Complaint
A listener considered that an interview in the programme with three Israeli soldiers involved in the Gaza conflict represented “a clear cry for empathy for people committing…genocide”. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s general standards of impartiality.
Outcome
Far from inviting empathy, the interviewer put to the soldiers the most frequently heard criticisms of Israel’s actions in Gaza. In the ECU’s judgement there was a clear public interest, in the overall context of the BBC’s reporting of the conflict, in giving listeners the opportunity to hear the responses of Israeli soldiers involved in it. The ECU found no breach of the BBC’s standards of impartiality.
Not Upheld