BBC Breakfast’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war this morning features a highly emotive and clearly staged lingering shot of a young boy gazing at rubble whilst holding a Qur’an above his head. Questions will be asked as to whether this was filmed by a BBC-employed local cameraman or is sourced from an agency with Hamas sympathies. Co-conspirators will remember the criticisms over the BBC’s coverage of the Iraq war. Deja vu? 

Pressure has been mounting against the BBC over its refusal to label Hamas terrorists, and this particular shot resembles emotively framed propaganda designed to incite Islamist anger. The BBC’s institutional sympathies are all too clear.