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Dateline: London
A London-based newspaper editor and regular commentator on BBC News shows has said that if Iranian missiles hit Israel, he would dance with delight in Trafalgar Square.
Abd Al-Bari Atwan, editor of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, made the remarks in a television interview on Lebanese TV in June. In selected quotes from the interview, published in the Jerusalem Post, spoke of how Iran might retaliate against strikes.
If Iran is able to retaliate, it will burn the oil wells, block the Strait of Hormuz, attack the American bases in the Gulf and, Allah willing, it will attack Israel, as well," he said.
Talking about Iran's nuclear capability, he said, "If the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight."
Abd Al-Bari Atwan is a regular guest on Sky News, CNN and the BBC, where he speaks on world issues from an Arab viewpoint. He appears on BBC News 24's Dateline: London broadcast, in which foreign correspondents based in the UK are invited to discuss national and international issues. Abd Al-Bari Atwan regularly - if unsurprisingly - delivers a strongly anti-US, anti-UK line. Nothing wrong with this: Few guests on the show, with the exceptions of Janet Daley and Michael Gove, have been strongly supportive of the US or UK line in the Middle East. This is only to be expected among journalists.
But no other guest, to EURSOC's knowledge, has spoken openly of his joy should another country be destroyed. Sky refused to comment on Mr Abd Al-Bari Atwan's remarks; the BBC pointed the Jerusalem Post in the direction of its guidelines on contentious interviewees:
"We should not automatically assume that academics and journalists from other organizations are impartial and make it clear to our audience when contributors are associated with a particular viewpoint."
"The BBC is required to explore a range of views, so that no significant strand of thought is knowingly unreflected or underrepresented."
"The BBC will sometimes need to report on or interview people whose views may cause serious offense to many in our audiences. We must be convinced, after appropriate referral, that a clear public interest outweighs the possible offense."
"We [the BBC] must rigorously test contributors expressing contentious views during an interview."
All well and good - it is important to talk to nutters. But Mr Abd Al-Bari Atwan is presented on the BBC as an urbane and respected editor, happily shooting the breeze with his peers from Die Welt, El Pais and the New York Times. The BBC would do well to make clear their guests real views, if and when he is invited on Dateline London in future.
