Mick Hartley

Just another day at the BBC. From the JC:

The BBC has issued an apology for publishing a video that claimed observant Jews spit on Christians in a “holiday ritual”.

On 5 October 2023, BBC Arabic released an article entitled “Sukkot: Spitting and Assault on Christians and Harassment of Muslims on the Jewish Holiday,” alongside a similarly titled video.

During the clip, a caption made the claim about how observant Jews celebrate Succot in Israel by spitting on Christians.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) complained to the BBC about the caption, which was corrected days later to say: “Some observant Jews consider spitting on Christians a holiday ritual.”

There have been arrests in Israel related to spitting on churches, with the suspects mainly from certain strict Charedi sects, but the practice is not an accepted part of mainstream Jewish celebrations.

But it took the broadcaster 19 months to issue a written apology to Camera.

“We apologise for the errors and thank you for your patience in waiting for this reply/confirmation of corrections that were made in October 2023,” a BBC spokesperson said.