BBC Arabic Apologises for Claiming Jews Spit on Christians in ‘Holiday Ritual’
15th June 2025
The BBC has been forced to apologise following claims by its Arabic service that Jews spit on Christians in a “holiday ritual”.
Claims were made in a video released by the corporation alongside an article titled “Sukkot: Spitting and Assault on Christians and Harassment of Muslims on the Jewish Holiday”.
In the video, released in October 2023, a caption claimed observant Jews celebrated their religious holiday, Sukkot, in Israel by spitting on Christians.
After the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) complained to the corporation, it was quickly corrected to say: “Some observant Jews consider spitting on Christians a holiday ritual.”
However, it took 19 months for a formal response to be issued.