BBC blames itself and ITV for Palestine ignorance in Britain

In an attempt to whitewash its' biased coverage of Palestinian issues and cover up its' blatant attacks on Israel and the US, the BBC trumpet a study that suggests:

UK television news coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is confusing viewers and favouring the Israeli position, a new report says.

Unbelieveable! But before we go further there are a few things you need to know about this "so called" study.

First, the study, "Bad News from Israel", is authored by none other than anti-Israeli Greg Philo. When the BBC first ran this article titled "Mid-East coverage baffles Britons", they gave Philo credit as the author of the study. After complaints about a study produced by such a well known anti-Israeli, the BBC have now changed the story, which still carries the same headline, and make no reference to Philo as the author. They merely quote him a few times.

If you would like to hear what Mr. Philo has to say his next speaking engagement is at the Glasgow Palestine Solidarity Campaign. No bias there!

Second, if the BBC is so pro Israeli, as the BBC would have you believe, why would
Israel boycott the BBC? If the BBC were so pro Israel you would think Israel would welcome them with open arms and give them all the interview time they want, instead of a boycott.

Again, if the BBC are so pro Israeli as they claim, wouldn't the Palestinians complain and attack the BBC for supporting Israel? Instead, the Palestinians applaud the BBC and compare the BBC to Al Jazeera as a compliment!

From Palestine Media Watch

Anyone who is lucky enough to watch the BBC, Al-Jazeera, or even the Canadian CBC, or any other non-US media outlet, can only be struck by the stark contrast between how the US media is presenting the conflict and how the rest of the world media is presenting it.

Remember, this is the Palestinians praising the BBC for championing the Palestinians cause.

As recently as 30 May 2004, just three weeks ago, an Israeli Foreign Ministry source said the ministry will now reevaluate Israel's relations with the BBC. For five months, leading up to November 2003, Israel boycotted the BBC.

Even Malcolm Balen, the BBC's ombudsmen for Mideast matters, muses "But I have to ask whether the BBC is systemically biased."

And well he should ask given the BBC hired Ibrahim Helal, editor in chief of the much-criticized al Jazeera TV network, 'to train BBC (and perhaps other journalists) into "understanding the Middle East better'.

Other journalists might include:

Some of the foreign BBC staff are quite open about their sympathies for Hamas. The senior BBC Arabic Service correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Fayad Abu Shamala, told a Hamas rally on May 6, 2001, (attended by the then Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin) that journalists and media organizations in Gaza, including the BBC, are "waging the campaign [of resistance/terror against Israel] shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people."

Some guest commentators also shed light on the BBC's anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian stance.

Jenny Tonge, a Liberal Democrat member of the British parliament, declared in January that she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were Palestinian (and subsequently led a minute's silence in March — in the House of Commons no less — for the deceased Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin, who issued orders for dozens of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians). Since then, Tonge's invitations to appear on BBC have noticeably increased.

Similarly, there is the case of Oxford University literature lecturer Tom Paulin — who among other things has compared Jewish settlers to Nazis, has said they should be "shot dead," compared the Israeli army to Hitler's SS, and said he could "understand how suicide bombers feel." He continues to be invited as a regular guest commentator by the BBC; indeed, he is one of the two or three most frequent contributors to their most widely screened program on the arts.

BBC bias was so bad during the Iraq war,that the British Navy pulled the plug on the BBC. The Sun article is now archieved and you have to pay to get it now.

The Navy has taken rolling news show News 24 off the air on the HMS Ark Royal after weeks of grumbling from crew.

Sailors on the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier have become increasingly disenchanted with the BBC's slant on the war.

The BBC's bias is so well documented it is incredible that they published this article.

Sources include: NRO, Honest Reporting, Biased BBC, BBC Watch and others. Sorry if I missed anyone.
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