International News

BBC reporter ridiculed for saying Jews form Syria’s ‘diverse population’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A BBC reporter was ridiculed after saying that Jews have and will comprise Syria’s “diverse” population, the Jewish Chronicle reports.

Reporting live from Damascus, the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet said Jews will likely be comfortable returning to the Old City and to live among Muslim and Christian neighbors.

Doucet said, “This is one of the most diverse countries in the Middle East with multiple Christian [and] Muslim sects and you can see it here in the Old City, all the different quarters, Jewish, Muslim, Christian – they’re all here and they want to believe they have a space now as Syria embarks on this new chapter.”

The remarks were greeted with outrage and mockery with many pointing out that after an ethnic cleansing of Jews from Syria, there were just three remaining when Bashar Al-Assad was deposed.

Orly Goldschmidt, The official spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy to the UK, wrote on X: “Jewish, Muslim, Christian, they’re all here, they want to believe they have a space now…”

“Except they’re not. In the 1940s, Syria’s Jewish community was 40,000 strong. Today just an estimated 3 remain.”

“Good luck finding a Jew in Syria for an interview.’

The Board of Deputies’ Director of Public Affairs Daniel Sugarman wrote, “You may find a ‘Jewish Quarter’ in Damascus. You won’t find Jews to interview, though.”

The ethnic cleansing of Jews from Arab lands is something that all post-colonial theorists across the world will ignore, deny or downplay,” Sugarman posted on X.

Many commenters said Doucet was misleading the public about the history of antisemitism in Syria.

Her remarks follow a statement by BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen that Israel preferred a “weak dictator” like Assad to a “self-confident Islamist militia.”

Bowen also asserted Israeli strikes against chemical weapons sites and other military targets in Syria may have prevented a peaceful transition of power.

TJV news

View Comments

  • It's a shame that most people have no idea of the Jewish exodus from Arab countries that took place after the State of Israel was established. Some 800,000+ Jews were thrown out of Arab counties they had lived in for 2,500+ years, with their property being stolen and confiscated by Arabs, and in many cases, many Jews were murdered. They were refuges and of course there was no UN assistance for them like for Palestinians. Israel took them in and now their descendants are "movers and shakers" of Israel, keeping the nation strong. AM YISRAEL CHAI!

Share
Published by
TJV news
Tags: BBCSyria

Recent Posts

Trump Haters Launch ‘DOGEQUEST’ Site Targeting Tesla Owners in Fear Campaign

By Lucas Nolan (Breitbart) Leftist Trump haters intent on attacking the president and Elon Musk’s…

22 minutes ago

U.S. Venture Capital Targets Israeli Defense Tech in Strategic Shift Toward Military Innovation

U.S. Venture Capital Targets Israeli Defense Tech in Strategic Shift Toward Military Innovation Edited by:…

3 hours ago

‘Fast Fashion’ Retailer Forever 21 Blames Slave-Linked Chinese Brands for Bankruptcy Filing

(Breitbart)  Forever 21, a mall-staple clothing store mostly targeting young women, blamed the rise of…

5 hours ago

JFK assassination files released, sending history buffs hunting for new clues

(AP) — More than 63,000 pages of records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were…

5 hours ago

Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients

(AP) — In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose…

6 hours ago

Chuck Schumer’s moral cowardice has enabled antisemitism

By Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS) Alan Dershowitz may have written a book titled Chutzpah, but if…

6 hours ago