BBC’s reporting on the killing of several Palestinian journalists in Gaza has been on the receiving end of fierce criticism, with thousands on social media saying the broadcaster is “parroting the Israeli narrative”.
Late on Sunday local time, prominent Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh were killed in a drone strike on a press tent near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The strike also took the lives of Al Jazeera staff Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, as well as freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
While many around the world mourned their losses, the BBC’s coverage of the slain journalists received backlash for repeating Israel’s accusation that Sharif had a “dual role” as “journalist and terrorist”.
Israel has routinely made such claims about journalists, which the Committee has strongly rejected to Protect Journalists.
One social media user suggested that this was a character assassination, right after Israel killed him.
In another report, a BBC news anchor said, “Israel says Anas Al-Sharif was a member of Hamas, a claim long rejected by the news network, his family, and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).”
For many on social media, the news anchor adding the fact that Al Jazeera and the CPJ rejected these claims was not enough, with one saying, “the BBC stooped so low it should be banned from broadcasting after parroting the Israeli narrative.”
The BBC’s coverage also ignited criticism of many other western media outlets.
Many on social media suggested that media outlets that remained silent while Israel continued its assaults on Gaza for 21 months were “complicit” in the “genocidal machine”. One social media user compiled headlines from western media outlets, in which the German Bild magazine wrote, “Journalist in disguise as terrorists killed in Gaza”.
Others praised Sharif for standing “unbowed before Zionism, exposing Israel’s war crimes with integrity and honour”.
In one social media post, a person shared a screenshot from the BBC, saying: “Anas Al-Sharif worked for a Hamas media team in Gaza before the current conflict.” The person wrote, “The BBC has repeatedly abandoned the core principles of journalism, choosing to support the genocide rather than report the truth about its victims.”
According to Gaza’s government media office, Israel has killed 238 Palestinian journalists since the start of the war in October 2023. Over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave, and starvation is looming, with more than 200 dead from hunger.
Rights groups and press freedom advocates have described the war in Gaza as the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history while human rights groups, scholars and some countries quantify it as a genocide.
