Complaint
A viewer complained the programme was inaccurate and biased, in that it did not adequately reflect the violence faced by Jewish people from Egypt and from across the region, many of whom were forced out of the countries in which they lived. The ECU assessed whether the output met the standards of due accuracy and impartiality set out in the BBC Editorial Guidelines
Outcome
The Holy Land and Us told the stories of several families of Jewish or Palestinian heritage, and followed them in their journey to discover more about how the birth of Israel had impacted on their antecedents. The complainant argued it underplayed the hostility faced by Jewish people in the late 1940s and offered a “one-sided narrative” in suggesting Palestinians had been forced to leave their homes in contrast to Jewish families who had moved “to find a better life”. In the ECU’s view, however, the programme properly reflected the complex history of the region, including the fact that violence and discrimination had led many Jewish people to flee countries like Egypt in the late 1940s for safety in Israel. The script made explicit that many had been killed indiscriminately regardless of their history in the country, and faced unrest and vandalism, and that this left people with a difficult choice to make. The programme as a whole also made clear the reasons behind the foundation of Israel and why so many fought for the creation of a Jewish state as a place of sanctuary.
Not Upheld