The BBC has changed its opening line from:
“Israel Shells Gaza City after Palestinian mortar strike” to
“Gaza: Israeli forces strike after attack on bus”
No idea why, apart from the fact that deleting the word Palestinian skews the report against Israel a bit more. At any event, as usual they’ve reversed the roles of attack and retaliation, which probably explains why the average viewer sees Israel as the eternal villain. Note Jon Donnison’s observations.
I’m going to leave it to CiFWatch to expand on this, because this time it’s the BBC rather than the Guardian that is being criticised for its blatant bias.
Inverted Reporting
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How many other countries would tolerate 50 mortar shells shot at them in one day? How many wouldn’t tolerate one?
Take a look at the photgraph used to illustrate the article. The targeted bus is the background and so photographed as to make it difficult to see damage. The foreground is two heavily armed soldiers, which might suggest the bus was military. It wasn’t. It was an unarmed and unreinforced school bus.
Then take in the caption: The Israeli bus was nearly empty when it was hit by the missile, medical sources said Well that’s all right isn’t it? the Israelis are over reacting, as usual.
Then take a look at the following photograph of an injured Palestinian man on a stretcher. The caption: Palestinian medics say more than 30 people were injured in the Israeli strikes. No wonder the palestinians are pissed.
Still up to their old tricks. I received no reply to a complaint sent to the Complaints Website on March 19th re this “Israel says” copout “journalism” of these hacks. Sent similar mail yesterday to Steve Herrmann, “Editor” of the News Website, with cc to Donnison.
As HR points out, in agreement with many on this site, whatever statements come from the Palestinian side are generally reported by the BBC as fact, not as “Palestinians say.”
And Donnison’s analysis tells us that militarily Israel is stronger than Hamas … blah, blah … and adds:
“Israel, where casualties are rare, is under pressure from its border communities … Both sides seem unable to see the other’s perspective.”
To the best of my knowledge, just as they’ve never used the T word, Donnison and the rest of Al Beeb have never told of the bloodthirsty and antisemitic nature of the Hamas Charter.
Actually Israel is well aware of Hamas’s perspective and aim to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. That’s at least part of the reason they act as they do.
Donnison describes Hamas attacks on Israelis as a “response”, as if Israel is the instigator in all cases.
Some interesting links in the comments about the BBC’s historical (1939 – 1945) anti-Jewish bias.
“News reports could only be carried if, in the view of the BBC and the Foreign Office, they were well-sourced. If the sources were Jewish, they tended not to be believed.” Link
“Other confidential internal memorandums show an unwillingness by the BBC to broadcast on behalf of the Jews. “Any direct action to counter anti-Semitism would do more harm than good,” wrote Sir Richard Maconachie, controller of the home service, on 15 April 1943. May E Jenkin, Children’s Hour assistant director, stated: “If you give Jewish broadcasters an inch, they come clamouring for a mile.” Link
Same old illiberals, same old biases.
what is very startling about all this is that there s no mention that it was a clearly marked school bus or that but they are very quick to mention that it was almost totally empty. I am not surprised, it is clear that Israeli children’s lives are far less important to the BBC than that Palestinian children.
The very earliest version of this report did mention that it was a school bus, now however it has become just a bus.
Give the BBC a few hours and it wont even be a bus. It will be some sort of minor traffic incident !
“Despite recent calls for calm, neither side seems to be able to stop firing, our correspondent says. Both say the other started it.”
What total and utter crap! Do these people at the BBC have no sense of right and wrong? Do they really see Israel’s targeting of terrorists and Hamas’s targeting of children as equal?
By the way, isn’t firing an anti-tank missile at a school bus disproportionate and a war crime?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/6851040/the-bbc-maintains-its-impeccable-evenhandedness-between-murderer-and-victim.thtml
The following should be added to the report…http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=215570
Paramedics who revived the boy reported that they did so while under mortar fire.
Magen David Adom has raised its alert level to “Level B,” one stage short of the highest level.
Local officials in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council were reporting a barrage of mortar shells and Kassams being fired at the border region following the missile attack..
Police sealed off roads in the area due to the threat of additional projectile fire. Civilians in the area were asked to remain in their homes.
By way of contrast to INBBC output:
TONIGHT –
Glenn Beck show, Fox News, on SKY channel 509, at 10 pm:
“In Defense of ISRAEL”.
“Israeli school bus hit by Hamas anti-tank missile”
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2011/04/israeli-school-bus-hit-by-hamas-anti.html
I myself complained about the wording of the web page article.
On the 10.00am news today on BBC Radio 4, we had more of the same, in an item which began with Israel attacking “militants” in Gaza. Only at the end of the sentence was it said that this was in response to the shelling of the school bus yesterday. Then they added that Hamas wants a ceasefire but only if Israel will stop attacking them!
Heaven forgive me, but my mad is well and truly up. Hamas is wounded and wants a ceasefire while it regroups and repairs itself. I hope it never will.
I hope that Israel will not stop until Hamas is pounded into the ground. Too many people in southern Israel live under threat. Short of another Cast Lead this is the only way to defang it forever.
Re: I hope that Israel will not stop until Hamas is pounded into the ground. Too many people in southern Israel live under threat. Short of another Cast Lead this is the only way to defang it forever.
This is exactly what Hamas are hoping for ….When an International force, a la Libya, will be pulled together to attack Israel in order to protect Gazan “civilians” from those wicked Jews..The BBC is setting the scene so that the Great British public will understand fully that Israel should be held to account for its “disproportionate” use of force…
That is my fear as well, I predicted it on 24 March – http://notasheepmaybeagoat.blogspot.com/2011/03/could-i-be-right.html – and nothing that has happened recently disuades me from this:
‘There seems to be a confluence of events that I fear may not be entirely coincidental. On the one hand we have an increase in attacks on Israel by Palestinian terrorists; there was the horrific murder of the Fogel family last week, as hardly reported by the BBC, then there was the bomb set off in Jerusalem and meanwhile the firing of rockets from Gaza has increased both in quantity and sophistication. On the latter point I note that the BBC have decided not to inform the British public that the rockets being fired at Israel are no longer the ‘homemade’ Katyusha type but the far more sophisticated Grad type.
On the other hand we have the imposition of the No fly Zone on Libya. How does that affect Israel you may wonder; as a precedent I believe. Imagine this scenario, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and/or Hamas unilaterally declare independence and seek a UN Security Council resolution to recognise this. The resolution is supported by the Obama lead USA as well as China, Russia, France and almost certainly the UK. None of the permanent members use their veto and so the Palestinian declaration is deemed to have the support of the ‘international community.’ The PA and Hamas declare that Israeli citizens are now on Palestinian territory and in line with prestated sentiments that they must leave. Israel refuses to abandon its ‘settlements’ and PA/Hamas go to the United Nations, maybe via the Arab League, to ask for protection from Israeli aggression. The United Nations with its built in Muslim bloc votes that Israel either vacates Palestinian land or else….. Then what?
Am I paranoid, or is this all possible?
Hamas do not want a ceasefire they want a Hudna.
You know what they say about paranoia.
Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not really out to get you.
“Israel’s strikes and the dozens of rockets and mortars subsequently fired by militants across the border represent the worst violence in Gaza in two years.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13027915
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And
“Most analysts believe neither Hamas nor Israel want another major conflict but both are under pressure from their constituents not to be seen to be backing down.”
So Israeli constituents WANT another major conflict according to these anonymous analysts. I wonder who they asked.
Maybe these constituents object to being slaughtered in their beds, or children being targetted on a school bus.
And
“Although three mortar shells were fired by Palestinian militants overnight this was a sharp drop from previous days.”
So that’s OK then. Only three. Walk on. Nothing to see here.
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UPdate from http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=215913
Mortar damages power line inEshkol region, cuts power supplies; over 120 projectiles fired into Israel over weekend.
No mention of THAT on the BBC.
Presumably the BBC website writers don’t bother to read the Jerusalem Post.
And anyway it would be “Israel says that 120 projectiles…….”?