Transcript:
What’s going on with BBC Arabic?
For years, CAMERA Arabic has been exposing the service’s problems and institutional bias: platforming antisemitic content, denying Hamas atrocities, and providing an unchallenged platform to fanatics, while its contributors, freelancers, and even staffers cheered violence against civilians.
Following the leak of an internal memo which included much of CAMERA’s research concerning BBC Arabic and acknowledged that the Arabic service was a liability to the credibility of the BBC as a whole, BBC Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resigned in November 2025.
That same month, BBC Arabic launched a PR campaign focusing on the theme of “trust.”
Hamdan Jerjawi: [Arabic] For me, trust means being at the scene.
He wasn’t “on the scene” when he suggested that it was not known whether rescued hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were kept in civilian homes and insisted on their “good condition.”
Hamdan Jerjawi: [Arabic] Nobody knows what happened and where they were? And in what condition? Their health was good, they are in good condition.
…
Iman al-Qasir: It means building and fostering relationships all around the world.
Is tolerating antisemitism the way to build such relations?
Here’s Iman al-Qasir defending the “opinion” of a contributor who spoke in favor of “war on the Jews.”
Iman al-Qasir: [Arabic] He expressed his opinion in the utmost honesty, just as all voices are allowed to express their opinion.
…
Mohamed Abdulhamid: But rather striving to perfect the work and get to the truth.
It was Mohamed Abdulhamid who was still denying verified October 7 atrocities even 18 months later.
Mohamed Abdulhamid: [Arabic] Well, burning whole families, this was a very long story and there is no evidence for it. So we should not bring it up, I believe.
…
Rania al-Attar: We are not here to persuade, but to keep you informed.
Is this her idea of “informing” her audience?
Rania al-Attar: [Arabic] Groups of settlers storm al-Aqsa Mosque and carry out Talmudic rituals by disguising themselves as Muslims.
…
Serena Ghockeh: We don’t just ask questions, we challenge the answers.
Serena Ghockeh failed to challenge Hamas denials that civilians were targeted on October 7, even after this was already confirmed on the BBC in English.
Serena Ghockeh: [Arabic] “Al-Qassam targeted the Israeli military and security system – a legitimate target, and the video clips from the field and the settlers’ witnesses confirm that civilians and children were spared.”
…
Noureddine Zorgui: From the big picture down to the fine details.
Noureddine Zorgui has a history of getting the “details” wrong when it comes to Hamas.
Noureddine Zorgui: [Arabic] To correct some information, Hamas amended its position, and I don’t defend Hamas. It amended its position on denying Israel’s right to exist on the lands inside the 1967 borders. The issue of rape, we did not see clear evidence for it, and for your information and for the sake of balance, at a certain stage there was an understanding between Hamas warriors and the Israeli military on not targeting civilians, until the Baruch Goldstein attack in the Cave of the Patriarchs which killed civilians.
BBC Arabic has spent years compromising the corporation’s credibility, all at the expense of UK license fee payers and the Foreign Office’s budget, rightly losing the “trust” of its funding public even according to its own presenters’ definition —and no damage control PR campaign can cover that up.