On Sunday there was a major demonstration in London, in opposition to anti-Semitism. It was peaceful and dignified, and stood in stark contrast with the pro-Hamas, pro-genocide demonstrations that engulfed the city on previous Saturdays. But the anti-anti-Semitism demonstration was controversial; too controversial for BBC employees to attend. Some did anyway.
Dozens of Jewish BBC staff defied a ban on attending last weekend’s march against antisemitism, it has been revealed.
Jewish employees working in current affairs and factual journalism told Times Radio that being Jewish “took precedence over what the BBC thinks”.
Staff members attended the march on Sunday despite being referred to impartiality rules that say that editorial staff “should not participate in public demonstrations or gatherings about controversial issues”.
We live in a world in which the Left promulgates increasingly demented standards for what is considered controversial. A recent “Pride” demonstration, for instance, was not deemed controversial, so that BBC employees were permitted–encouraged, I suspect–to participate. But opposition to the demonic anti-Semitism that has broken out in Gaza and around the world is, according to the BBC, in the same “controversial” category as the “from the river to the sea” protests that called for the abolition of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people.
An anonymous Jewish BBC employee told Times Radio why they decided to attend the demonstration regardless of the consequences.
“I learnt last week that the BBC was barring members of staff from attending the planned march against antisemitism — and let’s face it, we’re really talking about Jewish members of staff here, because they’re the only ones who would really be wanting to go — so the BBC knew exactly who it was stopping.
That last is a revealing comment. Of course there were many non-Jews among the 100,000 or so who participated in the demonstration. To reach that number, I would think a majority, or in any event a large percentage, would have to be Gentiles. My wife and I are currently in London; if we had been here two days earlier, we would have participated. But I don’t know of any reason to doubt the BBC employee’s statement that no one in that organization who isn’t Jewish would be interested in taking part in a march against anti-Semitism. If that is correct, it explains a lot about the BBC’s news coverage.
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