relevant context’ has been ignored by the BBC documentary, in which a religious war against Jews was being described. In the context of religious extremists who want to wipe Jews out, changing ‘Jews’ to ‘Israelis’ only serves to indoctrinate viewers into finding this racist ideology acceptable.

“The editorial standards committee findings do not stand up to scrutiny, and simply demonstrate how the BBC cannot be held accountable because they are marking their own homework.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone features important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza.

“There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company. The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.”