BBC guidelines that Miriam Margolyes interview was not racist
The BBC have ruled that an interview in which Miriam Margolyes used the phrase ‘Jewish and vile’ to describe Oliver Twist villain Fagin was not racist.
Miriam made the controversial comment while being interviewed by Kirsty Wark on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row – sparking outrage from listeners.
Anti-Semitism campaigners slammed the corporation after its highest complaints body refused to uphold an objection to the Aug 13 broadcast.
When questioned about a memorable Charles Dickens character from her childhood, the 83-year-old Harry Potter actress said: ‘Oh, Fagin without question. Jewish and vile.’ She then said: ‘I didn’t know Jews like that then. Sadly, I do now.’
The BBC have ruled that an interview in which Miriam Margolyes used the phrase ‘Jewish and vile’ to describe Oliver Twist villain Fagin was not racist
Miriam made the controversial comment while being interviewed by Kirsty Wark (pictured) on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row – sparking outrage from listeners
The full interview was available on the BBC’s playback service, but the remark was edited out following a string of complaints, with the corporation accepting that the comments ‘should have been challenged at the time’.
A formal application was then made to the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU), alleging that the comments amounted to anti-Jewish racism and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes.
But, although the broadcaster chose to remove the quotes, the ECU rejected the complaint, according to The Telegraph.
In a letter explaining the BBC’s decision, Fraser Steel, the head of the ECU, said he would be concerned about stereotyping if he believed the meaning behind Miriam’s comment was that she ‘now knew Jews who resembled Fagin’.
But he said the most ‘natural understanding’ of the remark is that it refers to ‘vile’, rather than to Fagin and the attributes which make his character stereotypical.
Jonathan Sacerdoti, a broadcaster and campaigner against anti-Jewish racism who submitted the complaint, this weekend accused the BBC of ‘selective accountability’
Mr Steel added that while Miriam’s comments ‘might be considered insensitive’ in the light of what Anti-Semitism campaigners described as ‘the wider atmosphere of hatred and insecurity felt by many Jews’ he does not think they constituted racism.
He concluded: ‘I don’t think it can be considered racist for one member of a group to express a view of some unspecified members of that group which is generally disparaging but without reference to any real or supposed attributes of that group.’
Jonathan Sacerdoti, a broadcaster and campaigner against anti-Jewish racism who submitted the complaint, this weekend accused the BBC of ‘selective accountability’.
He said Kirsty Wark ‘stood by in silence’ allowing Miriam’s ‘deeply offensive remarks’ to slip under the radar.
Mr Sacerdoti added that he believes the BBC’s decision to remove the segment from iPlayer was an acknowledgement of the mistake and it is for ‘reasons entirely inconsistent’ they refuse to uphold the complaint.
Mr Steel’s response means Mr Sacerdoti cannot take his complaint any further within the BBC and his only option now would be to try to involve the regulator Ofcom.
He argues that Margolyes is a person known to make offensive comments about Jews and the BBC should have been prepared to challenge her.
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘It’s a sad reflection of this era when both the host and audience of a BBC programme simply laugh along with a guest’s comments about ‘vile’ Jews.
‘Yes, the guest happens to be Jewish, but that does not give her free reign to spew her repugnant sentiments in the guise of ‘comedy’.
They added that it is ‘right’ the BBC removed the clip but said the unwillingness to admit the mistake is a ‘sad indication of where the Corporation is at right now’.
A BBC Spokesperson told the Jewish Chronicle in August: ‘This was an unexpected comment made during a live broadcast which should have been challenged at the time.
We have taken swift action to remove it from the programme and it is no longer available.’
Miriam – who is renowned for being outspoken – has been a long-standing critic of Israeli government policy, calling in August for Jews to ‘shout, beg, scream for a ceasefire in Gaza’.
MailOnline has attempted to contact representatives of Margolyes.
