The BBC has described Hezbollah as a “Lebanese group” on a children’s news show, prompting furious backlash.
In a show focused on the conflict in Gaza, a year on from October 7, a presenter informed children watching at home about the fighting and how it came about.
Discussing the current state of the war, where the fighting has spread elsewhere, the reporter for CBBC Newsround said: “There is now fighting between Israel and a Lebanese group called Hezbollah. Now these are old enemies but the violence at the moment is linked back to the war in Gaza.
“What we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks is some of the same things happening, and families in Lebanon have had to leave their homes looking for safer places.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has slammed the “inaccurate” reporting which they say downplays the group’s actions.
It said: “At no point were Hamas and Hezbollah described as terrorists, with young viewers denied any insight into their belligerent motivations. Hamas were described as ‘Palestinian fighters in Gaza’ and Hezbollah as merely a ‘Lebanese group’.
“By not calling these groups what they are – terrorists – the report does not actually explain why any of this is happening. It is simply not accurate.
“Contrary to what BBC executives and spokesperson like to maintain, it is not BBC policy to avoid calling terrorism by its name. Newsround itself called 9/11 terrorism, attacks on shopping centres in Kenya terrorism, and the bombing of the Manchester arena terrorism.”
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The broadcaster came under fire last year when they failed to label Hamas as a terrorist group.
Last month, a report found that the BBC repeatedly downplayed Palestinian terrorism whilst presenting Israel as an aggressive nation.
The research led by British lawyer Trevor Asserson found that Hamas’ actions were given “far less weight” than the Israeli Defence Force’s.
“For the BBC, there is just one type of terrorism, it seems, that is not terrorism, and that is when Jews are the targets,” the campaign group said.
Members of the Jewish community gathered outside BBC Broadcasting House to demonstrate against the BBC’s ongoing refusal to label Hamas as terrorists
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The report also revealed that the cooperation breached its own editorial guidelines over 1,500 times during the height of the conflict.
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Another day, another instance of the BBC’s double standards when it comes to terrorism that targets Jews. This time, it’s in programming for children.
“Newsround’s failure to describe Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists, even when it has done so for other terrorist attacks around the world, represents not impartiality but inaccuracy. The BBC is breaching its own charter.
“The Corporation cannot shy away from the reality that, by refusing refusal to call these antisemitic genocidal groups what they are, the broadcaster is contributing to the legitimisation of extremist views and the radicalisation of young Britons.”
GB News has contacted the BBC for comment.
