Post by Teddy Bear on Aug 21, 2007 20:47:02 GMT
It was going to make a rare change to give some positive credit to the BBC today on their usual Israel coverage, but as soon as I looked at the various headlines offered by the Beeb, I knew at least one displayed their typical fare.
First the positive. I was fairly surprised to catch a bit of last night's Panorama programme on Gaza and see they did actually provide some balance and not the usual 'blame Israel' rhetoric. Must have 'slipped through the net'. Honest Reporting gives a critique on it:
Now for the headline - It's about as obvious as it gets
Israeli army 'kills two children'
Now unless the army have purposefully targetted these two kids for the only purpose to end their lives, it doesn't seem apt. the article itself doesn't give much detail except to say
It's an old strategy for these type of miltants to purposefully have civilians nearby when launching their attacks so any retalliation will result in 'innocent casualties'. the BBC is clearly not tired of playing into their hands.
Contrast this with another BBC story in the news today:
Baby dies as car mounts pavement
Why isn't it '62 year old male driver kills baby'?
WHY?
First the positive. I was fairly surprised to catch a bit of last night's Panorama programme on Gaza and see they did actually provide some balance and not the usual 'blame Israel' rhetoric. Must have 'slipped through the net'. Honest Reporting gives a critique on it:
Despite what happened to Alan Johnston, Jane Corbin and her colleagues from the BBC's flagship documentary programme Panorama ventured into the Gaza Strip to see the situation of the Palestinians following the brutal Hamas takeover and the subsequent international isolation of the area.
The BBC's default position on Israeli-Palestinian issues regularly places the blame solely on Israel, even in the face of conflicting evidence. But would "Return to Gaza" be able to resist holding Israel responsible for the dire state of the Gaza economy and the suffering of the Palestinians?
In fact, while we did not have great expectations of the BBC, Jane Corbin's documentary avoided demonising Israel and sanitising Palestinian terror groups as has frequently been the case. Hamas was held responsible for human rights violations and brutality against its political opponents, while Qassam rocket attacks on Israel and the smuggling of weaponry through tunnels from Egypt were also featured.
Disappointingly, the programme failed to mention kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who continues to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The number of Israeli victims of Hamas terror acts and suicide bombings was also understated along with the organisation's extremist ideology that calls not only for an Islamic state but also for the total destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.
Overall, however, this edition of Panorama is a marked improvement over much BBC content concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The BBC should be encouraged to produce more balanced material so that programmes such as Panorama become the rule rather than the exception.
Judge the programme for yourself by clicking on the button below to view Panorama on the BBC website and send your considered comments and suggestions to panorama.reply@bbc.co.uk
The BBC's default position on Israeli-Palestinian issues regularly places the blame solely on Israel, even in the face of conflicting evidence. But would "Return to Gaza" be able to resist holding Israel responsible for the dire state of the Gaza economy and the suffering of the Palestinians?
In fact, while we did not have great expectations of the BBC, Jane Corbin's documentary avoided demonising Israel and sanitising Palestinian terror groups as has frequently been the case. Hamas was held responsible for human rights violations and brutality against its political opponents, while Qassam rocket attacks on Israel and the smuggling of weaponry through tunnels from Egypt were also featured.
Disappointingly, the programme failed to mention kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who continues to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The number of Israeli victims of Hamas terror acts and suicide bombings was also understated along with the organisation's extremist ideology that calls not only for an Islamic state but also for the total destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.
Overall, however, this edition of Panorama is a marked improvement over much BBC content concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The BBC should be encouraged to produce more balanced material so that programmes such as Panorama become the rule rather than the exception.
Judge the programme for yourself by clicking on the button below to view Panorama on the BBC website and send your considered comments and suggestions to panorama.reply@bbc.co.uk
Now for the headline - It's about as obvious as it gets
Israeli army 'kills two children'
Now unless the army have purposefully targetted these two kids for the only purpose to end their lives, it doesn't seem apt. the article itself doesn't give much detail except to say
"The dead boys, aged 13 and 14, were close to an area from which militants had been firing rockets at Israel, the officials said."
It's an old strategy for these type of miltants to purposefully have civilians nearby when launching their attacks so any retalliation will result in 'innocent casualties'. the BBC is clearly not tired of playing into their hands.
Contrast this with another BBC story in the news today:
Baby dies as car mounts pavement
Why isn't it '62 year old male driver kills baby'?
WHY?