Respondent broadcast the controversial John Pilger film Palestine is Still the Issue in its News Commentary programme, 3RD Degree. Complaints were received that the film was biased, amounted to hate speech and anti-Semitism and should have included material showing Palestinian propaganda against Israel.
The BCCSA held that:
- the film did not amount to hate speech and was, in any case, also not anti- Semitic;
- the film was not biased in terms of the Broadcasting Code since it also afforded the Israeli government a sufficient opportunity to take part in the debate;
- the Respondent also ensured fairness by presenting a debate after the screening – a debate in which the pro-Israel view was clearly put across by a representative of the Jewish Board of Deputies;
- references questioning the bona fides of the producer and an adviser were irrelevant; also, ulterior motives do not emerge in the film, if they existed at all.
Complaints dismissed.