UK
Owen Jones sued for libel by BBC Middle East editor
Raffi Berg claimed to have received death threats following Jones’ article on Drop Site News
November 6, 2025 11:02
Raffi Berg claimed to have received death threats following Jones’ article on Drop Site News
November 6, 2025 11:02Journalist Owen Jones is being sued for libel by BBC Online Middle East Editor Raffi Berg, following claims he made in an article published on Drop Site News, which allegedly led to Berg receiving death threats.
The piece, published last December and titled “The BBC’s civil war over Gaza” alleged that Berg was central to a culture of “systematic Israeli propaganda” within the corporation.
Berg, who joined the BBC in 2001 and has been online Middle East editor for its news site for 12 years, claimed that he received death threats following the publication of the article.
The piece – which contained claims that Berg strongly denies – alleged that BBC staff told Jones that he “reshapes everything from headlines, to story text, to images” and “repeatedly seeks to foreground the Israeli military perspective while stripping away Palestinian humanity”.
In court documents seen by the PA news agency, John Stables, for Berg, said the claims in the article "strike at the claimant's professional reputation as a journalist and editor", and had caused Berg to suffer "an onslaught of hatred, intimidation and threats", including death threats.
Jones responded to the lawsuit by stating he looked forward to "vigorously defending my reporting".
The article claimed that the corporation was facing an "internal revolt over its reporting" of the conflict.
It alleged that journalists had told Jones that Berg "sets the tone for the BBC's digital output on Israel and Palestine", and that complaints from staff about the corporation's coverage had been "repeatedly brushed aside".
Jones' piece also claimed that "facts unfavourable to Israel have been stripped out of Berg's reports" and that he played a "crucial role" in "conduct that imperils the integrity of the BBC".
Following the article’s publication, an online petition was launched calling for Berg’s suspension. He was also reportedly targeted by protestors at BBC premises in January.
Weeks after Jones’ article was published, the JC reported on dozens of accounts on social media that attacked Berg, with graphic threats explicitly mentioning his Jewishness, including users calling Berg a “pig”, “Zionist scum”, “Nazi” and “child killer” and accused him of being a child abuser.
Stables added that the BBC had implemented “workplace security measures” for Berg, and that police were investigating the death threats. He said: "The claimant's reputation has been seriously damaged and he has been caused substantial fear, anxiety, humiliation, upset and distress."
He also noted that the “upset and harm” allegedly suffered by Berg had been “greatly exacerbated” by Jones’s refusal to apologise or remove the article.
Berg is seeking damages, an injunction preventing Jones from republishing the article, and an order requiring websites to take down the piece.
Jones is yet to file a defence to the claim, but said in a statement: "I strongly disagree with Berg's claims, and, if necessary, I look forward to vigorously defending my reporting in court."
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