LONDON: BBC Middle East online editor Raffi Berg is reportedly considering legal action against British journalist Owen Jones, following accusations in an investigative article that claimed Berg exhibited bias in favor of Israel.
The allegations have allegedly triggered a wave of online abuse and threats directed at the editor.
The 9,000-word article, titled “The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza,” was published earlier in December by Drop Site, an investigative news platform.
In the report, Jones accused the BBC and its Middle East editor of favoring Israeli narratives in their coverage of the Gaza conflict and alleged that internal objections raised by staff were repeatedly dismissed.
According to The Times, the report has led to “a torrent of antisemitic abuse” against Berg, which BBC sources described as “the worst case of targeted abuse” they had seen at the organization.
Police are now investigating death threats made against Berg via social media and email.
Mark Lewis, a partner at the legal firm Patron Law, confirmed that he had been instructed to explore legal action on behalf of Berg.
In the article, Jones cited interviews with 13 current and former BBC staffers, who alleged that Berg “sets the tone for the BBC’s digital output on Israel and Palestine.”
One former journalist was quoted as saying: “This guy’s (Berg’s) entire job is to water down everything that’s too critical of Israel.”
Jones also claimed that internal complaints about the network’s Gaza coverage were “brushed aside” and that Berg had been given months to respond to the allegations but had not done so.
The BBC rejected the allegations, describing Berg’s role as “fundamentally mis-described.” It also denied claims that the organization had taken a lenient stance toward Israel during its coverage of the conflict in Gaza, where Israel’s war has now lasted 15 months.
The investigation has sparked significant public debate about the BBC’s impartiality in its reporting on the Gaza conflict.
While critics of the network, including Jones, have accused it of pro-Israel bias, others argue that the backlash against the BBC has fueled antisemitic rhetoric.
Jake Wallis Simons, writing in The Telegraph, criticized Jones and his supporters: “Brave Owen Jones has revealed that the corporation is actually the broadcasting equivalent of Theodor Herzl, Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Moshe Dayan rolled into one. Phew! How typical of those cunning Jews to make everyone believe the opposite.”
A petition calling for Berg’s suspension has garnered 8,000 signatures, while another demands the resignation of Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News.
The controversy has coincided with the police banning a planned pro-Palestinian march near the BBC headquarters in London earlier this month.
The protest, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), cited Jones’s article in its criticism of the BBC.
In a statement, the PSC rejected any implication that its demonstrations posed a threat to Jewish communities: “The Palestine coalition rejects the implication that our marches are somehow hostile to or a threat to Jewish people.”
