The former director of BBC TV has warned that the network is at risk of becoming a propaganda tool for Hamas, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.
Danny Cohen explained that the BBC's coverage of the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza had repeatedly reported "appalling false equivalence" between Israeli hostages who are held in inhumane conditions and Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
He said that the BBC had severely underplayed the hostages' suffering while being held by Hamas in Gaza and had emphasized what Palestinian prisoners allegedly endured in Israeli prisons, where the majority of the prisoners were serving life sentences for murdering innocent civilians.
Cohen's remarks come as Hamas released Sagui Dekel-Chen, Alexander Sasha Troufanov, and Iair Horn on Saturday.
Analyzing the BBC's coverage of the release, Cohen said, "In their rush to gloss over the undeniable torture, starvation, and beatings that hostages have endured and their determination to highlight claims of poor conditions in Israel's jails, the BBC is repeatedly drawing offensive false equivalence between victims of war crimes and hundreds of convicted violent offenders.
"The BBC is at risk of becoming a Hamas propaganda mouthpiece. They have repeatedly given a free pass to terrorists who have committed violent racist murder. It will be very hard for many in the Jewish community to ever forget it."
Cohen also pointed out how the BBC failed to explain why the Palestinian prisoners had been imprisoned. He said that the network would instead go out of their way to celebrate the release of these prisoners and their reuniting with their families.
During the BBC's coverage of nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners who were released on February 8, the day Hamas released Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy, and Eli Sharabi from captivity, almost half of the prisoners were serving life sentences for murder; the BBC failed to call any of the prisoners terrorists.
Critics have also pointed out that during the live BBC broadcast of the hostage release in Gaza, the BBC referred to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists as "militants," "gunmen," "and local health officials."
The BBC also released an apology for calling the Palestinian prisoners "hostages."
"Taking hostages is a war crime," Cohen said. "Torture, sexual abuse, and starvation of those hostages is a war crime. There is no equivalence between the horrors hostages have endured and the administrative detention of Palestinians or the decades-long imprisonment of murderous and violent terrorists.
"I strongly urge the BBC to radically rethink its coverage, to stop drawing these offensive comparisons, and remind its audience that Hamas is not providing 'well-ordered' hostage releases, but once again showing the world what a barbarous and brutal terror group looks like."
BBC's response
The BBC rejected Cohen's findings, claiming their news broadcasts covered the trauma that the Israeli hostages suffered.
"We have studied this report, and we do not accept its premise," a BBC spokesman said. "The examples it gives are of the BBC's factual reporting and observation of events and of appropriate challenge in interviews.
"The BBC has reported extensively on the Israeli hostages and their experiences, including interviews with their families. It has been clear about the Palestinians' status as prisoners and has reported on their crimes and also on the fact that some have been detained without charge."