Anti-Semitism envoy takes swipe at ABC over reporting on Gaza conflict

Australia’s anti-Semitism envoy has singled out reporting by the ABC when asked about ‘manipulated narratives’ in the media contributing to hostility against Jewish people.

Australia’s anti-Semitism envoy has singled out reporting by the ABC when asked about “manipulated narratives” in the media contributing to hostility against Jewish people, mentioning a story that claimed a hospital in Gaza had been bombed by Israel.

Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism Jillian Segal went on ABC radio for an interview with veteran broadcaster Steve Cannane on Friday – a day after she released a wide-ranging plan to combat anti-Semitism alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney.

During the interview, Mr Cannane said her report had stated anti-Semitism had been inflamed by various issues, including “manipulated narratives in the legacy media”, before he asked for some examples.

Ms Segal then mentioned a report by the ABC about a hospital in Gaza that was bombed, claiming it was initially incorrectly reported Israel had bombed it – only to turn out it had been hit by a wayward bomb from Gaza itself.

“The ABC ran a story repeatedly about a hospital in Gaza that had been bombed, there was incomplete information as there is, you know, only, perhaps information emanating from Hamas, but … the ABC reported it as fact that it had been bombed by Israel,” she said.

Jillian Segal release the plan to combat anti-Semitism. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“Horrified people were upset and the Jewish community was looked at with disgust – and worse – and then it turned out, indeed, that it was not bombed by Israel, but it had been from Gaza itself and it had been a bomb that had fallen short.”

Mr Cannane then interjected, claiming that the BBC had incorrectly reported that incident, but Ms Segal doubled down.

“No, the ABC reported it in great detail, repeatedly, and then the correction, as always, is very, very, very small, just once off, but the impression is left that the Israelis bombed that hospital,” Ms Segal said.

“So that is where I’m saying, let’s stop, let’s think about the impression we are giving and let’s make sure that the facts are absolutely accurate.

“The Israel and Gaza conflict has been, you know, absolutely a key study of difficulty in that regard because the information coming out is largely coming from Gaza and from unreliable sources.”

Mr Cannane said information coming out of Gaza was a grey area partly due to Israel not letting in journalists, to which Ms Segal agreed.

The ABC story Ms Segal was referring to was published on October 18, 2023, on X with a caption that read: “An Israeli air strike has killed hundreds of Palestinians at a Gaza hospital crammed with patients and displaced people, health authorities in the besieged enclave say”.

The ABC Ombudsman later said the public broadcaster made two updates to change a headline and a caption that “unequivocally attributed the hospital explosion to an Israeli air strike”.

“We are satisfied that ABC News made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the reporting and that later news broadcasts acted to clarify the earliest bulletins,” the ombudsman said after an investigation.

The ABC was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Anti-Semitism envoy takes swipe at ABC over reporting on Gaza conflict