BBC defends policy of not calling Hamas 'terrorist' after criticism
BBC defends policy of not calling Hamas 'terrorist' after criticism
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To play this video, you need JavaScript enabled in your browser. < /figure>By Ian Youngs and Paul GlynnBBC News
The BBC has defended its decision not to refer to Hamas militants as “terrorists” in its coverage of recent attacks in Israel .
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the policy “borders on shame”.
A BBC spokesperson noted it was a long-standing position for its journalists not to use the term themselves unless attributing it to someone else.< /p>
Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson said "calling someone a terrorist means you're taking sides."
But Mr Shapps said the BBC needed to locate its "moral compass".
"Actually, I think that it's almost shameful, this idea that there is some sort of equivalence, and they will always say, well, there are two sides," he told LBC.
He said Hamas, which "went out and massacred innocent people, babies, festival-goers, pensioners", is a banned organization in the UK - meaning the government officially considers it a terrorist organization that is illegal to support.
"They are not freedom fighters, they are not militants, they are terrorists pure and simple and it's remarkable to go on the BBC website and I still see them talking about gunmen and militants without calling them terrorists," Mr. Shapps.
To play this video, you need JavaScript enabled in your browser. < /figure>By Ian Youngs and Paul GlynnBBC News
The BBC has defended its decision not to refer to Hamas militants as “terrorists” in its coverage of recent attacks in Israel .
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the policy “borders on shame”.
A BBC spokesperson noted it was a long-standing position for its journalists not to use the term themselves unless attributing it to someone else.< /p>
Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson said "calling someone a terrorist means you're taking sides."
But Mr Shapps said the BBC needed to locate its "moral compass".
"Actually, I think that it's almost shameful, this idea that there is some sort of equivalence, and they will always say, well, there are two sides," he told LBC.
He said Hamas, which "went out and massacred innocent people, babies, festival-goers, pensioners", is a banned organization in the UK - meaning the government officially considers it a terrorist organization that is illegal to support.
"They are not freedom fighters, they are not militants, they are terrorists pure and simple and it's remarkable to go on the BBC website and I still see them talking about gunmen and militants without calling them terrorists," Mr. Shapps.
