BBC: Gaza documentary breached rules by not disclosing narrator was Hamas official’s son

Review finds ‘audience should have been informed’ of teen’s identity in ‘Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone’; also says BBC should translate ‘Yahud’ correctly as ‘Jew’ rather than ‘Israeli’

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the report identified a significant failing in relation to accuracy.

“We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated,” Davie said in a statement.

The review also said, among a number of recommendations, that the BBC will issue new editorial guidance on the translation of the word “Yahud/Yahudi” into English and that staff should now default to using the literal translation of those terms as “Jews/Jewish.”

BBC accused of using mistranslation to cover up Palestinian anti-Semitism

Documentary film ‘One Day in Gaza’ draws rebukes for repeatedly translating Arabic word for ‘Jew’ as ‘Israeli’
15 May 2019

The BBC is being accused of covering up Palestinian anti-Semitism after it mistranslated several times in one documentary the word for “Jew” to “Israeli.”

The film “One Day in Gaza,” about last year’s Gaza border protests against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, aired Monday night on the BBC Two channel.

Among the quotes that were mistranslated was one in an interview with Bader Saleh, 24, who said that during the protests, “The revolutionary songs, they excite you, they encourage you to rip a Jew’s head off.”

The BBC translated his word, “Yahud,” as “Israeli.” It was one of at least five times that the word was mistranslated as Israeli, critics charge, the UK Jewish News reported.