The BBC’s one sided coverage of the conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people has long been a bone of contention amongst fair minded people throughout the world. If anything in recent years far from improving it has become even more one sided. During Israel’s 2009 military incursion into the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which left 1417 Palestinian’s dead, the BBC covered the conflict almost entirely from the Israeli side, relying mainly on Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokespersons for information about the situation on the ground within Gaza.
Earlier this year after Israel committed an act of international piracy in the Mediterranean which resulted in the loss of nine lives, when its military attacked an international aid convoy bound for the port of Gaza; and boarded in international waters the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, the BBC coverage sank to new depths, when in a BBC Panorama programe Jane Corbyn reported on this issue in the most biased manner.
Corbyn’s BBC Panorama report among a number of inaccuracies, included a faked recording of a voice, ‘purporting’ to come from the Mavi Marmara before Israeli special forces boarded the ship, saying ‘go back to Auschwitz’, even though the IDF had already been forced to admit it was not broadcast by any of the ships in the international aid convoy.
The Campaign to end BBC Bias on Palestine, decided to publish a Statement condemning the BBC as both unethical and immoral after being outraged by the corporations decision to broadcast Israel’s doctored and faked “evidence,” when it was fully aware that Israel’s military had stolen all photographic evidence to the contrary, as well as the recording equipment and personal possessions of those it had illegally detained, witnesses to Israel’s attack.
Tony Greenstein on behalf of the group approached the Guardian to publish the Statement, but the fee at £7500 was felt to be to exorbitant. He settled on the Independent, who agreed to publish the statement for a fee of £3500, but only if a number of changes were made. After Tony made a number of valiant attempts to come to a reasonable accommodation with the Independent, and after consulting with the signatories, he concluded the newspaper had no intention of publishing the Statement. It will now be carried by the New Statesman, Spectator and the Blogger-Sphere.
The BBC’s Biased & Shameful Coverage of the Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla is a Betrayal of its Charter
On 16th August BBC Panorama’s ‘Death on the Med’ was, in its own words, ‘given unique access to Israel’s Naval Commando 13, the unit which seized a ship in the Gaza flotilla in May resulting in the deaths of nine activists.’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stm In return, the BBC broadcast a half hour justification of the murder of 9 humanitarian aid workers and the wounding of 50 more aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The BBC’s Orwellian production portrayed the victims of Israel’s premeditated attack on the ships as the ones guilty of violence. The BBC even broadcast an obviously faked voice, purporting to come from the Mavi Marmara, saying ‘go back to Auschwitz’. Even the IDF admitted on June 5th that this had been ‘edited’ and was not from the MM. http://tinyurl.com/2dvq6ph
Whilst the rest of the world expressed incredulity at Israel’s claim that its commandos had acted in self defense, BBC’s radio and TV news broadcast, without comment, Benjamin Netanyahu’s absurd claim that “Israel did all it could to avoid violence”. Likewise Mark Regev, Israeli government PR chief, went unchallenged as he justified the murders and vilified the victims.
For the BBC to broadcast Israel’s own doctored and faked “evidence”, when it was fully aware that Israel’s military had stolen all photographic evidence to the contrary, as well as the recording equipment and personal possessions of those it had illegally detained, witnesses to Israel’s attack, was both unethical and immoral. It is an incentive to other states to behave similarly.
By the time the flotilla survivors were free to tell their side of the story, the BBC news agenda had conveniently moved on, leaving imprinted on the minds of their viewers and listeners Israel’s fable of the aggressor having become the victim.
Anyone relying on BBC news would not have heard world famous Swedish novelist Henning Mankell, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/02/gaza-flotilla-raid-gunfire-ship-blood explain the beatings inflicted on activists after they were detained. They would also have missed the photographs smuggled past Israel’s pirates, showing activists giving medical treatment to those aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Nor did the BBC’s viewers hear about the American Jewish student, Emily Henochowicz, who lost an eye on May 31 during a protest against the attack on the Flotilla, when Israeli soldiers fired a teargas canister directly at her.
Knowledge of Israel’s routinely violent attacks on Palestinians and their Jewish supporters would provide meaningful context to its news reports. Instead a BBC correspondent fatuously stated on May 31st: ‘Of course the Israeli military is very well experienced at dealing with crowd control.”
If Iranian, North Korean or Somali pirates, had carried out an attack, in international waters, on a ship flying another country’s flag, can one imagine BBC broadcasting uncritical interviews with apologists for the murderers?
The BBC’s decision to broadcast uncritically Israeli propaganda film reflects a consistently pro-Israeli bias in its coverage of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, something highlighted in a report presented to the corporation’s Governors in April 2006. http://www.bbcgovernorsarchive.co.uk/docs/reviews/panel_report_final.pdf The report stated that “BBC coverage does not consistently constitute a full and fair account of the conflict but rather, in important respects, presents an incomplete and in that sense misleading picture.”
The Report noted that historical and other context was frequently absent and coverage failed to reflect “the fact that one side is in control and the other lives under occupation.” It also found that “the death of an Israeli killed by the Palestinian side was more likely to be reported by the BBC than the death of a Palestinian killed by the Israeli side.” These failings have been highlighted by the BBC’s coverage of the siege of Gaza
There needs to be a fundamental sea change in the BBC’s news coverage in order that the context of events is always present in its coverage. For example Israel’s habitual violence against and repression of peaceful protest should have served as the backdrop to its coverage of Israel’s murderous attack on the Mavi Marmara. Why did Panorama not investigate the attack from the standpoint of those who were killed and injured instead of allowing itself to be bought off with ‘unique access’ to the killers?
And how was Panorama’s ‘Death on the Med’ able to gain exclusive interviews with Israel’s naval commandos when the Israeli government has told the UN inquiry and their own Turkel Commission into the attack that they will not allow them to testify? Why is it that the BBC is trusted more than its own tame inquiry?
We wish to see the BBC stand up to threats from Israel instead of caving in, as occurred when the government of Ariel Sharon targeted correspondents Orla Guerin and Jeremy Bowen. (BBC Says Sorry to Israel, 12.3.05. The Guardian, BBC appoints Middle East tsar, 11.11.03.)
Let us see no more of the blatant bias exhibited by the BBC’s refusal, in January 2009, to broadcast the
Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza.
1. Professor Abby Lippman, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
2. Dr. Vahitha Abdul-Salam, Imperial College London , ,
3. George Abendstern
4. Dr Shadi Abu-Hayyeh, Imperial College, London
5. Jackie Alsaid LLM,
6. Beatrice Andrieu,
7. Mike Arnott, University of Dundee and Secretary of Dundee Trades Union Council
8. Malcolm Bailey, Luton & Bedfordshire Green Party,
9. Dave Baker, Visiting Research Fellow Reader in Numeracy/Maths, London Institute of Education,
10. Professor Mona Baker, Professor of Translation Studies, University of Manchester,
11. Fiona Balaban (UK/Turkey)
12. David Bangs, Environmentalist,
13. Frank Barat, (Russell Tribunal on Palestine)
14. Geoff Barr,
15. Jinan Bastaki, (UAE)
16. Dr. A.F. J. Bell (Australia)
17. Paul Bemrose, GMB Trade Union,
18. Tony Benn,
19. Richard Berks – Centre for Immunology & Infection, University of York,
20. Greta Berlin (USA/France) (co-founder, Free Gaza movement)
21. Jo Bird,
22. Rica Bird,
23. Patrick Black,
24. Dr. Susan Blackwell, National Executive Committee member, University and College Union,
25. Prof. Haim Bresheeth, University of East London,
26. Andy Brown, Secretary, Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
27. Dr.Chris Burns-Cox Physician Gloucestershire,
28. Dave Campbell,
29. Val Cane, Brighton NUT,
30. Jean Calder, journalist,
31. Patricia Chaffee, (USA)
32. Linda Clair
33. Nigel Clark, Southampton,
34. Ruth Clark, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh (retd),
35. Jerrold Cohen, PhD (USA)
36. Sheila Colman
37. Prof Andrea Cornwall, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
38. Mike Cushman, London School of Economics,
39. Martin Cutler,
40. Dr Adam Darwish, University of Sussex,
41. Teresa Delaney , Green Left
42. Lilian Joan Dell
43. Barbara Denuelle,
44. Dr Merav Devere, Brighton, East Sussex,
45. Professor James Dickins, Prof. of Arabic, University of Salford,
46. William Dienst Jr. M.D., Washington, USA
47. Carol Diggle
48. Greg Dropkin,
49. Dr John Drury, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, University of Sussex, [email protected]
50. Professor Mick Dunford, University of Sussex
51. Professor Mohamed El-Gomati, University of York
52. Mark Elf,
53. Tom Eisner,
54. Dr Catherine Farnworth, Cornwall,
55. Dr Abdul Ashraf Fattah, Lecturer, University of Westminster,
56. Mrs Jackie Fearnley, Radio 4 programme listeners panel,
57. Jonny Feldman
58. Alf Filer,
59. Mark Findlay,
60. Deborah Fink, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods [JBig],
61. Sylvia Finzi,
62. Pete Firmin,
63. Naomi Foyle,
64. Linda Frank, (USA)
65. Garth Frankland
66. Kenneth Fryde,
67. Terry Gallogly, York PSC
68. Jasmine Gani,
69. Charles Gate, Calderdale Green Party,
70. Dr Ramez J. Ghazoul,
71. Dr Sarah Glynn, Scottish Jews for a Just Peace
72. Olga Gora
73. Nina Gora,
74. Tony Greenstein, Brighton Unemployed Centre, UNISON,
75. Dr Anne Gray
76. Mick Hall, Organized Rage,
77. Ann Hallam, Brighton & Hove Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
78. Peter Hallward, Professor of Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University London,
79. David Halpin, Dove and Dolphin Charity,
80. Mira Hammad,
81. Keith Hammond,
82. Fajr Harb (Palestine)
83. Peter Harvey, Hants?
84. Dr Rumy Hasan, Senior Lecturer, University of Sussex
