BBC Arabic repeatedly uses commentator jailed for role in murder of Israeli
A Palestinian jailed for his part in murdering an Israeli man is used as a regular contributor by the BBC’s Arabic channel without his conviction being disclosed.
Ismat Mansour has been interviewed by BBC Arabic at least seven times in the first seven months of the war in Gaza, billed as a “Palestinian political analyst” and “Palestinian author and researcher”.
But critics say BBC Arabic has failed to point out to its audience that Mansour was sentenced to 22 years in jail following the murder of 30-year-old Haim Mizrahi and has since spoken of having “no regrets” over his role in the killing.
Mansour was among 26 Palestinian prisoners freed early from prison by the Israeli authorities in August 2013, as part of a gesture to the Palestinian Authority in peace talks brokered by the US.
He had been jailed at 16 after helping two older teenagers stab Mr Mizrahi to death near the West Bank settlement of Beit El in October 1993, a month after Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords. Mr Mizrahi’s wife was pregnant at the time.
Though Mansour denied doing the stabbing himself, an Israeli judge found that he held the Israeli down during the stabbing.
Mansour said on his release from prison: “I have no regrets. I was part of the struggle of my people, I don’t reconsider my contribution.”
A year after his release, he told an Israeli interviewer: “That person [the victim] is a settler, he is on my land and it is not his place.
“I don’t feel sorry. Let’s say that today I would not have done the same, but I don’t regret what had happened, either. I did something that is good for everyone. This promotes peace.”
Mansour has appeared on BBC Arabic’s Talking Point programme six times since the Oct 7 massacres, appearing as a “Palestinian political analyst” on Nov 7, and a “Palestinian author and political analyst” the following month.
In January, he appeared on the programme as a “researcher in the Madar centre of Israeli studies”.
Speaking from Ramallah, he commented on an attack in the Israel city of Raanana in which a 79-year-old woman was killed. He attributed it to the “atmosphere” in the West Bank and Israel’s actions there.
On another occasion that month, he was asked by the BBC Arabic website about the assassination in Lebanon of Saleh Arouri, a Hamas official.
The website reported that Mansour had “spent 20 years in Israeli prisons” and “accompanied” Arouri “for long years”. However it stopped short of specifying the allegations against him.
Mansour also appeared on Talking Point in March, April and May this year, when he was presented as an “author and researcher in Israeli affairs”.
After being approached by The Telegraph, the BBC admitted it should have provided “additional context” about Mansour for its viewers.
The corporation’s use of Mansour as a pundit has been criticised by the Campaign for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera), which lobbies for “accurate and balanced” coverage of Israel.
A Camera spokesman said: “As though repeatedly featuring unrepentant terrorists without due disclosure were not enough, Talking Point once sought Ismat Mansour’s so-called ‘expert take’ specifically on Israel’s alleged responsibility for Palestinians murdering a Jewish civilian – an attack just like the one he himself had taken part in and later suggested ‘promotes’ peace”.
“This programme alone speaks volumes about how seriously UK licence fee payers should take the BBC’s statements about its Arabic service covering the war “accurately, impartially and diligently”.
BBC Arabic has come under repeated criticism over claims its coverage of the Gaza war is biased against Israel and that a number of its presenters and journalists are sympathetic towards Hamas.
It rejects the claims, maintaining that its coverage meets the BBC’s editorial standards and is balanced and accurate.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Esmat Mansour is widely used as a commentator across media including The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel.
“BBC News Arabic is committed to hearing from a range of voices and perspectives, and although at times when we have heard from Mr Mansour we have referenced his 1993 conviction, we recognise that, when appropriate, further details should be given to provide additional context for our audience.”
