Soundbite Advice

 

Judge for yourselves how much attention BBC journalists have paid to Hamas’ media guidance to its own supporters…whom, if you were of a cynical bent, might say included the BBC, or elements thereof:

Via Harry’s Place/Memri:

The Hamas guide to social media

MEMRI provides some excerpts:

“Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine, before we talk about his status in jihad or his military rank. Don’t forget to always add ‘innocent civilian’ or ‘innocent citizen’ in your description of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“Begin [your reports of] news of resistance actions with the phrase ‘In response to the cruel Israeli attack,’ and conclude with the phrase ‘This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.’ Be sure to always perpetuate the principle of ‘the role of the occupation is attack, and we in Palestine are fulfilling [the role of] the reaction.’

“Beware of spreading rumors from Israeli spokesmen, particularly those that harm the home front. Be wary regarding accepting the occupation’s version [of events]. You must always cast doubts on this [version], disprove it, and treat it as false.

“Avoid publishing pictures of rockets fired into Israel from [Gaza] city centers. This [would] provide a pretext for attacking residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not publish or share photos or video clips showing rocket launching sites or the movement of resistance [forces] in Gaza.

“To the administrators of news pages on Facebook: Do not publish close-ups of masked men with heavy weapons, so that your page will not be shut down [by Facebook] on the claim that you are inciting violence. In your coverage, be sure that you say: ‘The locally manufactured shells fired by the resistance are a natural response to the Israeli occupation that deliberately fires rockets against civilians in the West Bank and Gaza’…”

Additionally, the interior ministry prepared a series of suggestions specifically for Palestinian activists who speak to Westerners via social media. The ministry emphasizes that conversations with them should be conducted differently from conversations with other Arabs. It stated:

• “When speaking to the West, you must use political, rational, and persuasive discourse, and avoid emotional discourse aimed at begging for sympathy. There are elements with a conscience in the world; you must maintain contact with them and activate them for the benefit of Palestine. Their role is to shame the occupation and expose its violations.

• “Avoid entering into a political argument with a Westerner aimed at convincing him that the Holocaust is a lie and deceit; instead, equate it with Israel’s crimes against Palestinian civilians.

• “The narrative of life vs. the narrative of blood: [When speaking] to an Arab friend, start with the number of martyrs. [But when speaking] to a Western friend, start with the number of wounded and dead. Be sure to humanize the Palestinian suffering. Try to paint a picture of the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank during the occupation’s operations and its bombings of cities and villages.

• “Do not publish photos of military commanders. Do not mention their names in public, and do not praise their achievements in conversations with foreign friends!”

 

 

It is surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, easy to tie in BBC reporting with the Hamas version of events:

 

‘Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine’

Rarely does the BBC provide the figures for actual civilian deaths preferring to say ‘X’ number of Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli attacks began.

 

‘This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.’

The BBC always limits the casualties to those caused ‘since’ the Israeli counterattack on Gaza began….never mind this is is a 65 year old war.

 

‘You must always cast doubts on this [Israeli version], disprove it, and treat it as false.’

Well….how often have we heard the BBC interviewer challenge an Israeli spokesman’s explanations?

 

‘Try to paint a picture of the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank during the occupation’s operations and its bombings of cities and villages.’

That’s just constant from the BBC.

 

‘In your coverage, be sure that you say: ‘The locally manufactured shells fired by the resistance are a natural response to the Israeli occupation that deliberately fires rockets against civilians in the West Bank and Gaza’…”

Oh yes..those famous ‘homemade contraptions’…inaccurate and harmless.

 

‘There are elements with a conscience in the world; you must maintain contact with them and activate them for the benefit of Palestine. Their role is to shame the occupation and expose its violations.’

The BBC…the world’s ‘conscience’…imposing its own moral values and judgements upon others….taking it upon themselves to ‘shame the occupation and expose its violations.’

 

Yep….reckon Hamas must be pretty pleased with the BBC’s reporting despite it being so pro-Israeli according to Greg Philo who would seem to be a firm favourite of some at the BBC (h/T  Is the BBC biased?) such as Roger Bolton who lavishes praise upon him:

On Today on Tuesday he was also in challenging mode, alleging that the Beeb’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza was pro-Israel. Many Feedback listeners agree with him, and almost as many disagree.
It was refreshing to hear his views, and I look forward to the publication of his detailed analysis, and that of those who allege the opposite. I also hope voices like his will be heard more regularly. Broadcasters need to be challenged. That’s what Feedback is all about.

 

 

 

‘Now here’s a story for BBC Trending.’

Neither BBC Trending nor any other department has shown any interest whatsoever in the topic of the use of conventional and social media by Hamas for propaganda purposes  – despite the fact that there are numerous recent examples.

That lack of interest appears to have caused the BBC to fail to notice that it has itself been co-opted to Hamas propaganda.

A picture circulated by Hamas purporting to show a teenager in Gaza killed by an Israeli airstrike is in fact a still image from the Hollywood horror film ‘Final Destination 4′, as can be seen in this video below.

 

 

Note the caption in Russian inserted by Hamas: it reads “BBC Israel kills Palestinian teens in Gaza”.