Sense of Proportion?

This article in the Jerusalem Post points to this BBC article as encapsulating a point of view regarding Israel which dominates at the BBC. Basically, it is Israel as regional bully-boy,

Such a thing is, of course, a little bit more complex than it seems at first sight. I searched Nick Thorpe on the BBC website and found that, while in the article already cited he caricatures Israel’s experience of Hezbullah missiles as ‘like pinpricks in the ankles of a giant, taunting him to stamp back with his big, US-issue army boots.‘, he was also the author of this article (back in Feb this year).

In it, he decribes the effect of Palestinian Qassam rockets falling from Gaza onto the southern Israeli town of Sderot. He himself describes a local kindergarten which had ‘lost two children – on their way here in the morning – to rocket attacks in the past few years.’

Of the kind of more deadly thing Hezbullah have been firing, Thorpe says (in the July 15th article), “Even to my untrained eye, a Katyusha rocket is a world apart from a Qassam.”

So how can a journalist who has reasonably borne witness to the anguish of children in Sderot revert to the kind of imagery which is gleefully spewed out by, among others, Guardian cartoonists? (See here for a shocking example -though in truth I have known Guardian cartoonists were sick for some years now).

Well, even in the eyewitness report from Sderot Thorpe slips all too easily into caricature: “The people of Sderot are mostly immigrants, Jews from far and wide coming home to Mother Israel for a cheap house, sunshine and prospects for the children.” (might as well be sun, sea and sand- the reason why Palestinians cling to Gaza; btw- I wonder what drives the land prices down? Can’t imagine.)

It’s obvious from this spin that he finds the concept of a Jewish home state at best rather kitsch, and at worst retrogressively nationalistic. He has slipped from observation to ideology- a slip that is so familiar and exacerbated in the current circumstances. But, really, Nick Thorpe, “pin pricks”? Didn’t you see with your own eyes the fear of the kindergarten children? Haven’t you acknowledged that the Katyusha is far worse? Where’s the proportion, man?

Last point: I do agree with the JP article that Thorpe’s mindless caricaturing is representative of the BBC’s coverage in general. How this happens amidst the BBC’s luxuriant resources overseen by an army of pretty well-qualified people is a source of fascination. One I’d rather not have though. You can find an alternative view, or rather a big waffle, at Comment is free here (thanks to commenter). In addition, here is a very good analysis of Israel’s position vis a vis Hezbullah which you won’t find on the BBC.