London – The BBC has changed an article on its website suggesting that the Jewish victims of the now-viral Oxford Street antisemitism incident used anti-Muslim racial slurs.
The original piece stated that “some racial slurs can be heard from inside the bus.”
When approached for comment, a BBC spokesperson said: “The article is about the police’s appeal for information. The main focus is the actions of the individuals the police want to identify. The audio appears to show that a slur can be heard coming from the bus. We have changed our story to clarify only one such slur can be heard clearly.”
A sound and audio professional contacted by the JC said he was unable to distinguish the alleged slur saying: “I think even a audio forensic specialist would struggle to get something useful [from the clip] ”
In response to the BBC story, the Board of Deputies said: “It appears that the BBC has a very serious case to answer here. Incorrectly accusing those experiencing antisemitism of being guilty of bigotry themselves is adding insult to injury.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/BBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bbc</a> made a very serious allegation that the Jewish children who were abused on Oxford St. made Islamophobic statements.<br><br>We asked the BBC journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/HarryFarls?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@harryfarls</a> for proof & he tells us that it was 3 second in on the video of them being abused. BUT he & BBC appear to be lying. <a href="https://t.co/WbgE44RjVM">pic.twitter.com/WbgE44RjVM</a></p>— GnasherJew®גנאשר (@GnasherJew) <a href="https://twitter.com/GnasherJew/status/1466782464454840323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism claimed: “The audio from the footage is completely indistinct. If someone was shouting abuse from inside the bus then of course it should be investigated, but we cannot discern any voice in the video saying what the BBC claim was said.
he footage shows a bus containing members of the Jewish community, most of them children, on their way to a Chanukah celebration coming under attack from a group of men who are clearly shouting, spitting, hitting the bus with their hands and shoes, and even repeatedly raising an arm in a gesture that appears to be a Nazi salute.
If the BBC used the same audio that we heard, then they must immediately investigate how this allegation came to be made and report the results publicly.”
