Former BBC head: BBC 'singling of Israel for criticism'

Lord Michael Grade, the former director of the BBC, strongly criticized the BBC in parliament for its biased coverage of Hadas Malka's murder in a stabbing attack at Damascus Gate last month.

Grade recalled that in its initial report of a lethal attack by three Palestinians on Israeli police officers in June, which resulted in the death of 23-year-old Israeli policewoman Hadas Malka, the BBC’s headline read, “Three Palestinians killed after deadly stabbing in Jerusalem.”

Grade acknowledged that the network reacted to criticism by changing the headline to “Israeli policewoman stabbed to death in Jerusalem,” redirecting its focus to the victim of the attack, rather than its perpetrators. However, he said that the initial headline played a role in “the drip-drip effect of unqualified, un-contextualised singling out of Israel for criticism.”

“If the BBC can get this wrong,” Grade continued, “it is little wonder that Israel finds it so hard to put aside the idea that some critics are motivated by something more sinister than political commentary.”