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Monday, 1 June 2009

BBC Middle East reporting

On the main news page of the BBC website, the only story under the Middle East heading is "West Bank fighting kills six Palestinians". Oh no I thought, what has Israel done now? So I followed the link to discover that contrary to the impression (maybe deliberately) given
"Six people have been killed in a West Bank clash between Hamas fighters and Palestinian policemen, officials say.

Three policemen, two members of Hamas and another man were killed in a gun battle when police went to arrest the Hamas men in a dawn raid in Qalqilya.

Officials said the police were loyal to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, of rival group Fatah. "
So the story is one of inter-factional fighting not involving Israel at all, except for Hamas blaming everything on Israel:
"Hamas responded to the shooting with a statement from Gaza denouncing Mr Abbas's forces as "Zionist agents".

"Their crackdown against and pursuit of wanted men with the help of the enemy [Israel] lays down the foundation for resistance" by Hamas, Reuters reported the group as saying."

Right at the end of the article the BBC report a fact that seemed to be missing from most of their coverage of the Israel incursions into Gaza:
"Unlike the Fatah-dominated PLO, Hamas refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist and has waged a violent campaign against it for years. "

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