‘Israelis are not human beings,' says reporter used by BBC in Gaza
A journalist who appears prominently on the BBC's Arabic channel to report on Gaza has been accused of describing Israelis as less than human and Jews as 'devils'.
Ahmed Alagha has appeared on BBC Arabic reporting from the conflict numerous times since January last year.
He appeared last Sunday reporting from close to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, moments after Israeli forces assassinated Ismail Barhoum, a senior Hamas leader, in an air strike on the medical facility.
The bombing was caught on camera and Mr Alagha's dispatch also featured on BBC News.
It has now emerged that Mr Alagha, who is billed on air as a Palestinian journalist, appears to have singled out Jews for condemnation and described Israelis as worse than 'beasts' on his social media accounts.
Responding to footage of Gaza tower blocks being bombed by Israel following Hamas's attacks on Oct 7 2023, Mr Alagha posted on X a few days later: 'This is not a Hollywood film; this is what was done to these towers in Gaza City at the hands of the Israeli occupation, and it's happening to us in Gaza.
'It [the Israeli occupation] is the embodiment of filth, the unrivalled swamp of wickedness. As for the Jews, they are the devils of the hypocrites.'
The following day he posted: 'And as we know, the 'Israelis' are not human beings to begin with, rather they are not even beasts. Perhaps they belong to a race for which no description can capture the extent of their lust and sadism.
'That's just one snapshot. What if we were to compile all their crimes across that entire dark/black history, from the moment of occupation up until now? It is the entity of filth, and the unrivalled swamp of wickedness.'
On the evening of the October 7 attacks, which led to the deaths of more than 1,200 Jews, Mr Alagha had written on X, in apparent reference to Hamas's victims: 'Rip your sympathy out, no matter what ugly condition you see them in. They are the corrupt side of this story, my friend. No spilled blood of theirs is honorable.'
Critics say that some of Mr Alagha's offensive posts predate the Oct 7 attacks.
Responding to a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue which claimed the lives of seven civilians on Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2023, he posted a photograph of the attacker, adding the message: 'This martyr stole my heart, he alone killed eight Zionists.'
In March last year, Mr Alagha appeared to suggest that a Palestinian state would take in the entire area now covered by Israel, implying the destruction of the Jewish state. He posted on X: 'We often hear the phrase: 'Palestine is Arab from the sea to the river'. But do we know what it means? In short, Palestine is entirely Arab, east and west.'
Several of Mr Alagha's posts were deleted from X after he was approached by The Telegraph for comment.
Sources emphasised that Mr Alagha is not a member of staff at the BBC.
But the broadcaster's use of Mr Alagha as a freelance contributor has been condemned by media watchers, who accuse BBC Arabic, part of the BBC's World Service, of anti-Israel bias.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) says it is indicative of BBC Arabic's willingness to use contributors who cannot be trusted to deliver objective and balanced broadcasting.
A Camera UK spokesman said: 'The BBC has long failed to deal adequately with employees who have posted and liked comments which support targeting Israeli civilians.
'Alagha's social media history adds to the body of evidence showing that many individuals whom the BBC deems 'journalists' delivering reliable information from Gaza do not withstand basic scrutiny and cannot be distinguished from propagandists.'
Last month, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, called for 'wholesale reform' of BBC Arabic after a report by Camera accused it of 'appalling anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias'.
In a letter to Tim Davie, the BBC's director-general, Ms Badenoch said: 'BBC Arabic is intended to provide high-quality, trusted news for the hundreds of millions of people who speak Arabic. It should uphold the highest standards of public-service broadcasting. Instead, it seems that the World Service may be fomenting extremism and misleading audiences – while funded by the taxpayer and licence fees. This is simply unacceptable and must stop.'
The BBC investigated a number of BBC Arabic presenters and reporters who liked or shared social media posts which appeared to celebrate the Oct 7 atrocities, but took no further action against them.
A BBC spokesman said: 'International journalists including the BBC are not allowed access into Gaza so we hear from a range of contributors in the region. Ahmed Alagha was a contributor, he is not a BBC member of staff or part of the BBC's reporting team. In this instance, we were unaware of the contributor's social media activity prior to hearing from him.
'His views were not expressed on a BBC platform, his posts do not reflect the BBC's view and we are absolutely clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism on our services.'
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