SKY News has issued a statement after more than 1500 complaints were made to Ofcom after Kay Burley misrepresented the Palestinian ambassador on her show.
The journalist, 62, claimed that Husam Zomlot, the most senior Palestinian diplomat in the UK, had said “Israel had it coming” when Hamas attacked.
The media watchdog said 1537 complaints were made.
However, Sky News has now admitted that Zomlot was misrepresented and that it recognises it was not what he said.
“On Sky News Breakfast earlier this month, we reported that the Palestinian ambassador to the UK Dr Husam Zomlot said in reference to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 that ‘Israel had it coming’.
“We recognise that this was not what Dr Zomlot had said in an earlier interview. Sky News also accepts that this gave a potentially misleading representation of Dr Zomlot’s views,” Sky News presenter Anna Jones said on Saturday morning.
Burley’s error came when she was talking to the shadow chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden.
#SkyNews recognises that Dr Husam Zomlot(Palestinian ambassador to the UK) did not say "Israel had it coming" & they accept this gave a potentially misleading representation of his views. pic.twitter.com/DNc4U53Fna
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) October 21, 2023
Her full quote read: “Will the shadow foreign secretary (David Lammy) sit with the Palestinian ambassador, appearing with him, at an event, given that the Palestinian ambassador basically said, the last couple of days, that ‘Israel had it coming’.”
Zomlot, who does not represent Hamas and is the most senior Palestinian diplomat in the UK, has accused Israel of a “war crime” against civilians.
He told CNN on October 7: “The loss of civilian life is tragic… [on] all sides and what is happening is extremely worrying and very tragic.
“As we speak, the loss of [lives], you’ve counted 70 Israeli deaths, there [are] more than 200 Palestinian deaths so far, more than 1600 entire residential compounds are being wiped out. This is a war crime committed by Israel.
“And what is more tragic or equally tragic is the blindness and the deafness of the world and the international community for so many years of the warnings we have been saying that this was coming.
“Israel knew that this was coming their way. We the national movement of Palestine, the [Palestine Liberation Organisation], have found a different part 30 years ago, we have committed to what the world asks us; recognise Israel, commit to negotiations of non-violence… Israel was expected to do one thing only, roll back its occupation… It’s a consequence.”
