The BBC has admitted unfairly criticising Israel in a report about how a gay Palestinan was beheaded by other Palestinians.
In a story from earlier this month about the apparent homophobic murder of Ahmad Abu Marhia on the West Bank, the BBC reported: “Homosexuality is rejected within the most socially and religiously conservative parts of both Palestinian and Israeli societies.”
Despite there being no suggestion that Israelis were involved in Mr Marhia’s death, the article included the irrelevant fact that a small section of Israeli society, mainly religious conservatives, is homophobic.
In contrast, when the BBC reported the brutal murder of Israeli teen Shira Banki at the 2015 Jerusalem pride parade by an Israeli, it did not include any references to the rampant homophobia in Palestinian society.
Mr Marhia, who at the time of his death was living as an asylum seeker in Israel and hoping to flee the country to Canada, was found decapitated in the West Bank city of Hebron this month.
LGBT groups said that he had been living in Israel pending the outcome of an asylum application, after receiving death threats in his community in Hebron.
The crime led to widespread revulsion in Israel and in parts of Palestinian society. CAMERA Arabic, a media monitoring and research organisation, made an official complaint to the BBC.
In response, the BBC agreed to amend both the English and Arabic versions of the article to include a sentence clarifying that gay people in Israel are allowed to freely lead their lives like any other citizen. The same is not true of Palestinian society.
In a statement, the BBC said: “There was no implication that Israel or Israelis were responsible for Mr Abu Marhia’s death and the line in the article illustrates a wider regional context, which we considered relevant… We have amended the line to now say:
“‘Homosexuality is rejected within the most socially and religiously conservative parts of both Palestinian and Israeli societies but gay people in Israel can freely lead their lives.’
“In order to give readers a greater sense of why Mr Abu Marhia and others are seeking asylum in Israel.”
