BBC removes Arabic service head, bowing to Israel lobby

The BBC is looking for a new head of its Arabic-language service to please Israel lobbyists. Mouthpieces for the occupation had complained it was too quick to blame Israel for its actions. The move is intended to force BBC Arabic to use the same dishonest framing as its English-language services.

The manufactured furore began in November 2025. Pro-Israel pressure groups complained that the BBC Arabic coverage of its ‘war’ in Gaza was “critically different” from English coverage. This meant that it was – this is not satire — “painting Israel as the aggressor” in Gaza.

BBC and the mirage of impartiality

Yes, genocidal Israel has murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza along with hundreds of journalists and their families. It uses weapons that are illegal under humanitarian law on families in tents. But saying Israel is the aggressor is beyond the pale to the BBC. There was also criticism of BBC Arabic’s guests, because two of them had supported violence against Israelis.

Commenting on the BBC Arabic reshuffle, the Arabic-speaking Israeli ‘journalist’ Edy Cohen, welcomed the move:

https://x.com/EdyCohen/status/2019788772385177737

In this world, the equation is simple: When Israel uses force and employs force – the Arab world and terrorist groups are afraid. When Israel hesitates and takes policy actions like containment or non-escalation, it’s perceived as weak, and invites further blows from terror organizations.

This was not an aberration for Cohen. He is so notorious for smears and ‘hasbara’ on behalf of Israel that he was the subject of an report titled:

Hashtags and hoaxes: How Edy Cohen engineers the Israeli disinformation machine on Twitter.

Stoking the fire

The report was published in August 2023, before Israel’s Gaza genocide began, so he didn’t just start after 7 October. It notes that:

Cohen deliberately – and strategically – tarnishes the reputation of Palestinians, Palestinian political factions, and the Palestinian resistance, specifically targeting them to discredit their stance.

It also points out that among Cohen’s most prominent hashtags are “#GloryToIsrael” and “#PalestineIsNotMyCause”.

According to the report, Cohen is helped in the circulation of his fake videos and inflammatory comment by a network of:

accounts bearing Arabic names that exclusively champion Israel and tout the “benefits” of normalization. He shares the posts from these accounts that, in turn, retweet his own posts.

Even though some of these tweets are attributed to real Arab figures who openly endorse normalization, many of them appear to be fake accounts, seemingly created with the specific intent to persuade Arab followers to embrace the concept of normalization.

It appears that Cohen is either formally a part of Israel’s ‘hasbara’ propaganda network, or functionally indistinguishable from those who are. The Misbar report concludes it’s the former:

In sum, Misbar’s comprehensive analysis concludes the Edy Cohen account is one of the many Israeli accounts present in the Arabic online sphere that systematically target Arab audiences, skillfully glossing over and whitewashing Israel’s image for them while concurrently distorting and casting a shadow over Palestinians. This calculated effort also appears designed to sow division within Arab nations and communities whenever the opportunity arises.

Cohen and others like him continue to lecture on ‘impartiality and editorial accuracy’ in BBC Arabic coverage — accusing them of ‘wrongly painting Israel as the aggressor’ in Gaza. Meanwhile, no mainstream UK media outlets will dare challenge this —  amplifying the Israel lobby’s narrative instead.

Featured image via Barold/the Canary