How the Media Promote Antisemitism Reality versus Narrative

Key Findings:

In the spring of 2024 Danny Cohen, a former Director of BBC Television, wrote two articles in the London Daily Telegraph alleging anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s coverage of the war in Gaza. One of these specifically attacked John Simpson, a very prominent BBC journalist, currently the World Affairs Editor of BBC News. Cohen maintains that this biased coverage distorts public perception and fuels antisemitism, creating a hostile environment for British Jews.

Simpson acknowledges certain reporting errors but defends the BBC’s overall impartiality. He attributes criticism of the coverage to wider public divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict and suggests that Cohen’s critique aims to promote a pro-Israel bias rather than impartiality. Simpson does not directly address the fact that misleading or emotive coverage contributes to hostility toward Jews in the UK.

The essay also critiques arguments about antisemitism in the context of Israel. It dismisses the notion that accusations of antisemitism are just political tactics or that antisemitism only refers to hostility toward individual Jews rather than collective prejudice. The difference between social antisemitism (personal prejudice) and political antisemitism (portraying Jews as a powerful, malevolent collective) is discussed.  

Contemporary critiques of Israel—labeling it as Nazi-like, colonial, racist, or apartheid—constitute modern forms of political antisemitism, which deny Jewish self-determination and echo historical antisemitic narratives. Much of today’s "anti-Zionist" discourse reflects the antisemitic rhetoric of the past, particularly the Nazi-era propaganda. Accusations of genocide and colonialism against Israel, it argues, are tools to justify political antisemitism, ultimately promoting the belief that the only way to end global conflicts is to eliminate the Jewish state.

The essay also critiques the selective outrage of several left-wing groups, noting that they focus intensely on Israel’s actions while ignoring far worse atrocities elsewhere. This inconsistency reveals a deeper, politically motivated antisemitism that targets Israel and Jews — not out of genuine concern for human rights, but because of a belief in Jewish responsibility for global ills.

Cohen challenges claims that Israel is committing genocide using the lack of Israeli intent and infrastructure for such actions, and disputes accusations of racism or settler-colonialism by providing historical context to Israel's establishment and its policies.

Since Cohen’s intervention, other figures have joined the criticism of the BBC’s coverage. A group of British lawyers and data scientists led by Trevor Asserson produced the Asserson Report in September 2024, which found that the BBC breached its own impartiality guidelines over 1500 times in its coverage of Gaza. The report accused the BBC of systematically downplaying Hamas's criminal actions while over-emphasizing allegations of genocide related to Israel. It also found that BBC podcasts were overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel. This report, alongside calls for an independent inquiry by Cohen and Jewish groups, has led to ongoing debate about the BBC’s coverage of the conflict.