A BBC presenter has misquoted a “list of bad people” to include “Israelis” instead of the actual quote of, “Palestinians and Israeli settlers”. This is not the first time this presenter has shown an anti-Israel bias.

BBC Watch reported that on 15 June, BBC presenter Tina Daheley spoke with food critic Tim Hayward about the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on the “Last Word” show on BBC Radio 4.

You can listen to the conversation here, from 13:27.

During the discussion, Daheley says, “He’s also talked about breaking bread with some…let’s say pretty interesting characters: ah…Hizballah supporters, communists, anti-Putin activists, cowboys, stoners, Christian militia leaders, feminists and Israelis.”

Hayward responds, “Yeah; I don’t know how the feminists got included in that list of bad people. [both laugh] That’s pretty odd.”

Daheley is actually reading a quote from Bourdain which reads, “I’m proud of the fact that I’ve had as dining companions over the years everybody from Hezbollah supporters, communist functionaries, anti-Putin activists, cowboys, stoners, Christian militia leaders, feminists, Palestinians and Israeli settlers, to Ted Nugent.”

Interestingly, the only people group that Daheley leaves off this list is “Palestinians”, whilst she rebrands “Israeli settlers” to being all “Israelis”. A seemingly purposeful attempt to paint an entire people and nation in a bad light.

This may only be a subtle change, but when you add up all these comments from media sources like the BBC it is easy to see how people develop anti-Israel attitudes over time. It also shows the anti-Israel bias within the BBC and amongst its presenters.

Not for the first time Tina Daheley has shown an anti-Israel bias.

In 2015, Daheley spoke about the Temple Mount tensions in Jerusalem by saying, “We’re heading to the Middle East where tensions over control of a Jerusalem mosque have triggered serious violence in recent weeks.” [emphasis added]

There are a number of important points to make here.

First, Daheley does not want to say “Israel” so instead says “Middle East” and then describes the Temple Mount as “a Jerusalem mosque”. This completely discredits the importance of the area or the Jewish connection to their most holy site. She then falsely claims that the conflict was over the “control” of the Temple Mount, suggesting that Israel was trying to take control of the area, which it is not. And she sums up Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as simply, “serious violence”.

Daheley’s statement also suggests that this was a conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians when it wasn’t. This was unjustified terror attacks against Israeli civilians perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.

Another example comes from last year when Daheley presented a segment on the BBC World Service (which broadcasts globally). Daheley gave a spotlight to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel when talking about the Wonder Woman movie being banned in Lebanon.

Instead of giving “alternative perspectives” on the issue, as the BBC likes to do, they instead interviewed two different BDS activists. They both hated Israel and supported the BDS movement, a both were given ample time to talk about this, but they just disagreed on whether Lebanon should have banned the movie or not.

You can read more about that incident here at BBC Watch.

Tina Daheley has regularly hosted mainstream programmes for the BBC on their television and radio services. Daheley also had the honour to interview Prince William, Duchess Kate, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan at the Royal Foundation Forum.