All organisations make mistakes. But what matters most is how they make amends. If a retailer messes up, for example, the way they rectify it — or not — can lead either to loyalty and gratitude or anger and hostility.

The BBC has certainly made more than its fair share of mistakes in its coverage of Israel and Jews. But what is most striking about those mistakes is the corporation’s repeated refusal to make any meaningful attempt to rectify its errors.

Occasionally, its complaints procedures will acknowledge something has gone wrong; even then, the response is usually grudging.

This is not a recent development. There have been well-merited complaints about the BBC’s slanted coverage of Israel for many years. But more recently, that has widened to its reporting of the Jewish community. Its coverage of the attack on a bus of Jewish children last Chanukah and response to complaints were grotesque.

What has exacerbated all of this has been the contempt with which the BBC has treated the concerns of the Jewish community. An unprecedented open letter from many respected British Jews last month has been — outrageously — simply ignored.

And the BBC has refused to admit there is anything at all wrong with its pundits praising terrorism or with its BBC Arabic channel.

The BBC is the world’s most trusted news organisation and a vital part of Britain’s “soft power”. It is a unique, publicly funded, national institution. That is why it is so important that its coverage is beyond reproach.

It has, however, refused to engage in any way with its critical friends. It is time it was forced to engage — which is why we are today launching out petition calling for a parliamentary inquiry.