Hundreds protest at BBC headquarters over refusal to refer to Hamas as terror group

Around 250 protesters gather outside the BBC’s main headquarters in London over the British broadcaster’s continued refusal to refer to Hamas as a terror group.

Demonstrators at the event, organized by Jewish groups, chant “Hamas, terrorists” and “Shame on you” at the broadcaster for making the editorial decision to refer to Hamas as “militants,” or a “militant group.”

Many wave Israeli flags and others hold posters carrying pictures of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during its unprecedented October 7 onslaught.

Organizers, the National Jewish Assembly, write on X (formerly Twitter) that “this is no time the BBC to call Hamas anything but terrorists.”

UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps also said last week that the BBC should follow the “law” and call Hamas a terrorist organization, with the government having proscribed it as such in 2021.

But veteran reporter John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor, said that the corporation would be “taking sides” if it called Hamas terrorists.

The BBC has said in a statement today that it has given “careful consideration” to its coverage of conflict.

“Careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality in line with the BBC editorial guidelines, which are publicly available. The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organizations, does use the word ‘terrorist,’ but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organization by the UK and other governments,” it adds.

Pro-Palestinian groups have also targeted the BBC, covering Broadcasting House headquarters in red paint last week and accusing it of having “blood on its hands.”