BBC faces backlash for calling First Intifada 'largely unarmed and popular uprising' - Mathilda Heller

 

by Mathilda Heller

The wording appeared in a piece about the UK Police's decision to arrest those who chant 'Globalize the Intifada' at a protest in the UK, in light of the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi Beach.

 

A person walks outside BBC Broadcasting House. November 16, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE)

 

The BBC received backlash for referring to the First Intifada as a "largely unarmed and popular uprising," in an article on Wednesday.

The wording appeared in a piece about the UK Police's decision to arrest those who chant 'Globalize the Intifada' at a protest in the UK, in light of the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi Beach on Sunday.

While explaining the term intifada, the BBC wrote, "it was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s," implying that it was not a significant threat.

It subsequently retracted the wording, and the article now features an admission at the bottom that "An earlier version of this article sought to explain the wider background to the Met and GMP announcement by referring to the first Palestinian intifada.

However, the language used in this brief summary did not give a clear enough or complete picture of the history, and so this section has been amended to instead explain the context around the ongoing use of the term."

While explaining the term intifada, the BBC wrote, ''it was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s,'' implying that it was not a significant threat. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls out BBC's wording

Campaign Against Antisemitism expressed outrage at the original wording.

"In reality, sixteen civilians were murdered during the First Intifada, and some 1,400 were injured. Over 1,500 soldiers were injured or killed. There were more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives. Hamas was born during this period."

"That was the First Intifada. In the Second Intifada, over 1,000 Israelis were murdered, with suicide bombings rampant in Israeli cafes and nightclubs and on buses."

"Do these sound “unarmed” to you?", the group asked, adding that the efforts of the BBC to downplay antisemitism "evidently continue unabated."

Mathilda Heller

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-880617

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