BBC journalists quit union after being told to wear Palestinian colors

Several journalists of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have resigned from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) after the union directed its members to dress differently for a “Day of Action for Palestine.”

Jewish News reported that the NUJ “distributed directives from the Trades Union Congress (TUC),” which asked members to “wear something red, green, black or a Palestinian keffiyeh,” the traditional Middle Eastern headscarf that has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israel.

The BBC journalists were also encouraged to share photos of their outfits online, to “visibly show solidarity” with the Palestinian cause.

The move caused a backlash among some of the NUJ's journalists, who have either quit or are now considering leaving the union.

“BBC journalists, who pride themselves on impartiality and who fought to keep their NUJ free of politics, are being encouraged to break the BBC’s editorial guidelines by supporting a political cause,” one BBC employee stated.

Independent journalist Charlotte Henry said she quit due to the union having become “a hostile environment for Jewish journalists.”

She added that “plenty of Jewish journalists have already quit the NUJ over its response to the war between Israel and the terror group Hamas following the atrocities of October 7, 2023.”

The NUJ responded to the backlash, stating that “clearly members working across the BBC and in public service broadcasting have important duties in relation to impartiality and work within social media guidelines the NUJ would not wish members to breach.”

Jewish News also reported the response from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which describes itself as“the only democratically elected, cross-communal representative body in the Jewish community.”

The Board stated that this incident “represents a continued failure of unions to support workers if they are Jewish.”

“Whatever the stated intent, attempts to bring this issue into the workplace in such a fashion will undoubtedly add to the belligerent atmosphere which many Jewish staff have been facing across a variety of sectors – and highlights an ongoing issue whereby certain unions have prioritised gesture politics over the welfare of Jewish workers in their sector, resulting in an exodus of Jews from such unions,” the statement read.