Vilifying Israel

The BBC's Middle East news page is a great example of how the BBC view Israel. One or more of the lead stories are always anti-Israel and today is a good example:

Number 2 story today concerns claims, reported as fact, that "Several Palestinian workers have been hurt in an attack by a group of Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank.". The regular stoning attacks by Palestinians on Israeli cars is never reported just like the regular rockets being fired into Israel were not reported upon.

Number 3 story today concerns " A UN team investigating possible war crimes in Gaza, led by Richard Goldstone, arrives in the territory from Egypt." The BBC love to report stories of Israeli war crimes, oddly the huge numbers of civilians killed by Muslim countries or groups seem to slip by the BBC without a mention of war crimes.

Top Other Story concerns "One of Israel's most famous entertainers has been accused of ordering attacks on TV executives who turned down his ideas." A minor story but as it shows an Israeli in a bad light, it's a major story.


With this obsession about Israel, which comprises less than 2% of the Middle East's population and less than 0.2% of the land, it is odd that the BBC have not covered the news that Ephraim Katzir, Israel's fourth president and one of the county's pioneers, has died. Ephraim Katzir emigrated at the age of 6 from Kiev to British-ruled Palestine. He was a member of the Haganah, the Jewish militia group that fought for Israel's independence. Katzir, a prominent biochemist and physicist, was one of the founding scientists of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Ephraim Katzir served as President from 1973 to 1978 during a pivotal time is Israel's history; including the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when Israel's neighbours and near neighbours invaded Israel in an attempt to destroy Israel, the invasion happening on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Ephraim Katzir was also President when the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977. Maybe the BBC don't like to inform people that Israel is outnumbered, surrounded and hated by most of its neighbours.