Once Again BBC Changes a Headline to Conform to Israeli Government Demand

The Murder of a Hospital Visitor by Israeli Death squad is Changed to Arrest of Suspect

Brighton PSC Demonstration outside Radio Sussex

Even a child realises the truth!

Before (left) and after: a BBC headline was changed to obscure the fact Israeli killed a Palestinian in cold blood. (Screenshots by Media Lens)

On 12^th November, an Israeli death squad entered Hebron hospital disguised as a pregnant Palestinian woman in a wheelchair and accompanied by minders.  They brandished weapons threatening medical staff and doctors and seized a ‘suspect’ from the hospital.

Demonstration outside Radio Sussex

In the process a cousin of the patient, who was unarmed and had just come out of the bathroom, was gunned down and killed.  No attempt was made to save him and the killers left him where he was. The lie was broadcast, which the BBC of course lapped up, that he had attacked a heavily armed military squad.  Unlikely in the circumstances.

Hospital Visitor Gunned Down by Israeli Death Squad

The death squad then made away with their kidnap victim.

As the article below from Electronic Intifada  shows, the BBC in a rare example of reporting an Israeli atrocity covered the story with a headline  “Israelis shoot dead Palestinian in Hebron hospital raid.”.  However this was too near the truth for the Israeli government’s liking and so the headline was changed later in the day, after Israel exerted pressure no doubt, to “Israelis in disguise raid Hebron hospital, seizing suspect.”.  The emphasis therefore changed from the murder of an unarmed Palestinian visiting a relative in hospital to ‘Israelis in disguise’ [Father Xmas?] raiding a hospital in order to arrest a suspect.

Doctors and staff at Makassed hospital protest at attack on hospital

Here is a major story on an Israeli atrocity and a breach of international  law.  What is the BBC response?  It didn’t cover it in its news broadcasts of course but even in the obscurity of the web it changed the headline to emphasise that it was a ‘suspect’ was was arrested, as if there is any chance that he will receive a fair trial under military law.

Israeli attacks on media in Occupied Territories - using pepper at journalists - not something the BBC ever covers

This is not the first time the BBC has done this.  Indeed it is becoming a regular occurrence.  In a story I covered in October Israel Demands a Changed Headline – The BBC Jumps to Obey exactly the same happened.

Death Squad Enters Hebron Hospital

A factual heading ‘Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two’ was changed, three times under Israeli pressure, to ‘Jerusalem:  Palestinian kills 2 Israelis in Old City’.

In a story Israel raps BBC for ‘unethical’ terror attack headline The Times of Israel reported that ‘A harshly-worded letter was sent to Richard Palmer, the head of the BBC bureau in Israel, by the head of the GPO after the British network initially published a headline that read “Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two.” 

The BBC’s offence was that the report referred to the two Israeli victims ‘in a passive voice and neglected to mention that the Palestinian casualty — Muhannad Halabi, 19 — was shot by police at the scene of the deadly attack, was widely condemned in Israel.’  

Demonstration in Queens Road Brighton outside BBC Radio Sussex

Naturally the BBC rushed to accommodate the Israeli Ministry of Propaganda’s desires but ‘head of the GPO [General Propaganda Office] Nitzan Hen told [the BBC’s Head of Bureau in Jerusalem] Palmer in the letter that the BBC’s efforts were “far from satisfactory.” The Times reports how

Brighton PSC Demonstration

 ‘Hen charged that the BBC coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was “unethical” and could serve to incite more violence against Israelis.

Officials in both the GPO and the Israeli Embassy in London asked the network to change the headline and it was changed at least three times, but each time to a phrase that did not accurately reflect the events of Saturday’s attack, the Hebrew language NRG website reported.'

The BBC responded by accepting that it’s headline wasn’t pro-Israeli enough.  The BBC“identified that the headline didn’t accurately reflect the events, nor the details reported in our online story, so changed it of our own accord.”

‘According to a GPO official, Israel expects an official apology from the network, and said the office was considering annulling the press cards of BBC journalists.’

You might now expect the BBC, which is not know for possessing a spine, would call a halt to this self abasement and tell the Israeli Propaganda Office where to get off.  Any self-respecting news agency would take umbrage at this threat and defy Israel to do its worst. After all that is what happened in Zimbabwe.  The BBC wouldn’t comply with Mugabe’s dictates and it had to report covertly or from South Africa.   But of course in Zimbabwe, the British government was at loggerheads with Robert Mugabe.  In Israel the British government is all over Netanyahu. 

The Times of Israel, in the best traditions of neutral Israeli journalism, reported that ‘The [BBC] network, which has a long history of alleged anti-Israel bias, claimed in its defense that the headline in question was written by a junior editor and was not the result of an anti-Israel agenda.’  What the Times of Israel means by anti-Israel bias is not jumping quick enough when the Zionists kick up a fuss. Tony Greenstein How Israel pressures BBC into changing headlines

Amena Saleem Media Watch 19 November 2015

In the early hours of 12 November, approximately two dozen Israeli gunmen, one disguised as a pregnant Palestinian woman, others wearing fake beards, invaded a hospital in Hebron and gunned down a 28-year-old man.

In a rare burst of reporting on an Israeli atrocity, the BBC ran an article on its website headlined: “Israelis shoot dead Palestinian in Hebron hospital raid.”

It was a straightforward headline which summed up the story. But later in the day, a different headline appeared above the report, reading: “Israelis in disguise raid Hebron hospital, seizing suspect.”

As is standard practice for the BBC, the amendment was not noted at the bottom of the page, so newcomers to the story would not have known the headline had been altered.

It was spotted, however, by the watchdog Media Lens, which posted a screengrab of the two headlines on its Facebook page, asking: “What happened? Pro-Israeli flak? Bending to pro-Israeli pressure?”

These questions are even more pertinent in the light of a documented exchange which took place between the BBC, the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) and the Israeli embassy in London at the beginning of October about another of the broadcaster’s headlines.

Headline changes

The Times of Israel reported then on Israeli fury sparked by the 4 October BBC Online headline “Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two.”

The headline is factually correct, but offense was caused to Israel’s PR machine because the killing of 19-year-old Muhannad Halabi took precedence in the headline over the slaying of two Israelis.

The Times of Israel wrote: “The [Israeli] Government Press Office on Sunday warned the BBC it could face sanctions for running a news headline highlighting the death of the Palestinian terrorist shot by the police Saturday after fatally stabbing two Israelis, rather than the attack itself.”

The website added that a “harshly worded letter was sent to Richard Palmer, the head of the BBC Bureau in Israel, by the head of the GPO,” and that “the Israeli Embassy in London asked the network to change the headline.”

Whatever the GPO’s harsh words were, they appear to have been enough to scare the BBC into changing the headline, which went through three alterations – documented by the Zionist lobby group BBC Watch – before it met with the satisfaction of the Israeli embassy and the Israeli GPO.

The Israeli-approved headline ran: “Jerusalem: Palestinian kills two Israelis in Old City.” 

(This headline has since been changed again, apparently unnoticed by either the Israeli embassy or the GPO, to “Israelis killed in Jerusalem, Palestinians banned from Old City.”)

In its report of 4 October, The Times of Israel noted: “According to a GPO official, Israel expects an official apology from the network, and said the office was considering annulling the press cards of BBC journalists, a decision that if implemented would not allow the network to continue operating in Israel.”

This is not an idle threat, and BBC staff know it.

“A very evil light”

In 2003, the Israeli government severed ties with the corporation, accusing it of the “worst of Nazi propaganda” after it broadcast the documentary Israel’s Secret Weapon which shed light on the country’s nuclear and chemical arsenal.

Danny Seaman, then head of the Israeli GPO, said it was “because of what we feel to be a bias and an anti-Israel line … that portray Israel in a very evil light.” Seaman said government officials would no longer help BBC journalists get expedited press accreditation.

When Orla Guerin, then a BBC Middle East correspondent, questioned Israel’s repressive attitude towards the corporation, she too found herself in the Israeli government’s line of fire.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard in 2003, she said, “How can you still be a democracy and try to harass the press? This is not how a democracy behaves.”

Guerin was later pulled from the Middle East, the decision being announced just days after the BBC’s director general at the time, Mark Thompson, returned from a visit to Israel in 2005 where he met with then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Influence

Journalist Keith Dovkants, writing in the London Evening Standard in 2012, noted that “on [Thompson’s] return to London the corporation instituted the Middle East reporting regime that exists today and which, many believe, influenced the decision to refuse to show the charity aid appeal for Gaza.”

This is a reference to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal of January 2009, which was aired by major television channels to raise money for Gaza as another Israeli massacre there came to an end. But the BBC, in an unprecedented move, refused to show it.

Arthur Neslen, a journalist who worked at the BBC for four years, told me: “They take Israeli calls very seriously, and critical stories about Israel get shot down through official pressure and the fear of official pressure. These are very powerful lobbyists — people know their careers can be broken.”

Swedish academic and media expert Leon Barkho told Dovkants: “I have investigated this and I am convinced [BBC] policy is dictated from the top because of the enormous sensitivity … The message is: don’t antagonize the Israelis.”

And so the questions asked by Media Lens when the BBC amends a headline to soften public perception of an Israeli crime — “What happened? Pro-Israeli flack? Bending to pro-Israeli pressure?” – answer themselves.

It is a sad state of affairs for a news organization which prides itself as a leader in global journalism. BBC journalists and editors, it would seem, sit at their desks in London and cower in fear at the thought of an angry phone call from the Israeli embassy.

They let us all down, but, most of all, they let down the Palestinian people, whose cry for freedom goes unheard at BBC Broadcasting House, drowned out by the undemocratic machinations of the Israeli PR machine.

BBC – The Voice of Israel & Zionism

John Humphries of BBC's Today Programme
Israel's Unpaid Spokesman 

Brighton PSC Demonstration outside BBC Radio Sussex

Whenever there is an upsurge in violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories, be it the genocidal bombing of Gaza or the shooting on sight of Palestinians or just extra-judicial executions, you can rely on the BBC to ensure that only the Israeli side of the conflict is told.  No matter what the atrocities, whether it is phosphorous bombs, attacks on journalists or even attacks on hospitals, the BBC will ensure that only the version of the war criminals gets put over.

Israeli soldier attacks the press with pepper spray - one person is on the floor - not newsworthy for the BBC as no Israelis were hurt

For example there was the recent attack on the press.   If it had happened in Russia or Venezuela it would have been a big story.  In the Occupied Territories?  The BBC didn’t touch it.  Then there was the attack on the Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem.    Again the BBC didn’t go near the story.  Instead it linked to another news outlet Jerusalem Hospitals Pressured to Give Up Injured Palestinian 'Terrorists'  .   The BBC no longer even links to this story.

The most moral army in the world dealing with terrorist cameramen - doesn't accord with the BBC narrative that violence is from the Palestinians only

On October 20^th there was, even by the BBC's abysmal standards, a truly amazing dialogue between the overtly pro-Zionist presenter for the Today programme, John Humphries, and Kevin Connolly, someone who passes for a BBC Middle East correspondent.  Below is the dialogue between them and below that is my complaint to the BBC and my appeal against the first stage decision.  Rather than comment further I shall let you be the judge.

Tony Greenstein

Transcript 20.10.15. Today Programme 6.39 a.m.

Humphries – 21 minutes to 7 - Yet another attack on Israelis last night.  This time an Arab man with a gun and a knife killed a soldier & wounded 10 people.  The number is mounting, it’s about 50 now isn’t it? 

No mention that 40 of them Palestinians – including executions

Kevin Connolly: We think about 50 in the past month.  Sharp uptake of violence – Not just that attack in Beer Sheba inside Israel itself.  On Saturday a wave of stabbing attacks in Hebron & Jerusalem.  No sign that this wave of rising tension & rising casualties is going to abate.  The Israeli government frankly is casting about for a convincing answer because the nature of the acts of violence still appears to be random and spontaneous.  The decisions of individuals at a given moment to stage an attack are not the work of organised extremist groups. For that reason it’s been very tough to formulate a convincing security answer

Demonstration outside Currys which sells Hewlett Packard machines

Humphries It is not Intifada is it?

Kevin Connolly:        It’s a very difficult question part of the problem is that media organisations begin asking that question very early in these upsurges of violence.  Whatever we call it, it’s an extraordinarily difficult situation for the Israeli government to deal with because its own people look to it for security.  That very random and spontaneous nature of the attack has left many Israeli citizens feeling that any Palestinian passing them in the street might be carrying a knife, might be planning to attack them and any passing car might at any moment be used as a vehicle against Israeli civilian pedestrians. So although it’s not at all at the level of critical mass of violence that you would need to use the word Intifada, it doesn’t have the leadership perhaps that an Intifada might require it has achieved an extraordinary change in the atmosphere of daily life here, hence the political urgency for the Israeli government.

Humphries: There is talk of more powers for the Police to stop and search but that seems to be fairly inadequate in a way doesn’t it?

Kevin Connolly:  I think that is true.  They are reviving a plan which existed a few years ago to expand stop and search powers so the Police wouldn’t need reasonable suspicion that a crime was being committed before they stopped and searched somebody. I think that was actually originally formulated to deal with a wave of night club stabbings.  So they have that on the books, they have erected a concrete screen between an Arab and Jewish area of Jerusalem, not far from where I’m talking to you, that also has a bit of an ad-hoc feeling to it and they also of course have armed reinforcements in the West Bank. You have Police reinforcements here in Jerusalem.   So they are doing what they can with visible security.  But you can’t get away from the fact that they are struggling with the nature of this upsurge of violence. And that’s also a problem for the politicians.  Because you will be having Benjamin Netanyahu meeting John Kerry later this week.  Probably Kerry also meeting Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.  So the big politics is beginning to kick in here.  But it’s hard to see where the connecting wheels are between those big political meetings and the fact that individuals are taking the decision to stage these attacks for reasons which we are often left to guess at.  Because the attackers often die in the course of the attack.

Doctors and health workers protest at the attack on East Jerusalem's Makassed Hospital - not newsworthy enough for the BBC

Humphries:  Kevin, many thanks. It’s 17 minutes to 7. 19^th October 2015

Grounds for Complaint by Tony Greenstein 20.9.15.

Humphries interview with Kevin Connolly re violence in Israel.  Mentions 50 dead but not that 40 are Palestinians.  No mention mob violence against Palestinians or  murder of Fadi Alloun, chased by lynch mob, executed by Police. No background to events eg firebombing of Dawabshe family in Duma.  3 dead.  No prosecutions - culprits known.  No mention that West Bank is Occupied.  No mention of 'Death to Arabs' marches in Jerusalem.  And no mention of murder of Eritrean refugee last night though other reporters picked it up.  All of these are documented by video footage Connolly doesn't report.

Brighton Demonstration Against Apartheid Israel

Connolly says 'individuals are taking the decision to stage these attacks for reasons which we are often left to guess at.'  Let me see, what might be the reasons:

i.  An occupation for 48 years.  

ii.  settler violence that is abetted by Military.  

iii.   That this is not a question of law and order but one where the law is in the hands of one party which deprives the other party of basic human rights.  

iv.   Israel is in breach of perpetual breach of international law.  

v. The attack by Police on the Al Aqsa mosque and the Temple Mount Institute and similar messianic groups which openly call for the Mosque's demolition, its replacement by 3rd Temple.  Groups r funded by Israeli gov.  Connolly mentioned Hebron, where violent settlers repeatedly attack Palestinian civilians.  No mention of death of Hadeek al-Hashlamon last month killed by army. 

In other words a complete lack of context

BBC Response 1:

The first BBC response was a standard response, which didn’t address any of the particulars of the complaint.

21 October 2015

Dear Mr  Greenstein 

Thank you for contacting us about the recent escalation in violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. We have received a wide range of feedback about our coverage of this subject across our television and radio programmes, and the BBC News website. In order to use our TV licence fee resources efficiently, this response aims to answer the key concerns raised in complaints received by us, but we apologise in advance if it doesn’t address your specific points in the manner you would prefer.

We appreciate you believe our coverage of this story has shown bias in favour of Israel and against the Palestinians. In this response we hope to explain why we feel this has not been the case.

Across our news bulletins and programmes we have reported on the increasing number of Palestinian deaths and casualties following the actions of Israeli security forces. We have broadcast reports where our reporters have spoken to the families of Israelis and Palestinians killed in the recent violence and have heard their respective stories and own specific takes on the conflict.

We have reported on criticism of Israel’s response to the attacks, which has included the implementation of curfews in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and the destruction of homes of Palestinians Israel claims are connected to the attackers.

We have tried to explain how the current situation has come to pass from the Israeli and Palestinian perspectives. This has included reporting on the tensions around the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, the building of settlements and on the daily realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation. We have explored the apathy held by many Palestinians toward the impasse in reaching a lasting peace settlement, and on what many see as Israel’s unwillingness to end the occupation which would see the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

BBC News tries to report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an accurate and duly impartial manner. Sometimes this means we can’t always reflect the full extent of the complexities of the conflict during one standalone report or bulletin. We try to tell the story of the conflict as experienced by both sides, across programmes and bulletins and over time. We believe this has been the case during our coverage of this recent spike in violence.

We have raised your concerns with senior editorial staff at BBC News, who consider the range of feedback received from our audience when deciding how they approach reporting on stories. Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints

After I had pointed out that this was unsatisfactory I was sent a second, equally unsatisfactory response.

BBC Response 2:

31^st October 2015
Dear Mr Greenstein

Reference CAS-3535889-VX0RCY

Thank you for contacting us regarding the BBC Radio 4 'Today' programme on 19 October.
I've taken a look into this and note your original complaint to us along with our response - we apologise for the initial misunderstanding.

We raised your complaint with Today, who responded as follows:

“We’re sorry you didn’t enjoy Kevin Connolly’s discussion with John Humphrys on Monday morning.

Having listened back to it, we don’t agree with your interpretation of the exchange. Kevin was reporting on the security situation inside Israel. The attack at Beersheba bus station attack was the latest in a serious of attacks by Palestinians in Israel. We talked about the attacks and the security measures being taken to counter them by Israel security agencies. There was also discussion of the random nature of this violence.

Doctors and health workers protest at the attack on East Jerusalem's Makassed Hospital - not newsworthy enough for the BBC

John started by saying “Yet another attack on Israelis last night” but as this was one of a number of similar attacks recently so I think that is fair.

The other exchange was;

JH : “The number is mounting now isn’t it Kevin. it’s about 50 now isn’t it?”

KC “we think around 50 dead over the last month or so in this sudden, sharp, uptick in violence”
At no point did either John or Kevin say that it was solely Israelis dead in this period of violence.
Again, the report was about the internal security situation in Israel and the political problems it was causing the Netanyahu government. In that context it is legitimate to discuss how scared this latest violence is making Israeli citizens.

Kevin states that the most of the motives are unknown, because in the context of recent history, they are. This nature of these attacks, and the fact the attackers often die in the attacks mean they cannot be investigated, therefore the precise motivation is unknown. We think anyone listening to the piece will understand that Kevin was talking about why this form of violence is happening now. The wider causes and context of the Israel/Palestinian conflict are frequently discussed across the BBC.

We know this subject inspires real passion on both sides but at the BBC we remain committed to impartial reporting on all controversial issues.”

We hope you now find this satisfactory and thank you once again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.

All complaints are sent to the relevant news teams and to senior management, I've included your points in this report. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, and other senior managers. This helps inform their decisions about current and future programmes.

Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Kind regards

Anna Sweeney

BBC Complaints

I have now made a second stage appeal (below) to the Editorial Complaints Unit.  I won’t be holding my breath!

2nd November 2015

Reference CAS-3535889-VXORCY

To ecu@bbc.co.uk, Alison.Wilson2@bbc.co.uk

Dear ECU,

I wish to appeal against the dismissal of the complaint which I submitted to you on 20^th October 2015 concerning John Humphries conversation with Kevin Connolly on the upsurge in violence in Israel.

Despite being assured by Alison Wilson, the Complaints Manager for the Editorial Complaints Unit  on 22^nd October 2015 that ‘BBC Complaints will establish whether there is anything further to be added to the response that has been given, and advise the complainant on the appropriate path for escalation.’ I was not advised on the appropriate path for escalation.

Given your failure to follow your own procedure I will now submit this to ECU and trust there will be no further attempt to delay considering an appeal.  Given the cursory treatment to date, please also advise of any further escalation that will be necessary if the complaint is treated the same as at the first stage.

I didn’t enjoy the repartee between John Humphries [JH] and Kevin Connolly [KC].  It told me nothing and its bias was self-evident.

My appeal in respect of your response is:

i.                The unnamed person who responded from Today is either hopelessly biased or is simply incapable of understanding the complaint.  S/he says:

‘Kevin was reporting on the security situation inside Israel. The attack at Beersheba bus station attack was the latest in a serious of attacks by Palestinians in Israel.’ 

This precisely sums up what my complaint is about.  What actually happened at the Beersheba bus station was not just an attack by a lone Palestinian but also the lynching of an Eritrean refugee.  KC failed to make even a cursory mention of the fact that an Eritrean refugee, guilty of nothing other than being in the despise category of refugee in Israel, (Israel doesn’t admit refugees as a matter of policy, they are called ‘infiltrators) was murdered.  Shot by a security guard and then kicked and beaten until he died.  Not one word of this lynching passed KC’s lips. 

By way of contrast the on-line version of Israel’s largest daily paper, Yediot Aharanot, on 18^th October, managed to include in its report both the killing of an Israeli soldier and the murder of a refugee.  Perhaps you could explain such an omission – bias or just ignorance? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4712997,00.html

ii.              You say that ‘We talked about the attacks and the security measures being taken to counter them by Israel security agencies.’  That is indeed the problem.  It is just a security situation, what is happening is simply a matter of individual criminality.  There is no recognition that what is happening is a reaction, on an individual level, to a harsh military occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, to say nothing of the nakedly racist treatment of Israel’s own Arab citizens.  It’s just a situation of law and order, so the BBC avoids all context.  It is a continuation of your bias against understanding.

iii.             The response to that part of my complaint relating to the suggestion that those who were killed were treated as being solely Israelis (i.e. Israeli Jews) is incomprehensible.  You simply deny what is plain and evident from the transcript.  Like Humpty Dumpty words mean what you want them to mean.

JH says:  “Yet another attack on Israelis last night” and you comment on this saying that ‘this was one of a number of similar attacks recently so I think that is fair.’   You then say that ‘The other exchange was;

JH : “The number is mounting now isn’t it Kevin. it’s about 50 now isn’t it?”

KC “we think around 50 dead over the last month or so in this sudden, sharp, uptick in violence”

You assert that ‘At no point did either John or Kevin say that it was solely Israelis dead in this period of violence.’

The reference by JH and KC was solely to Israelis and yet most of the dead were Palestinians.  So even at the most basic level it was wrong.  There was no mention of Palestinians other than as attackers.  Hence it would have been reasonable for viewers to conclude that the only people who were dead were Israeli Jews. 

Of course you could have mentioned the fact that there have been a number of attacks on Palestinians by Israeli Jews and even attacks by Jews on Jews, who were mistaken for Arabs.  These are dressed up as retaliations, for example the murder of Fadi Alloun.  For example the online news magazine +972 carries the video of his shooting plus an accompanying article. New video shows accused stabber posed no threat when shot  http://972mag.com/new-video-shows-accused-stabber-posed-no-threat-when-shot/112593/

In Jerusalem there are regular attacks by Jewish mobs on individual Palestinians led by groups such as Lehava, which target Arabs in ‘Jewish’ areas.  Their favourite chant is ‘death to the Arabs’ [Mavet La’aravim]  But this phenomenon has never been reported on by the BBC.  Fadi Alloun is believed to have been targeted  by just such a group and executed by the Police who only asked questions afterwards.

There have been a number of other such shootings for example of an Arab woman in Afula bus shelter who it was later admitted had not been trying to stab anyone.  Israeli Arab Woman Shot in Bus Station Not a Terrorist, Conclude Security Services http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.682928  Of course since the BBC never seems to manage to report on such things they didn’t happen.  It’s a vicious circle which maintains the constant bias that you indulge in.

iv.            You said that

‘Kevin states that the most of the motives are unknown, because in the context of recent history, they are. This nature of these attacks, and the fact the attackers often die in the attacks mean they cannot be investigated, therefore the precise motivation is unknown. We think anyone listening to the piece will understand that Kevin was talking about why this form of violence is happening now. The wider causes and context of the Israel/Palestinian conflict are frequently discussed across the BBC.’

This is totally absurd.  It is as if you have compartmentalised the knife attacks and associated violence on the one hand and the Occupation on the other, ne’er the twain do they meet.  Are you really saying that it has never occurred to your correspondent in Israel, KC, that there might, just might, be a connection between the random violence of individual knife attacks and the fact of the Occupation?  Does he not consider that the daily ritual humiliations of being harassed by the security forces, stopped at check points, subject to random violence by unaccountable border police, living in an uncertain situation where land confiscation takes place all around you, where your residency rights in Jerusalem can be withdrawn at a moments notice etc. etc. might just have some connection with the violence that arose?  If KC really does not appreciate these things, perhaps you might consider transferring him to report on the Chelsea Flower Show?

v.              You talk about how ‘this subject inspires real passion on both sides’.  That is a convenient way of dismissing a complaint but my concern is not passion but accuracy or the lack of it and now dissembling by the Today team.

vi.            You also state that ‘we remain committed to impartial reporting on all controversial issues’.  RT and Al Jazeera have reported tonight on the attacks on Palestinian and Lebanese journalists by the Israeli para military Border Police.  Nothing on BBC.  No doubt if Israeli journalists were being attacked in an Arab country, it would be headline news.  Bias by omission is another facet of your coverage.  Your commitment to reporting on all controversial issues is therefore just a pious statement of intent rather than an established practice.

I therefore do not find your handling to date of the complaint as satisfactory.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Greenstein

I also made a complaint today against the fact that Danny Cohen, one of the most senior BBC Executives, had signed a letter in the Guardian last week which opposed the Cultural Boycott of Israel.  Couple this with the complaint of former BBC Chairman Lord Grade Ex-BBC chairman Lord Grade attacks corporation over Israel coverage  that the BBC is too sympathetic (!) to the Palestinians and one gets a measure of the institutional and systematic bias in favour of Zionism and the Israeli State that exists in the BBC.

Complaint Against Danny Cohen, BBC Director of Television

PO Box 173

Rottingdean

Brighton

BN51 9EZ

Rona Fairhead,

Chair,

BBC Trust,

BBC Broadcasting House,

Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA

Wednesday, 04 November 2015

Re Danny Cohen

Dear Ms Fairhead,

On Thursday 22nd  October a letter headed Israel needs cultural bridges, not boycotts appeared in the Guardian.  One of the signatories to this letter was a certain Danny Cohen, the BBC’s Director of Television.  Mr Cohen was one of 150 people calling for Israel to be protected from cultural boycotts.

Cohen joined senior figures from the Conservative Friends of Israel, 13 of whose officers and members signed it, and one from the Labour Friends of Israel.  Unsurprisingly, there were no pro-Palestinian MPs among the signatories.

The letter claimed that “Cultural boycotts singling out Israel are divisive and discriminatory” and goes on to call for “cultural engagement” in place of boycotts.  Perhaps if the BBC were to fairly cover Israel’s behaviour in the Occupied Territories, East Jerusalem or indeed inside Israel itself, you would soon be aware of what discrimination really means. 

The BBC has consistently failed to cover the attacks of the Israeli military on journalists or even the recent attack, with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets on the Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem, which other news outlets (RT, Al Jazeera) manage to cover.  Its news agenda is that of Israel’s Information Ministry and Press Office.  If you were at all concerned about discrimination then how can one account for your consistent failure to cover the persistently high levels of racism in every aspect of Israel as a Jewish state, as measured by opinion polls.  For example the fact that 75% of Israeli Jews oppose the idea of living next to an Arab. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3381978,00.html

There is of course nothing new in this.  Throughout the period of the cultural Boycott against South Africa, the BBC consistently supported Margaret Thatcher’s policy of ‘constructive engagement’.  We expect nothing better from the BBC, which was born in the womb of the state.  Nonetheless you have a formal legal obligation to be neutral and it is that which you are in persistent breach of.

Cohen is a member of the BBC’s executive board and one of the most senior figures in the organisation. His role within the BBC demands neutrality and yet he has publicly made known his support for Israel and its Apartheid policies and practices.

The Royal Charter, which governs the BBC, demands that the organisation must be impartial in its reporting.  This must also be a key requirement of its staff. The fact that Danny Cohen has signed this letter, in the company of openly pro-Israel figures, without subsequent censure from the BBC, demonstrates that this is not the case.”

Cohen has so far faced no public censure from the BBC Trust for his behaviour.  I am therefore writing to you to ask whether or not you intend to take any action against him. 

Cohen is not just another employee of the BBC.  He has huge influence within the organisation, overseeing the BBC’s four main channels, in addition to BBC iPlayer, and online content for BBC Television. He also oversees the Drama, Entertainment, Knowledge and Comedy genres and BBC Films. Further responsibilities include the BBC Television archive and BBC Productions, Europe’s largest television production group.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Greenstein

BBC - Biased Broadcasting Corporation - The Voice of Israel

BBC Today Programme  

Bias Extraordinaire

I submitted a complaint to the BBC two days ago about the following, 3 minute rant by John Humphries on the Today programme, the flagship news programme on BBC Radio 4.

The level of prejudice and ignorance is quite simply amazing.  Below is a transcript of the broadcast and here are some of my comments and my appeal, which was word restricted at the end.  My complaint was rejected with a standard pro-forma response so I have submitted an appeal.  The BBC appeal process is designed to wear you down with its may stages and pedantic responses.

The BBC spent hundreds of thousands of pounds suppressing the Balen Report which was commissioned by the BBC and which showed institutional bias against the Palestinians

 Here is a short critique:

i.              The number of dead is about 50.  However over 40 of them were Palestinians whereas Humphries says it is only Israelis who have suffered casualties.

ii.             There is no mention of the death by lynching the previous night of an Eritrean refugee, or the death of Fadi Alloun having been chased by a lynch mob in Jerusalem was executed by the Police.

Mark Thompson - BBC Director General refuses to allow the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal to be broadcast on BBC Television after Israel's bombardment of Gaza killing 1,400 people.  However they showed the appeal in the background.  Tony Benn accused them of deliberately killing people.

iii.            No mention of the execution of an 18 year old Palestinian student, Hadeel Hashlamon, in Hebron by Israeli soldiers.  She was literally frozen in fear by them barking at her, made no move at them (despite lies about a knife) and was mowed down by fully armed soldiers.  here and here 

The BBC lives off the license fee but answers to Israel

iv.           There is a continuing murder spree by the Israeli Occupation Forces including two children Israeli Forces Kill 5 Palestinians, Including 2 Children, Bashar Nizam Jamil al-Ja'abari (15) and his cousin Hussam Isma'il Jamil al-Ja'abari (17),  which the BBC has failed to cover.

v.            There is mention of ‘a wave of stabbing attacks in Hebron & Jerusalem’. No mention of the violence of the settlers in Hebron, the Israeli army killings in Hebron, the history of settler violence in Hebron (so well documented that even the BBC must occasionally have noted, e.g. the  Baruch Goldstein killings which led to the division of the Ibrahimi Mosque – yes that’s right – the Palestinians were punished for 29 of them having been killed!  The daubing of ‘Arabs to the gas chambers’ on the walls of Palestinian homes.  No background at all to the most viciously racist and violent settlers of all on the West  Bank or the closing down of the Palestinian centre of Hebrwon and Shehuda street to accommodate these messianic Zionists.

Brighton PSC picket of BBC Radio Sussex

vi.           Connolly, who would frankly be better reporting on the Cruft’s dog show in Britain than the Middle East states that ‘The Israeli government frankly is casting about for a convincing answer because the nature of the acts of violence still appears to be random and spontaneous.  The decisions of individuals at a given moment to stage an attack are not the work of organised extremist groups. For that reason it’s been very tough to formulate a convincing security answer’.  Well one answer could be an end to the Occupation.  Another could be the arrest of those who set fire to the Dawabsheh family in Duma in July, murdering 3 out of 4 members of the family, including an 18 month old infant.  Moshe Yalon, the Defence Minister has admitted that the security forces know who the killers are but that they have to ‘ protect sources’.

The BBC has consistently refused to cover the imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners - nor has it covered why Israeli killers of Palestinians rarely if ever get sent to gaol 

vii.          Perhaps the Israeli Occupation Forces could demolish the homes of settlers who murder Palestinians, since they do that to Palestinians who kill settlers?  Or maybe he could ask why they don’t do this or raid settlements where the killers emerge from?  Or is it too much for the BBC to ever question the normative, the ongoing occupation that is the daily life of Palestinians?  If he was being really bold Connolly might question what it is that makes Israeli Palestinians also kill Israeli Jews and could it have something to do with the fact that they are guests, outsiders in the Jewish state?

viii.         John Humphreys demonstrates his ignorance by first asking whether it is intifada or not and then going on to say that ‘There is talk of more powers for the Police to stop and search but that seems to be fairly inadequate in a way doesn’t it?’  Perhaps the lynchings that have been taking place, the abuse of a bleeding child on the walkway, telling him to die, is more to Humphries liking?

Proteset at BBC HQ in London

ix.           And then there is the classic ‘the fact that individuals are taking the decision to stage these attacks for reasons which we are often left to guess at.  Because the attackers often die in the course of the attack.’  Yes it must be hard, if you only watch or listen to the BBC to work out what the reasons for the violence are.  Nothing to do with racism, occupation, settler violence, land confiscations and theft, water deprivation, frustration, no hope.  Nope.  None of these.  Israel is a normal society with abnormal Palestinians.  Simple really isn’t it?

Transcript 20.10.15. Today Programme 6.39 a.m.

Humphries – 21 minutes to 7 - Yet another attack on Israelis last night.  This time an Arab man with a gun and a knife killed a soldier & wounded 10 people.  The number is mounting, it’s about 50 now isn’t it? 

Kevin Connolly: We think about 50 in the past month.  Sharp uptake of violence – Not just that attack in Beer Sheba inside Israel itself.  On Saturday a wave of stabbing attacks in Hebron & Jerusalem.  No sign that this wave of rising tension & rising casualties is going to abate.  The Israeli government frankly is casting about for a convincing answer because the nature of the acts of violence still appears to be random and spontaneous.  The decisions of individuals at a given moment to stage an attack are not the work of organised extremist groups. For that reason it’s been very tough to formulate a convincing security answer

BBC refused to release their own report confirming anti-Palestinian bias

Humphries It is not Intifada is it?

Kevin Connolly:        It’s a very difficult question part of the problem is that media organisations begin asking that question very early in these upsurges of violence.  Whatever we call it, it’s an extraordinarily difficult situation for the Israeli government to deal with because its own people look to it for security.  That very random and spontaneous nature of the attack has left many Israeli citizens feeling that any Palestinian passing them in the street might be carrying a knife, might be planning to attack them and any passing car might at any moment be used as a vehicle against Israeli civilian pedestrians. So although it’s not at all at the level of critical mass of violence that you would need to use the word Intifada, it doesn’t have the leadership perhaps that an Intifada might require it has achieved an extraordinary change in the atmosphere of daily life here, hence the political urgency for the Israeli government.

Humphries: There is talk of more powers for the Police to stop and search but that seems to be fairly inadequate in a way doesn’t it?

Kevin Connolly:  I think that is true.  They are reviving a plan which existed a few years ago to expand stop and search powers so the Police wouldn’t need reasonable suspicion that a crime was being committed before they stopped and searched somebody. I think that was actually originally formulated to deal with a wave of night club stabbings.  So they have that on the books, they have erected a concrete screen between an Arab and Jewish area of Jerusalem, not far from where I’m talking to you, that also has a bit of an ad-hoc feeling to it and they also of course have armed reinforcements in the West Bank. You have Police reinforcements here in Jerusalem.   So they are doing what they can with visible security.  But you can’t get away from the fact that they are struggling with the nature of this upsurge of violence. And that’s also a problem for the politicians.  Because you will be having Benjamin Netanyahu meeting John Kerry later this week.  Probably Kerry also meeting Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.  So the big politics is beginning to kick in here.  But it’s hard to see where the connecting wheels are between those big political meetings and the fact that individuals are taking the decision to stage these attacks for reasons which we are often left to guess at.  Because the attackers often die in the course of the attack.

Humphries:  Kevin, many thanks. 

It’s 17 minutes to 7. 19^th October 2015

Grounds for Complaint by Tony Greenstein

Humphries interview with Kevin Connolly re violence in Israel.  Mentions 50 dead but not that 40 are Palestinians.  No mention mob violence against Palestinians or  murder of Fadi Alloun, chased by lynch mob, executed by Police. No background to events eg firebombing of Dawabshe family in Duma.  3 dead.  No prosecutions - culprits known.  No mention that West Bank is Occupied.  No mention of 'Death to Arabs' marches in Jerusalem.  And no mention of murder of Eritrean refugee last night though other reporters picked it up.  All of these are documented by video footage Connolly doesn't report.

Connolly says 'individuals are taking the decision to stage these attacks for reasons which we are often left to guess at.'  Let me see, what might be the reasons:

i.  An occupation for 48 years.  ii.  settler violence that is abetted by Military.  iii.   That this is not a question of law and order but one where the law is in the hands of one party which deprives the other party of basic human rights.  iv.   Israel is in breach of perpetual breach of international law.  vi. The attack by Police on the Al Aqsa mosque and the Temple Mount Institute and similar messianic groups which openly call for the Mosque's demolition, its replacement by 3rd Temple.  Groups r funded by Israeli gov.  Connolly mentioned Hebron, where violent settlers repeatedly attack Palestinian civilians.  No mention of death of Hadeek al-Hashlamon last month killed by army. 

In other words a complete lack of context