Protesters hold placards and wave Israeli flags as they take part in the demonstration ‘Rape is NOT resistance’ outside the BBC headquarters in London, on February 4, 2024.
Henry Nicholls / AFP
A woman the broadcaster said died of malnutrition was actually being treated for cancer.
The BBC—supposedly Britain’s, and even one of the world’s most respected broadcasters—is repeatedly getting it wrong on the Israel-Hamas war.
The corporation has admitted that a 20-year-old Gazan woman it claimed had died of malnutrition after being evacuated to Italy for treatment was actually being treated for cancer. It claimed it was “not initially aware” that Marah Abu Zuhri was being treated for leukaemia and has now updated its story.
This case is reminiscent of The New York Times’ front-page photo of Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, an emaciated 18-month-old boy from Gaza, the initial story alongside which made no mention of his suffering from cerebral palsy and complications linked to a genetic disorder. The paper accepted in a statement that “this additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of this situation.”
We have appended an Editors' Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below. pic.twitter.com/KGxP3b3Q2B
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee led the criticism of the BBC’s latest misreporting, calling on the broadcaster to “retract the story and apologise.”
British commentator Mark Littlewood also said the circumstances of this “very sad story” showed how “truth is the first casualty of war.”
And journalist Melanie Phillips joked that “to the BBC, even cancer is Israel’s fault.”
Israel helps evacuate cancer sufferer from Gaza to Italy. She dies there of leukaemia. BBC suggests Israel starved her to death. To the BBC, even cancer is Israel’s fault.https://t.co/9EbFskcHm4pic.twitter.com/3f2YJ2qQwL
Most memorably, the BBC was earlier this year forced to admit it had breached its own broadcasting rules when it aired a Gaza documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas official, without disclosing the boy’s background.
Such missteps have prompted accusations that the BBC shows “raw Hamas propaganda,” in particular by “giving credibility” to the claims of the terrorist group.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
