In the aftermath of Hamas’s atrocities on 7 October 2023, the BBC had a responsibility to report the facts with honesty, integrity, and balance. Instead, it failed its public duty—amplifying unverified Hamas claims, sanitising terrorism, and broadcasting misleading narratives that compromised public understanding and risked fuelling further hate.
WBII’s latest policy report, Betraying the Charter, exposes in detail how the BBC defaulted on its legal and moral obligations—violating its Royal Charter, its editorial guidelines, and its claim to be the trusted voice of British journalism.
Highlights of the report:
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A breakdown of the BBC’s editorial failures during the October 7 attacks and their aftermath
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Analysis of the al-Ahli hospital incident and the "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone" scandal
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Exclusive policy recommendations to protect the public from propaganda and restore impartiality
What You Can Do
📧 Email your MP
Demand that your elected representative holds the BBC to account. Ask them to read this report and raise it with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
📤 Forward the report
Share this document with journalists, academics, and policymakers. Use your voice to help correct the record.
📲 Post and tag #BetrayingTheCharter
Let others know that silence is not neutrality. Pressure matters.
This is about more than media.
It’s about truth. It’s about national trust. It’s about stopping the normalisation of terrorism in British public discourse.
If we fail to demand accountability, we invite this to happen again.
Please refer to our model letter below:
Subject: Urgent Parliamentary Action Needed on BBC Bias and Failures in Gaza Coverage
Dear XXX
I am writing to you as a concerned constituent and supporter of democratic accountability in public institutions.
I wish to draw your attention to a recently published report by We Believe in Israel titled Betraying the Charter: The BBC’s Gaza Coverage and the Crisis of Impartiality (Read the report).
This detailed analysis reveals a pattern of serious editorial failings in the BBC’s post–7 October coverage of the Israel–Gaza conflict, including:
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Amplification of unverified Hamas propaganda,
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Breaches of accuracy in high-impact reporting (e.g. the al-Ahli hospital incident),
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A lack of transparency over contributors with direct links to proscribed terrorist organisations,
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A resulting collapse in trust among significant parts of the British Jewish community.
These failures violate both the BBC’s Royal Charter and its legal obligations under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
The report includes a range of policy recommendations that deserve urgent parliamentary scrutiny — including proposals for external editorial accountability, mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosures, and reform of the BBC’s language standards concerning terrorism.
As your constituent, I am asking you to:
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Read and raise the report in Parliament;
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Urge the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to respond formally;
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Support an independent review of the BBC’s Gaza coverage and editorial governance.
The BBC is a publicly funded institution. Its legitimacy depends on maintaining the trust of all communities. That trust has been damaged — and now it must be rebuilt.
I look forward to your response and your support in ensuring this matter is addressed at the highest levels.
Yours sincerely,
