The BBC has issued new training guidelines around antisemitism and they are every bit as woeful as you might suspect. Just look at the below excerpt which conflates Jewishness with Zionism and suggests it is antisemitic to critique Zionism. This is exactly the type of thing a Zionist would come up with if they wanted to shield Israel from criticism.
The irony here is that by accusing anti-Zionists of being antisemitic, the BBC is being antisemitic itself. I can’t believe I have to spell this out, but “Zionism” and “Zionist” do not mean “all Jews”, not even in a shortened version like “Zio”! Whichever way you square it, Zionism refers to a political ideology, and 80% of the world’s followers of that ideology are not Jewish.
The argument that we should not criticise a terrible ideology because it might upset Jews is despicable. It’s an argument that could be used to defend all of the worst ideologies in history. It is the equivalent of saying don’t critique Islamism because it might offend Muslims. If you are an adherent of a terrible, murderous ideology, frankly, I don’t give a fuck about your feelings.
The BBC’s position is that anyone who says the word “Zionist” secretly means all Jews and therefore should be treated as an antisemite. This means anti-Zionists should be censored and not given airtime. You are not allowed to debate the root cause of Israel’s genocide on the BBC because doing so would be “antisemitic”. This is exactly the position that the perpetrators of genocide would want the BBC to take. It is the equivalent of the BBC taking Islamophobia guidance from ISIS.
The BBC says we should use the term “Israeli government” when referring to the “war”, but what about when we’re not solely criticising the Israeli government? I might also be criticising the likes of Keir Starmer or Donald Trump, two Zionists who are not Israeli and not Jewish. “Zionists” is the accurate term to describe Zionists!
Ninety-one percent of Israelis support Israel’s genocide as do the overwhelming majority of Zionists. I can’t sensibly call this out by referring to the “Israeli government”. I have to refer to the ideology of Zionism and explain why that is the problem. And it really is a problem.
I’ve just watched Bill Maher tell Ana Kasparian that Israel has every right to annex the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria because Jews lived there 3,000 years ago. Even if we ignore that a majority of Israelis have no genetic ties to the region, the idea you can take land because you want to rebuild a kingdom from three millennia ago is just batshit—but that is the ideology of Zionism. According to the BBC, it is antisemitic of me to point this out. I’m supposed to listen to crazy arguments from someone like Bill Maher and politely nod along so that I don’t upset the people who are currently stealing land.
When I want to critique Zionism or Zionists, I will do so, and that does not mean I am speaking in a secret code. The overwhelming majority of anti-Zionists use the word “Zionist” because we recognise that Jewishness is not the problem. We recognise there are millions of Jews worldwide who are either anti-Zionist or non-Zionist. To suggest we are secretly referring to all Jews (and only Jews) when we say “Zionist” is to suggest we are including anti-Zionist Jews and excluding non-Jewish Zionists. It is a nonsensical argument.
Policing of language is a standard fascist tactic. By limiting the language people can use, you limit their ability to describe the problem. The BBC accuses us of talking in a secret code when we are not, but at the same time, they are talking in code and trying to impose their ludicrous code on others.
Want to talk about Israel bombing a school? Well, that would be antisemitic! Obviously, you must omit who did the bombing (unless you are accusing Hamas). If you add details such as the death toll, you must add “according to the Hamas-run health ministry”. You must quote Israeli propaganda as though it carries equal weight to the truth. Israel could launch a 2,000lb missile and blame Hamas and the BBC would be like “who really knows what the truth is?” even though Hamas doesn’t have 2,000 lb missiles.
Want to talk about Israel’s genocide and 77 years of occupation and land grabbing? Not so fast! You have to talk about “Israel’s war” that began with a brutal terror attack on 7 October. Using the word “genocide” is antisemitic because it might upset Jews, but wait… isn’t that like conflating Judaism with Israel? Isn’t that… antisemitic?
The fact is Zionism is the ideology driving Israel’s genocide, not Judaism. Almost every Zionist supports Israel’s genocide and the few who don’t are treated with contempt by most who do. In a free society, you are allowed to criticise political ideologies. Criticising Islamism does not mean you hate Muslims, and criticising Zionism does not mean you hate Jews.
The ideology is the problem, not the religion—and I say that as an atheist. The only reason to conflate Zionism with Judaism is to protect the ideology which in turn protects Israel. When you accuse anti-Zionists of antisemitism, you are defending genocide, as well as being anti-Palestinian and antisemitic. In other words, the BBC’s position is a racist one.
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I’m not surprised by any of this. The BBC has always wanted to censor any criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism. Now it’s doing it through its editorial guidelines, which is in effect self censorship by journalists who work for the organisation. If they don’t abide by the guidelines then they lose their jobs. The BBC can then claim it doesn’t censor anything.
Frightening level of BBC complicity in promoting and enabling genocide. Like Labour the more they do to appease the extremists the more the extremists demand … the BBC is turning into the Zionist Western hegemony billionaire broadcasting corporation run and ‘owned’ by our dire establishment. Another excellent article that should be from a dystopian novel about a fascist U.K. - sadly it is here and now.