Palestine Defended on The BBC (a rare moment)

Owen Jones puts the record straight regarding Israel's share of responsibility for the recent violence.

The BBC has tended to be biased against Palestine in recent years (especially during the recent crisis) so this makes a refreshing change

Probably to add pro-palestine viewers and increase the tv rating.

But, studies have shown the BBC to have a very slanted, pro-Palestinian bias. How could it be rare? It's consistent.


en.wikipedia.org...

Criticism of the BBC's Middle East coverage from supporters of both Israel and Palestine led the BBC to commission an investigation and report from a senior broadcast journalist Malcolm Balen, referred to as the Balen Report and completed in 2004. The BBC's refusal to release the report under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 resulted in a long-running and ongoing legal case.[37][38] This led to speculation that the report was damning, as well as to accusations of hypocrisy, as the BBC frequently made use itself of Freedom of Information Act requests when researching news stories.[39]

reply to post by awakehuman


While BBC protects paedophiles for many years, now they support Gaza? Am I to take BBC seriously?

looks like our license fee goes to good causes then...... not

Originally posted by PvtHudson
But, studies have shown the BBC to have a very slanted, pro-Palestinian bias. How could it be rare? It's consistent.


en.wikipedia.org...

Criticism of the BBC's Middle East coverage from supporters of both Israel and Palestine led the BBC to commission an investigation and report from a senior broadcast journalist Malcolm Balen, referred to as the Balen Report and completed in 2004. The BBC's refusal to release the report under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 resulted in a long-running and ongoing legal case.[37][38] This led to speculation that the report was damning, as well as to accusations of hypocrisy, as the BBC frequently made use itself of Freedom of Information Act requests when researching news stories.[39]

You said studies (plural) but you only mention one, and one instigated by Balen no less!

You'll find - with just a little bit of research - that Malcolm Balen is generally considered to be a Zionist, and has repeatedly attacked the BBC on issues relating to Israel/Palestine, in defence of Israel of course. He even suggests that slanted reporting IN FAVOUR of Israel on the BBC is somewhat of a double bluff, and says that the BBC interviews Israeli officials more because they don't want to ask Palestinians any hard questions on air!

So on one hand he says the BBC is biased toward Israel, but then admits that the BBC offers Israeli officials more opportunity to explain and defend their actions!? So which is it?

He's like a Zionist Alex Jones, twisting any little fact to fit his argument as and when he decides it's in his interests (the interests of the Israeli state). They might as well have Regev working at the BBC, they are both propagandists working for the state of Israel.

The BBC is biased toward Israel if anything. They consistently interview Israeli officials, repeatedly report on what Hamas is firing on Israel but never mentions the weapons Israel is using against the Palestinians. They rarely have news broadcasts from within Gaza and almost exclusively maintain positions in Israel.

I think this is more Owen Jones getting in some important unknown facts out on question time then the BBC defending Palestine, as he was on question time to talk about the euro crisis...

Fairplay to Owen Jones for doing this, and he silenced the panel when he said that.

In all fairness, the BBC is far less prone to believe everything Israel says and does give fair coverage to the Palestinians. I say this as someone who is no fan of Israel and sympathetic to the Palestine issue.

If you're going to pick an English speaking media outlet that give the most balanced (although still slanted to a degree) reporting on the Middle East, the BBC is probably your best shout. Most US networks are pro-Israel to an extent, some a hell of a lot more than others. Sky News in the UK is the same. The you have RT or Al Jazeera on the other side of the fence....... The BBC is as close to the middle of the road as you can get.

reply to post by awakehuman


Refreshing and indeed very courageous and to some extent hope giving moment; thanks for that, Awakehuman.

Just imagine what a difference the following fictional scenario would make in solving this horrible conflict in a fair, responsible, reasonable and humane way, if only it really took place:
'For the first time in American history, Obama warned Israel that the US would halt all military and economic aid if it did not stop its ‘unconscionable assault' on Gaza. Or did he?'
www.stopwar.org.uk...

Originally posted by detachedindividual
So on one hand he says the BBC is biased toward Israel, but then admits that the BBC offers Israeli officials more opportunity to explain and defend their actions!? So which is it?

Yes, the BBC does give the likes of Mark Regev and that Livny (hate the pair of them - they bare faced lying and hypocrisy get up my nose) woman a fair amount of air time, but they are also get grilled quite heavily. I've seen Regev put in a right spot before by the anchor questioning him.

Originally posted by detachedindividual
They consistently interview Israeli officials, repeatedly report on what Hamas is firing on Israel but never mentions the weapons Israel is using against the Palestinians. They rarely have news broadcasts from within Gaza and almost exclusively maintain positions in Israel.

That's not true in the slightest, what you just said.

I think if you actually checked out the reporting they do, you would see they cover both sides in depth, have reports (such as the latest crisis) of all the Israeli bombing (and certainly much more than they covered the Hamas attacks) and the human casualties caused in Gaza and they most certainly do report from Gaza, on a daily basis in fact.

Here is a link to the homepage for their coverage of the latest crisis. Plenty of video's, many from inside Gaza, plus coverage of both sides.

Originally posted by PvtHudson
But, studies have shown the BBC to have a very slanted, pro-Palestinian bias. How could it be rare? It's consistent.


en.wikipedia.org...

Criticism of the BBC's Middle East coverage from supporters of both Israel and Palestine led the BBC to commission an investigation and report from a senior broadcast journalist Malcolm Balen, referred to as the Balen Report and completed in 2004. The BBC's refusal to release the report under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 resulted in a long-running and ongoing legal case.[37][38] This led to speculation that the report was damning, as well as to accusations of hypocrisy, as the BBC frequently made use itself of Freedom of Information Act requests when researching news stories.[39]

Yes this is true. Ask any Israeli and they'll tell you the BBC has always been Pro Palestine for the most part while not so Pro Israeli. In Israel the BBC airs along with many other MSM outlets and the BBS is known to be the Pro Palestinian network. Believe it or not but in Israel there are Israelis who disagree with the treatment of the Palestinian people and the BBC is the network for this Israeli crowd.

We gave them that land in a banksters deal. Using the excuse of the 6million to shut up any one who was against it. The stern gang? Irgun? Not sure exactly who did it. But they showed the brits their thanks, at the King David hotel. The booby trapped dead soldiers bodys, were left hanging in the trees. BBC pro palistians? They are all a bunch of pros or hos, thats for sure.
Propaganda unit of the govt and BBC = British Brainwashing Corporation.

this dude has been reading my posts lolol

iv seen him before...he always talks sense...and with passion...for years...and still young!

I know of no coun try called Palestine. Where is this "Palestine" you speak of? You talkin' bout Gaza Willis?

The BBC have been fairly balanced throughout the conflict.

reply to post by princeofpeace


Yeah, clearly everyone is talking about the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, but you're right, there is no Palestine officially. Currently the PA authority is trying to push for statehood soon at the UN, but we all know they will be rejected yet again thanks the West and Israel.

I would say that if some are arguing the BBC is pro the Palestinian cause and others that it is pro Israeli, then it's probably doing quite a good job at being impartial. We all project our confirmation bias in some way.

How about this from the "biased" BBC? Seems to me they are covering all facets of this, rather than adopting a pro-Israeli stance...

Gaza baby 'only knew how to smile'

The death of civilians on either side in the Israel-Gaza conflict is tragic - especially when children are among the casualties. The BBC correspondent in Gaza, Jon Donnison, witnessed just such a tragedy at close quarters.

My friend and colleague Jehad Mashhrawi is usually the last to leave our Gaza bureau. Hard-working but softly spoken, he often stays late, beavering away on a laptop that is rarely out of arm's reach.

He has a cool head - unflappable, when others like me are flapping around him. He is a video editor and just one of our local BBC Arabic Service staff who make the office tick.

But on the Wednesday before last - only an hour or so after Gaza's latest war erupted with Israel's killing of Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari - Jehad burst out of the editing suite screaming.

He sprinted down the stairs, his head in his hands, his face ripped with anguish.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Originally posted by snapperski
I think this is more Owen Jones getting in some important unknown facts out on question time then the BBC defending Palestine, as he was on question time to talk about the euro crisis...

Fairplay to Owen Jones for doing this, and he silenced the panel when he said that.

Owen Jones is a columnist with the Independent newspaper which is definitely anti Israeli. His comments silenced the panel because he flew off on a rant based on his own opinions with absolutely no balance.

For those on this thread saying that the BBC is pro Israel (or more to the point, anti Palestine), the BBC has been fairly much forced to make its reporting of the area more balanced due to the criticism they received for being too harsh on Israel and too defensive of actions took by the Palestinian government. If you had watched BBC News 24 over the last 10 years or so and didn't notice that bias, I think it just shows you actually approved of it so were less likely to be aware of it.

For what it's worth, I think virtually all of Owen Jones's comments on the show were a little bit cringeworthy due to them all being him shooting off his opinion like a 16 year old in a debate who has no understanding that other people may have a different opinion to him and he may actually be wrong.