‘Disgraceful’ BBC article describes intifada as a ‘largely unarmed uprising’

“It was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s. The intifada also saw the development of groups outside the control of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) - notably Hamas.

“The Second Intifada began in September 2000 after a controversial visit by Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, to a holy site in Jerusalem.

“It is sometimes referred to as ‘al-Aqsa intifada’ after the al-Aqsa Mosque in the Haram al-Sharif site, known to Jews as Temple Mount,” the article went on.

It made no reference to the hundreds of bombings, shootings and hand-grenade attacks carried out during the two intifadas, a sustained wave of violence that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Israelis.

Among the atrocities was a suicide bombing at a crowded pizzeria, which killed 16 people and left a further 130 wounded.

A newer version of the BBC story, updated on Wednesday afternoon, appeared to give two interpretations of the word.

It suggested that the term is understood by some as “a call for peaceful resistance to Israel's occupation,” while others consider the phrase “a call for violence against Jewish people”.

The BBC has been slammed for both versions of the article, which critics claim downplay Palestinian terrorism.

Danny Cohen, former director of BBC Television, said: "This is appalling. It is deeply offensive to the families of those murdered in the intifada - more than 1,000 were slaughtered by terrorists during that bleak time. This will undoubtedly be very distressing to many in the Jewish community.

“The BBC continues to claim it has no problems with anti-Israel bias. This is yet more disgraceful evidence that is not the case. The antisemitic violence Jewish people are experiencing around the world, as we saw just last weekend, is given fuel by this kind of false reporting.”

The blunder comes after the BBC announced it was rolling out antisemitism training for staff following a series of high-profile errors at BBC Arabic, the leaked Michael Prescott report, the airing Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury rant about Zionists and his “death to the IDF” chant, and the broadcast of a documentary which platformed the son of a Hamas member.

The BBC has been approached for comment.