The BBC has decided not to report all the words of John Kerry…just the ones that suit its apparent anti-Israel agenda.
John Kerry is the US Secretary of State and is leading the effort to agree a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians. You might think his words would be worthy of some note by the BBC. But no. Or rather, not all of them.
After airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza, Kerry backs Israel’s right to defend itself
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel “has every right in the world to defend itself” against attacks by Hamas in Gaza.
Kerry said Israel has long endured rocket attacks by Hamas, and no nation “would sit there while rockets are bombarding it.” He said “thousands of rockets” were being fired at Israel. “People can’t live that way.”
Kerry also cited tunnels constructed by Hamas in what he said is “an obvious effort” to try to kidnap Israelis.
He that it is “unacceptable by any standard anywhere in the world” and that Israel must protect its citizens.
In response to a question on ABC’s “This Week,” Kerry dismissed claims that Israel was committing genocide as “rhetoric that we’ve heard many, many times.”
Kerry turned his answer into an excoriation of Hamas and continued, “What they need to do is stop rocketing Israel and accept a ceasefire. It’s very, very clear that they’ve tunneled under Israel. They’ve tried to come out of those tunnels with people with handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs to capture Israeli citizens and hold them for ransom, or worse. They’ve been rocketing Israel with thousands of rockets.
“They’ve been offered a ceasefire, and they’ve refused to take the ceasefire. Even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire, they’ve just stubbornly invited further efforts to try to defuse the ability to be able to rocket Israel.”
Kerry placed responsibility for the escalation on Hamas, arguing that “when three young Israeli kids are taken and murdered, and Hamas applauds it and celebrates the fact that they were kidnapped and supported the kidnapping, and then starts rocketing Israel when they’re looking for the people who did it, that’s out of balance by any standard, George. And I think it’s important for people to remember the facts that led to this. Hamas needs to join up, be part of a solution, not the problem.”
The BBC on 5Live has just quoted Kerry saying that Israel has the right to defend itself….but two days later than The Times of Israel reported the same words.
The BBC instead chose to report this:
Gaza crisis: Kerry Israel air strike remarks caught on mic
Kerry said, apparently unaware it was being recorded: “It is a hell of a pinpoint operation. We’ve got to get over there.”
Mr Kerry later told Fox News he “reacted obviously in a way that, you know, anybody does with respect to, you know, young children and civilians.”
More than 500 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began 13 days ago, Gaza’s health ministry says.
Twenty Israelis – 18 of them soldiers – have died, Israel says, as it seeks to end rocket fire from Gaza.
Curiously the BBC has gone the other way in reporting the words of the UN’s Ban Ki-Moon, here on the web admitting that he says Israel had the right to defend itself…but then goes on to blame Israeli blockade for the rockets….er…isn’t the blockade in place because of the rockets?:
Mr Ban is due to travel to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and meetings with Palestinian officials in the West Bank.
Mr Ban said he appreciated Israel’s right to defend itself, but said restrictions on Gaza should be lifted “so that people should not resort to this kind of violence as a way of expressing their grievances”.
It was a different matter on the radio bulletins where the BBC preferred to report that Ban Ki-Moon had utterly condemned the Israelis….“dozens more civilians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza. I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.”
Anyone looking at the way the BBC has reported Kerry’s and Ban Ki-Moon’s words might rightly consider that the BBC has been trying to paint the Israelis in the blackest light possible.
Ban Ki-Moon had a press conference with the Israeli PM and Ban Ki-Moon’s first comment was ” We condemn the firing of rockets into Israel and it must stop NOW! We also condemn siting rockets in civilian areas and hospitals.” BBC are reluctant to report the press conference but are saying ” Ban Ki-Moon tells Israel and Hamas to ‘stop fighting'”. Not at all representative of the tone of the Secretary- General’s statement.
I find it hard to come up with the point of the UN in general, and Ban Ki Moon in particular, any more than I did with Kofi Annan. What do they do apart from mouth platitudes?
It’s outdated, and it’s main issue is that many of the countries who are represented and therefore have a vote in the general council are nasty dictatorships, theologies, faux democracies and kleptocracies.
In fact, if you look around the world, huge land masses are run badly, by people with intentions we wouldn’t recognise as ethical, liberal or democratic.
Most of Africa, half of South America, nearly all the middle East, China, Russia. The UN gives them a huge voice, so therefore that voice is going to represent their world view equally as it does the liberal democracies.
OG, you might find the UNWatch website of interest, run by Hilel Neuer who does sterling work exposing the extremist and insane behaviour of the usual suspects.
The point of the UN is to find people with funny names and appoint them Secretary General of their organization.
General
I made the same point elsewhere, reporting the exact words used by the UN Sec-General. I said that I did not expect the BBC to report his criticisms of Hamas – and you confirm this.
Typical BBC bias. If he had been severely criticising Israel the BBC would have reported every word.
Sorry if I duplicated your post, I did not see it but you are quite right , if Moon had specifically directed his condemnation towards Israel it would be headline news non the BBC.
it could not be more simple,hamas islamic jihadi terrorists stop firing there scud missiles and grad rockets at israeli civilians and the war is over,finished,but what is happening on the ground here i ask, everytime the idf offer these peaceful terms tro hamas,they say no go @@@ yourselfs and 100s of more scuds and grads are landing on top of israel heads,israel wants peace,the hamas jihadists want holy war,what choice do israel have to prevent another genoicide against there people.that is the real issue that kerry and obama failed to understand in this conflict.
The Security Council has five permanent members: France, the United Kingdom, Russia, People’s Republic of China and the United States.
Which of them can give Israel lessons on how to fight wars without much larger collateral damage than Israel has caused/contributed to in Gaza?
None of the above ?
Perhaps we should invite Sweden and Switzerland to the Security Council.
Listened to radio 5-live at 10. No surprises – a statement read out from Israel and then a recording of the Palestinian response to it.
The same thing happens when Labour reply to a Coalition position so the BBC have form.