A round-up of the week’s Middle East related background reading.
Weekend long read
Hadar Sela
Revisiting a BBC journalist’s claim about ‘Palestinian land’
This is a cross post from BBC Watch.
‘Homemade’ Palestinian weapons return to BBC news reporting
The BBC Jerusalem bureau correspondents repeatedly describe the missile arsenals of the Gaza Strip based terrorist organisations as “homemade rockets”.
BBC News ‘contextualises’ terror attack with ‘settlements’ and ‘international law’
All four versions of the report also closed with the BBC’s standard but partial mantra on ‘settlements’ and ‘international law’ despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the story ostensibly being reported.
Weekend long read
Middle East related background reading.
BBC Radio 4’s uncritical amplification of Ilhan Omar’s falsehood
This is a cross post from BBC Watch.
Superficial BBC reporting of Tlaib and Omar story
This is a cross-post from BBC Watch
BBC approach to gender segregated events differs with location
In Kenya it’s a ‘safe space’. In Israel it’s ‘discrimination’.
BBC Arabic breaches style guide on Temple Mount
This is a cross post from BBC Watch Earlier this week we documented descriptions in BBC World Service radio news bulletins of a premeditated demonstration of intolerance at a site holy to […]
BBC ignores UNRWA ethical abuses story
In 2017 the BBC expanded its links with the news agency AFP as part of its newsgathering process. Unlike many other media outlets – including the corporation’s preferred paper the Guardian – […]
No BBC reporting on arrest of Bahrain workshop participant
While the BBC gave generous coverage to Palestinian Authority and PLO talking points throughout its coverage of the Bahrain conference – and not least their claim to aspire to a ‘two-state solution’ – it has to date completely ignored those threats of violence and the PA’s intimidation of Palestinian citizens.
Hizballah London explosives story not newsworthy for the BBC
A terror plot by Hizballah in the UK, uncovered by MI5 and the Metropolitan Police in the autumn of 2015, just months after the UK signed up to the Iran nuclear deal, was not considered newsworthy by the BBC.
Another BBC antisemitism backgrounder promotes Livingstone Formulation
The BBC has once again legitimised the view that Israel’s supporters in the UK use false charges of antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel.
BBC 2 ‘Newsnight’ fails to challenge misinformation on antisemitism
The news that the Equality and Human Right Commission (EHRC) had opened an investigation into the UK Labour Party in order to determine whether it “has unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised […]
No BBC reporting on terror attacks by PA employees
On May 20th the Israel Security Agency announced that it had solved a series of shooting attacks that were carried out in the Ramallah district. As the Times of Israel reported: “Israel […]
BBC Europe editor devotes over half a report on antisemitism in Poland to Israel
The April 22nd edition of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Six O’Clock News’ included an item that began by relating to an antisemitic incident which had taken place a few days earlier in Poland.
Examining the rationale behind BBC policy on Jerusalem
Over the years we have documented numerous examples of the BBC’s refusal to call Jerusalem Israel’s capital city. “The BBC does not call Jerusalem the ‘capital’ of Israel, though of course BBC […]
In brief: Why anti-Zionism is antisemitic
Zionism is the belief that Israel has a right to continue to exist. Anti-Zionism is the belief that says Israel has no right to exist and shouldn’t continue existing. It is not a theoretical position. It’s an effort to forcibly dispossess over six million Jews of a right they currently have. It doesn’t say that nation-states shouldn’t exist, just that the Jewish state – the only safe-haven for Jews around the world – shouldn’t exist.
A BBC Jerusalem reporter’s framing of protests against Hamas – part two
BBC audiences are told that Hamas is ‘cash-strapped’ – but not why.
More of the same Gaza framing from a BBC Jerusalem correspondent
The BBC continues to portray violent rioting as ‘protests’.
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