Foreign Affairs

Protesters Gather Outside BBC News After Network Forced To Make Correction On Anti-Semitic Attack Story

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Protesters gathered outside the BBC broadcasting house Monday after the news network doubled down on its contested claim that Jewish victims of alleged anti-Semitic abuse had first used an anti-Muslim slur.

A BBC article about the anti-Semitic incident claimed multiple anti-Muslim slurs could be heard from within the bus. A group of Jewish teenagers celebrating Hanukkah Nov. 29 were forced back onto their bus by a group of men hitting the vehicle with their hands, making Nazi salutes and shouting anti-Semitic slurs, according to the Daily Mail.

A crowd has gathered outside BBC broadcasting house for the @antisemitism protest against the BBC’s reporting of the Oxford st. Chanukah incident. pic.twitter.com/V4IrmKeYLY

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) December 13, 2021

Video has emerged of a group of men spitting at a bus full of Jewish teenagers in Oxford Street where the group were celebrating the first night of Chanukah. pic.twitter.com/orOrA9kJEu

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) December 1, 2021

After a correction, the article says “a slur about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus.” The police found no evidence of any anti-Muslim slurs, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

“It has been claimed what we considered to be an abusive term in English was in fact someone speaking in Hebrew. We have consulted a number of Hebrew speakers in determining that the slur was spoken in English,” a BBC spokesperson said, according to Daily Mail.

Tonight we gathered in our hundreds outside the @BBC with a clear message: #BBCNewsStopBlamingJews! pic.twitter.com/TNCueKg6EE

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) December 13, 2021

Approximately 100 protesters could be seen holding signs that read “BBC NEWS STOP BLAMING JEWS,” in a photograph shared by the Campaign Against Antisemitism on Twitter Monday. Gideon Falter of the Campaign Against Antisemitism also appeared at the protest and called BBC’s accusation of an anti-Muslim slur a “distraction” from the attack on Jewish teenagers.