Majority of Brits find Israel-Hamas war reporting unfair, Muslim community commissioned poll finds

Only 33% of Brits believe that media reporting on the Israel-Hamas war has been fair, according to a poll conducted by YouGov, and commissioned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

The data was collected online between July 17 and 18, and had a sample size of 2533 adults.

Despite only 33% finding media reports on the Israel-Hamas war fair, the number of those trusting the media nearly doubled (62%) when it came to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Only 17% of young adults, aged 18-24, thought that reporting on the war against Hamas was fair, but when it came to the Russia-Ukraine war, the percentage rose to 56%.

The full findings of the survey will be released during the UK’s largest Muslim convention Jalsa Salana between July 26 and 28.

The convention's speakers

Speakers at the convention will include Al Jazeera Gaza correspondent Youmna ElSayed and Director of the Palestine Journalism Hub, Shuruq As’ad.

ElSayed, commenting on the findings of the survey, said “There is a massive failure by the mainstream media in the way it is reporting the war in Gaza. Basic editorial principles are abandoned to favor certain narratives. The most routine fact-checking does not take place and headlines do not reflect the true nature of the atrocities.

“Much of the media coverage has been a travesty, excusing a genocide in real-time. It's time for better media accountability, responsible coverage and a return to a fundamental principle of journalism - to report without fear or favor.”

Despite ElSayed’s comments, the International Court of Justice ruled in January that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza. 

Many pro-Palestinian groups have maintained accusations of genocide, in spite of the ruling, citing death tolls provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. However, research has found that 40% of the alleged deaths were based on unverified data and Hamas fails to distinguish between the deaths of combatants and civilians. 

The Al Jazeera journalist also did not mention the hostages or those murdered by Hamas during its October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which kickstarted the war. Nor did the correspondent mention that Al Jazeera had been banned in Israel and considers it a “mouthpiece” of Hamas. 

The Qatari-owned platform has been caught censoring Gazan criticism of Hamas.