BBC editor reportedly blames ‘a particular lobby’ for cancellation of programme hosted by inflammatory Abdel Bari Atwan
An editor at the BBC has reportedly blamed ‘a particular lobby’ for the cancellation of a programme hosted by the inflammatory broadcaster Abdel Bari Atwan.
Nick Guthrie was said to have made a speech in which he criticised the BBC for cancelling the long-running programme Dateline London, in which he reportedly stated: “Just because a particular group, government, lobby groups, whatever, object to views expressed by others does not mean the BBC has to kow-tow.”
Last month, Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed that Mr Atwan believes that “massive Jewish institutions” try to silence him and others because they “believe they own the entire universe and control all the media.”
In an interview, when asked, “Who exactly are the bodies who aim to silence Abdel Bari Atwan and seek to incite against him in the UK?” Mr Atwan answered: “Massive institutions. Massive Jewish institutions. And institutions loyal to Israel. And there are also parties. These parties, for example, the Conservative Party, right now, it is controlled, there is control, one way or another, by these institutions, they want it to adopt what is the Israeli policy. There is also the Labour Party, there are groups, Israel’s friends in the Labour Party, Israel’s friends in the Conservative Party, it is they who want to silence us. They want to enforce the Israeli policies upon us. This is the story.
“And these people, they have deep roots in British society. However, in exchange there are people who support the right cause, the cause of justice, the Palestinian cause, and defend it. They were expelled from British parties because of these positions. But they, these people, although the number of Jews in the UK does not exceed 350,000, 400,000 people, nevertheless, they have seventy members in the House of Commons, do you hear? Seventy representatives in the British Parliament, because they have formidable financial power and economic power, and all of them form an alliance against Abdel Bari Atwan. It is because they don’t want voices. They know the extent of these voices’ influence. They know the extent to which people have reacted to these voices, the extent of the blow to their plans of obstruction and coverup in which these Jewish Israeli lobbies engage within British society. This is the gravity of the matter.”
Needless to say, there are not seventy Jewish MPs in the House of Commons and, even if there were, that should not be a cause for concern, any more than if numerous MPs from any other ethnic or religious minority were sat in Parliament in noteworthy numbers.
It was also reported that Mr Atwan defended Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ remark that Israel has committed “50 Holocausts” and his refusal to condemn the 1972 Munich Olympics terror attack on Israeli athletes.
In 2007, Atwan is reported to have said: “If Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight.” In 2010, it is claimed that Atwan told an audience at the London School of Economics that “the Jewish lobby… [is] endangering the whole world”.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “One wonders who Nick Guthrie is referring to when he says that the BBC ‘has to kow-tow’ to ‘a particular lobby’, which sounds rather like a classic dog whistle. Surely he does not mean the Jewish community, as not only would that amount to a dangerous trope, but the BBC has rebuffed every attempt made by Jewish groups to remove Abdel Bari Atwan from its airwaves due to his antisemitic outbursts and alleged glorification of terrorism.
“No Jewish group, to our knowledge, has asked for any programmes to be cancelled, despite the BBC beaming this Mr Atwan into our living rooms on a regular basis. Perhaps Mr Guthrie would care to enlighten us as to who it is who exercises such power over the BBC. British Jews could then direct our concerns, which the BBC seems routinely to dismiss, to them.”
Recently, Campaign Against Antisemitism joined the JC in calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the BBC.
Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].