Chasing the BBC up on that old BBC anti-Israel bias

Further to this post and its predecessors I thought 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' so I tried again and lodged another complaint with the BBC:

'I lodged a complaint about serious BBC bias on 30 August, received a totally inadequate response on 28 October, chased immediately and have received no further response.

Here is my original complaint:
'Your Middle East news features a piece about an Israeli rabbi who had called for a 'plague' on Mahmoud Abbas and other reprehensible comments. Despicable I agree but maybe you could point me to the BBC web site news articles that reported the genocidal statements of senior Hamas and Fatah politicians and/or religious leaders. For example did the BBC web news report Hamas cleric Ziyad Abu al-Haj's Friday sermon of 3 April 2009 in which he said "The time will come, by Allah’s will, when their property will be destroyed and their children will be exterminated, and no Jew or Zionist will be left on the face of this earth."?

Maybe you could also show me where BBC web news reported the words of Dr. Ahmed Yousuf Abu Halabiah, a member of the Palestinian Sharia (Islamic religious law) Rulings Council, and Rector of Advanced Studies at the Islamic University on 13 October 2000 when he said "The Jews are the Jews. There never was among them a supporter of peace. They are all liars… They are terrorists. Therefore it is necessary to slaughter them and murder them, according to the words of Allah… It is forbidden to have mercy in your hearts for the Jews in any place and in any land. Make war on them any place that you find yourself. Any place that you meet them – kill them. Kill the Jews and those among the Americans who are like them… The Jews only understand might. Have no mercy on the Jews, murder them everywhere."

If you did not report such Palestinian calls, why not? Why are the words of one Israeli cleric, however vile, newsworthy whereas those of Palestinian clerics and politicians are not?'


Here is the totally inadequate response I received:
'    'Dear Sir or Madam,

    We do not report every inflammatory comment by Israelis or Palestinians. There are many on both sides.

    Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s comments were reported because he is such an important figure, and because the comment came at a time when Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were being resumed. He is the spiritual leader of Shas, a party represented in current Israeli government, and a former Chief Rabbi.

    The comments were widely criticised by US and Israeli leaders.

    I am sorry for the delay ion replying to your complaint.

    Best regards,

    Middle East desk
    BBC News website'


Here is my emailed response:
''Thank you for finally replying to my complaint, although I note that you have not actually answered my complaint.


You write that 'We do not report every inflammatory comment by Israelis or Palestinians. There are many on both sides.' - My complaint acknowledged that the comments were 'reprehensible' and 'despicable' and asked you to 'point me to the BBC web site news articles that reported the genocidal statements of senior Hamas and Fatah politicians and/or religious leaders.' I don't ask that the BBC report every genocidal statement made by a Hamas politician or religious leader, where would you find the space? But to report none of these comments does look rather strange.

I gave you some examples to help you in your search, did you find any examples reported by the BBC? Did you even look? If not, how do you know that you give equality of coverage? If you did not report such Palestinian calls, why not? Why are the words of one Israeli cleric, however vile, newsworthy whereas those of Palestinian clerics and politicians are not?'



You write that 'Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s comments were reported because he is such an important figure, and because the comment came at a time when Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were being resumed.' - I cannot disagree with your point about the timing of his remarks. Maybe you could point me to the BBC's coverage of Yasser Arafat's comments on Jordanian TV on the very day that he signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993 "Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel."



You write that 'He is the spiritual leader of Shas, a party represented in current Israeli government, and a former Chief Rabbi.' - Indeed he was albeit the Sephardi Chief Rabbi and from 1973-1983; he is not a member of the Knesset. Maybe you could show me where the BBC reported the words of Hamas' spiritual leader, until 2004, Ahmed Yassin when he said that "Reconciliation with the Jews is a crime" and that Israel "must disappear from the map".



You write that 'The comments were widely criticised by US and Israeli leaders.' - Indeed they were and rightly so, but my complaint was not about the coverage of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s comments, but about the lack of coverage of equally or more reprehensible comments by Palestinian political and religious leaders. By not addressing this point you have not answered my complaint, preferring to answer a different question.



I must ask you to actually answer my question rather than a question of your choosing.


Regards

NotaSheep '


Is it possible that the BBC could actually address my questions and respond accordingly rather than either ignoring my questions or answering a different question.'

evident.