BBC WS listeners get a homogeneous view of US aid to Palestinians – part one

BBC Watch

The December 6^th US proclamation recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city made it very clear that nothing in that announcement was intended to define the boundaries of the city.

“Today’s actions—recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announcing the relocation of our embassy—do not reflect a departure from the strong commitment of the United States to facilitating a lasting peace agreement. The United States continues to take no position on any final status issues. The specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between the parties. The United States is not taking a position on boundaries or borders. Above all, our greatest hope is for peace, including through a two-state solution, if agreed to by both sides.”

That key part of the announcement has not been featured widely in BBC coverage of the story’s various chapters and indeed audiences have been led to believe that…

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UKMW prompts correction to Indy claim that ‘Israel killed’ Mohammed al-Durah

The Al-Durah Affair is an incident, in Sept. 2000, involving a 12-year-old Palestinian boy named Mohammed Al-Durah who, Palestinians alleged, was killed by IDF fire (during a firefight between Israeli and Palestinian forces) while crouched in front of a wall with his father at the Netzarim Junction in Gaza.

Despite the fact that claims the boy was killed by IDF fire that day – based on an entirely inconclusive 59 second video clip – have been discredited, Israel’s guilt was accepted blindly by the media, and al-Durah became an icon of Palestinian “martyrdom” in the Arab and Muslim world.

The framing of the incident also reinforced, some have persuasively argued, the lethal media narrative that Israel murders Palestinian kids.

However, despite the dearth of actual evidence, some in the media to this day persist in accepting, without question, these completely unsubstantiated Palestinian claims that…

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Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood downplays Ahed Tamimi’s support for suicide bombing

As we noted in a recent post, Ahed Tamimi (dubbed Shirley Temper by Israellycool) is a 16-year-old Palestinian ‘activist’ from the West Bank town of Nabi Saleh who’s been exploited by her parents for propaganda purposes since she was eleven.

The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood, the paper’s former Jerusalem correspondent, published a report today on the teen’s arrest which, we should note, did include a bit of skepticism about brand Tamimi.  Sherwood also dismisses those who have called Ahed “a symbol of resistance, a child hero, [and] freedom fighter”.  But, she also has little patience for Israeli “claims” that the teen “is a puppet of political parents, she has been, schooled in violence”.

In fact, there’s no question that Ahed has been schooled in violence (and antisemitism) by her parents, who have expressed support for terror and encouraged their daughter to provoke and engage in physical altercations with Israeli…

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Radio 5 live item promotes apartheid analogy, breaches style guide

BBC Watch

As regular readers will be aware, the editorial approach taken by the BBC when reporting stories relating to the BDS campaign against Israel is to avoid informing audiences exactly what that campaign is really all about and in particular, that it seeks to bring about an end to Jewish self-determination by means of delegitimisation. In the past the BBC has claimed that, notwithstanding its frequent amplification of the campaign, it is not its job to provide audiences with that information and has taken to bizarrely describing that campaign to eradicate the Jewish state as a “human rights group”.

It therefore did not come as much of a surprise to see that an item broadcast on January 1^st on BBC Radio 5 live adopted the same editorial approach. However, the item – aired on a show called ‘Phil Williams’ – also included additional issues.

In a slot (from 01:37:17 here)…

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UKMW prompts correction to Daily Mail article accepting Hamas claim “Israel killed” Ibrahim Abu Thuraya

The Daily Mail published a December 22nd story on Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, the disabled Palestinian man killed in disputed circumstances during violent protests at the Gaza-Israel border last month.

The article stated, as if it’s a fact, Gaza Health Ministry claims that Israel killed Abu Thuraya, and failed to provide the IDF response to the incident, leaving readers with a version based entirely on the unsubstantiated claims by Hamas officials.

This one-sided account was especially troubling considering that the IDF issued a report on the incident several days before the story was published which raised serious questions about the Hamas version.  (Several days later, a top IDF general issued a stronger denial, stressing that “there was no basis” for reports that Israeli snipers targeted the wheelchair-bound Palestinian amputee.)

We contacted the office of the Daily Mail readers’ editor, who eventually upheld our complaint, and added these new sentences reflecting…

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Guardian quote from Palestinian ‘heroine’ Ahed Tamimi omits bit where she supports suicide bombing

Ahed Tamimi(dubbedShirley Temper by Israellycool) is a 16-year-old Palestinian ‘activist’ from the West Bank town of Nabi Saleh who’s beenexploited by her parents forpropaganda purposes – which has included encouraging her to attend violent protests and provoke Israeli soldiers – since she was a young girl.   

Tamimi in 2012

The Guardian reported today on charges against Tamimi for assaulting security forces, incitement and throwing stones based on an encounter filmed last month which shows her hitting and provoking an Israeli soldier.

The article, (Palestinian girl filmed slapping Israeli soldier is charged with assault, Jan. 1) by Guardian Jerusalem correspondent Peter Beaumont, included the following:

Ahed and her mother [Nariman] were charged in relation to the incident and to remarks broadcast in the immediate aftermath, in which Nariman asked her daughter to give a message to the world. According to the prosecution, Ahed said…

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BBC News omits a relevant part of the Tamimi charges story

BBC Watch

On January 1^st the BBC News website published a report titled “Palestinian girl charged after slapping soldier on video“.

Parts of that report are recycled from a BBC News website article concerning the arrest of Ahed Tamimi that was published on December 19^th 2017. Four links that appeared in that previous report – a Facebook post by her father, an article from the notoriously partisan and inaccurate Al Jazeera quoting her aunt, one Ynet report quoting her father and a second Ynet report relating to a previous incident in which she was involved – are promoted once again.

While – in contrast to the previous report – this one does clarify that Ahed Tamimi’s mother Nariman filmed and disseminated the footage of her daughter assaulting an Israeli soldier, the full extent of the Tamimi family’s activities – including the organisation of weekly rioting – is once…

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The BBC, Jerusalem and historical framing

via The BBC, Jerusalem and historical framing

The BBC, Jerusalem and historical framing

BBC Watch

On December 28^th the BBC News website published an article titled “Israel: Minister leads prayers for rain to end drought” which informed audiences that:

“Israel’s Agriculture Minister, Uri Ariel, has joined with the country’s religious leaders in an attempt to use the power of prayer to end a drought.

Mr Ariel is an Orthodox Jew and led prayers on Thursday at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

Severe drought for four years has left the country’s water supplies at low levels.

Critics said the minister should tackle the crisis more practically.”

The short report continued:

“Israel’s drought has had a significant impact on farming communities and caused the country to become reliant on its desalination plants on its Mediterranean coast.

“We significantly lowered the cost of water, we are carrying out many studies on how to save water in different crops, but prayer can certainly help,” Mr Ariel said.

The…

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BBC News reports one story about a PLO envoy, ignores another

via BBC News reports one story about a PLO envoy, ignores another