Antisemitic conspiracy theory goes unchallenged on BBC World Service

The BBC World Service has been accused of failing to ensure its foreign-language content meets BBC editorial guidelines after a presenter on the BBC World Service failed to challenge an antisemitic conspiracy theory advanced on air by a Somali politician.

The BBC Somali Service is part of the London-based BBC World Service. In an edition of a programme called Dooda Jimcaha broadcast on 18th December on the Somali Service, the Somali MP Mohamed Omer Dalha claimed that there was a conspiracy against Somalia by “Jews running these affairs both in the West and the East.”

According to the translation of the segment for CAMERA UK by Dr Moshe Terdiman, Founder and Research Director on Islam and Muslims in Africa, the assertion was not challenged by the presenter.

A CAMERA spokesperson said that such antisemitic statements “should have no place in BBC content,” adding that this case once again “raises questions concerning the ability of the BBC World Service to oversee the foreign-language content put out in its name and ensure that it meets BBC editorial guidelines.”   

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