Interesting the things that Donnison tweets…and yet which don’t get reported on the BBC main news.
Contrast the casualty figures here…and consider that we are told the Israel/Palestine conflict is the world’s most dangerous apparently…never mind the 5 million dead in the Congo…or the vicious Mexican drug wars……why does the BBC spend so much time reporting on the goings on in Israel relative to the rest of the world?
Jon Donnison ?@JonDonnison
Since 2000 (incl several wars & an Intifada) around 8000 people died in Israel/Pal conflict. In US in 2009 alone, 31000 were killed by guns.
Jon Donnison ?@JonDonnison
UNHCR 60,000 dead since March 2011 in #Syria. Figures much higher than estimates by opposition groups.
What else has Donnison tweeted?
The Arab Organisation for Human Rights is based in London…but the BBC have ignored it…despite Donnison obviously acknowledging it here….
Jon Donnison ?@JonDonnison
Damning report from Arab Organisation for Human Rights on torture and arrests by #Palestinian Authority. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=297746 … #Palestine
The BBC did report previous Gaza torture but ignore the second report.
What else of interest that might have been ignored by the main news?
Jon Donnison ?@JonDonnison
missed this over Christmas period. RT @hrw #Gaza: Palestinian Rockets Unlawfully Targeted Israeli Civilians http://bit.ly/109mzUz
Palestinian armed groups in Gaza violated the laws of war during the November 2012 fighting by launching hundreds of rockets toward population centers in Israel.
About 1,500 rockets were fired at Israel between November 14 and 21, the Israel Defense Forces reported. At least 800 struck Israel, including 60 that hit populated areas.
“Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “There is simply no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas.”
Under international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, civilians and civilian structures may not be subject to deliberate attacks or attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets. Anyone who commits serious laws-of-war violations intentionally or recklessly is responsible for war crimes.
Human Rights Watch research in Gaza found that armed groups repeatedly fired rockets from densely populated areas, near homes, businesses, and a hotel, unnecessarily placing civilians in the vicinity at grave risk from Israeli counter-fire.
Jon Donnison ?@JonDonnison
Damning report from Arab Organisation for Human Rights on torture and arrests by #Palestinian Authority. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=297746 … #Palestine
Bbc….gaza tortuire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19803902
I’ve always thought it an odd argument that the BBC is biased against Israel because the Middle East conflict is given more coverage than other conflicts elsewhere in the world.
It suggests covering it by its nature is going to make Israel look bad.
The reasons why the world’s media give it significant coverage should be too obvious for me to bother.
Perhaps you would like to expand on the obvious reasons?
Chalkdust?
It would be a refreshing change if the bbc gave a much time to the slaughter of Christians in muslim countries as they do to arabs in the land known as palestine.
So in 12+ years around 8000 people on both sides have been killed when it comes to Israel and the neighbours. That includes 3 wars,the bloody disagreement between Fatah and Hamas, the bloody disagreement between Eygpt and Hamas (which drags in Israel) and of course the numerous suicide bombings . 13 years=8000 people. Don’t get me wrong 1 death is 1 too many for me, yet in the scope of things 8000 deaths over 13 years is pretty small. Especially when you consider that in 2009 just under 16K people died in road accidents in Egypt. 3600 in Syria, (Israel had 398 road deaths).
“Sorry what was that?, this is about war”
Silly me, did I try to digress, well then, in Syria this past year over 60,000 people have been killed, yes you heard right 60,000 in one year as compared to 8000 over 12.
In Iraq 4471 people were murdered last year (The Americans left in Dec 2011)
But hang on where does the bbC get its figures from as I have just done a quick check and find thata ctually the death toll in Israel is around the same as Turkeys is with the Kurds. Here have a look yourself:
http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=79®ionSelect=10-Middle_East#
Forgot to mention the figures on that data base come in at 4987 at its highest and 3322 at its lowest.
The BBC’s obsessive hatred of Israel and its remorseless need to present Israel in a bad light whilst showing near deference to Palestinian Islamist savages merely reflects the leftist ideology prevalent in most of the journalists who work for this tarnished and discredited organization.
Compare the amount of time spent the BBC spends covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with say the jihad in southern Thailand where Buddhists, especially Buddhist teachers, are killed on an almost daily basis by Islamist fanatics. Almost one in twenty terrorist deaths in the world occurs as a result of the Islamist insurgency in southern Thailand. In the past eight years, 5,000 people have been killed with over 9,000 wounded. Yet the BBC’s coverage of this conflict is practically nil for reasons that can only be guessed at. In comparison, we get a blow-by-blow account of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because the BBC can at least put a positive spin on the actions of Islamist savages by presenting them as the underdogs.
And its never ending attempt to present Islam in the best possible light I notice that BBC World is presenting a documentary called “Great British Muslims”, about some eccentric Brits who embraced Islam a century or so ago, “at a time when conversion to Islam was seen as betraying your country”. Of course, I guess no consideration will be given to what would have happened to someone embracing Christianity in the Muslim world at the same time, or even nowadays for that matter. Why doesn’t the cowardly BBC make a documentary on “Great Pakistani Christians”, or about those brave souls currently living in the Muslim world who are either apostates from “the religion of peace” or who have converted to Christianity or any other religion. That would be much more relevant and telling about today’s world than talking about converts to Islam during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Essential reading from Turkish journalist, BURAK BEKDİL.
Why Golda Meir was right
Why Golda Meir was right (II)
By concentrating on the essentially low-intensity conflict involving Israel and downplaying the slaughter of Arabs killing Arabs the BBC is doing the Arabs a great disservice.
BTW In case anyone is unfamiliar Bekdil is referring to the famous Golda Meir quote, she said that peace in the Middle East would be possible only “when Arabs love their children more than they hate us.”
Sorry about the typos in my previous post, which I wrote in a hurry.
t was an excellent post and it would be nice if our defenders of the indefensible and tolerators of the intolerant came on to defend what looks like deliberately unbalanced reporting by our impartial state broadcaster.
Defenders of the indefensible will simply say what they always say in cases like this: the BBC doesn’t have to report it if nobody else is making a big deal out of it.
They can say it, and in as simple a way as only they can.
However, as with the BBC itself, saying it doesn’t not make anything actually so, or act in excuse.
But you do remind me of the Adamsesque Leopard’s Den that is CECUTT, who on the one hand are part of a management structure that shrugs that nothing happened if no one complains, but if too many do shut everything down (closures to expeditings) as they can’t handle the workload their own ineptitude generates.
Which, in turn, means no reports need to be made, and hence nothing ever, actually happened officially either.
Good point, David – that does seem to be a frequent excuse of theirs. However, in the case of Christian persecution in various countries across the world I read about it pretty regularly in The Telegraph. I still can’t recall any coverage on BBC radio or TV.
‘Interesting the things that Donnison tweets…and yet which don’t get reported on the BBC main news.’
Maybe this is something to do with it?:
BBC Gaza and West Bank Correspondent. Cyclist. Views mine. Rewteets, #Tags not endorsements.
West Bank + Gaza · http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/middle_east/
So despite being a fully accredited feed for a BBC employee in title and URL, what he writes is nothing to do with them.
Apparently.
Given the BBC’s admitted move to FaceBook and Twitter as primary news gathering and dissemination tools – http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/fromthewebteam/2012/03/this_blog_is_now_closed_-_foll.html – I am unclear as to why it is treated differently to mainstream broadcast, and we do not get treated to a Paxo or Walk prefacing any programme with ‘what we decide to make up tonight to serve our prejudices and biases is nothing to do with those who employed us… on such a basis’.
Maybe Lords Hall Hall and Patten can explain?
The Beeboids are allowed to say they work for the BBC, but as long as they have that “views my own” disclaimer, they can claim it’s a personal blog. Of course, since at the same time they’re allowed to promote BBC stories and their own work, the line between personal and official is blurred beyond distinction.
The BBC’s social media policy is an absolute joke but, just like with everything else, they will not be held accountable.
And of course, they will never express “views [of] my own” which could be judged to be even slightly “right-wing”
James Landale tweeted what could be construed as right-wing opinion once, but I think he got away with it.
‘the line between personal and official is blurred beyond distinction.’
As the one between professional integrity and personal agenda.
No other employer would be allowed to allow its employees such a weasel in exclusion.
A unique too far in my book.