Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 24 March 2013

BBC Bias: Israel-Demonisers Seek Balen Mark Two!

Recently, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, convinced that the BBC is biased in favour of Israel (!!!), recommended a little ploy:
"Great suggestion from one of our members: Please 'like' the BBC facebook pages then post news items from Palestine in the comments - let them see that others report on Palestine even if they don't https://www.facebook.com/bbcworldnews?fref=ts - they'll delete the comments but keep them busy!"
As someone observed to me at the time:
"I think the M[odus] O[perandi] is that anyone that is not willing to swallow, whole, 100% of the most vicious Pallywood propaganda, without so much as a burp of question, must be a Zionist shill.
Why shouldn't they think like that?  Look how long it's worked for them."
Now, the Israel-demonisers are circulating the following petition:
"Many people believe that the BBC is biased in favour of Israel in its reporting; it is time for a Public Inquiry into this.
The BBC is a world respected media organisation, widely respected for its news and editorial coverage. However, whilst it is generally regarded as an serious, unbiased and authoritative source of news and comment, many feel that its coverage of events in the Middle East, specifically in relation Arab Israeli matters, and those relating to the Palestinian people in particular, shows continued bias in favour of Israel, in which the BBC fails to relate a complete and objective view and seems to portray a view that favours Israel and its government over that of other parties.
This bias appears to be endemic through the BBC's various news and editorial programmes and media. Whilst bias is something that might be expected of a privately owned media organisation, it is unacceptable in an organisation like the BBC, which has a unique status in being accountable to the British public.
Numerous individual complaints have been raised with the BBC regarding this over time. However, these by their nature generally relate to specific programmes and events, and would not address a much bigger problem of systematic bias.
This petition calls upon the Trustees of the BBC Trust to initiate a full, impartial and public inquiry into the way that the BBC reports on matters relating to Israel in relation to events in the Middle East, with the objective of establishing whether such bias exists and if so how this should be remedied on an enduring basis in the short and long term." 
Read all about it here

And don't miss BBC Watch's superb post regarding the BBC's propaganda-laden current reportage of the Mavi Mamara incident ...

1 comment:

  1. You will note that the petition doesn't even attempt to describe what it considers to be bias let alone give an example. It is just one big moan.

    This sort of thing is done to neutralise demands for honesty and accuracy in BBC reporting on Israel (which invariably give detailed examples of rampant bias against Israel -- chapter and verse)

    This allows the BBC to say they get "complaints from both sides in roughly equal numbers" and so therefore to claim "they must be getting things about right". The ABC does the same thing.

    It's as cynical as that. I would not be in the least bit surprised if the impetus for this petition came from within the BBC itself.

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