BBC admits to former staff displaying 'antisemitic behavior'

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Dir.-Gen. Tim Davie admitted that former BBC staff displayed antisemitic behavior, according to a media report released on Friday

“As many of you may have seen, sadly in recent weeks we have been alerted to some antisemitic behaviour by people who worked with us," he reportedly wrote his staff in a letter. "I want to be clear that there can be no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind, whether towards our Jewish colleagues or indeed colleagues from any background or belief.”

“Any form of antisemitism, Islamophobia or racist abuse is abhorrent, and we will always act whenever it occurs. We must play our role to build understanding and tolerance.”

Davie’s note comes after BBC Three senior scheduling coordinator, Dawn Queva, posted a series of antisemitic comments on Facebook, including the description of Jews as “Nazi parasites” who invented a “holohoax.”

Queva was fired by the BBC earlier this month for her comments.

Jewish BBC employees have described feeling frightened at work, while others have openly stated that there is antisemitism at the corporation.

“I have worked there long enough to know that contrary to its own mantra, it is not ‘One BBC’. There is antisemitism, and on occasion I have encountered it at executive level especially,” one Jewish employee told the Jewish Chronicle under anonymity.

One recent example of anti-Israeli sentiment was seen last month when former British soccer star and current prominent BBC football presenter Gary Lineker called for a global boycott of Israeli sports.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the BBC has been losing global credibility and has been forced to apologize repeatedly after making false on-air accusations against Israel.

On Dec. 24, the BBC issued an apology for claiming that Israeli soldiers were “carrying out summary executions in the Gaza Strip.”

In another example, the BBC had to apologize after a BBC News Channel anchor reported that IDF troops would be “targeting medical teams, as well as Arab speakers” at Gaza's Al Sharif Hospital.

Antisemitism in Great Britain has surged following Hamas' brutal attack on Oct. 7, breaking its 1984 record, when the Jewish community first began recording instances of anti-Jewish sentiment.

According to Reuters, there were 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the UK during 2023, more than double the amount in 2022. Two-thirds of those events took place either on or after Oct. 7.

According to the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST), antisemitism first appeared when British citizens were seen celebrating the Hamas massacre, as opposed to supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

“British Jews are strong and resilient, but the explosion in hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace,” CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said in a statement.

“Our community is being harassed, intimidated, threatened and attacked by extremists who also oppose society as whole ... we condemn the stony silence from those sections of society that eagerly call out racism in every other case, except when it comes to Jew hate,” Gardner added.