The BBC changed its ‘Israeli airstrikes kill a woman and a baby’ headline to fit the occupation agenda after complaints by the Israeli Spokesperson of Foreign Affairs Emmanuel Nahshon.
The original headline reported on Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, in which a pregnant 23-year-old woman and her 18-month-old daughter were killed on Wednesday. A man identified as Ali Alrandur was also killed, and hundreds were injured.
Anyone who thinks BBC editors control their Israel-Palestine coverage needs to read this Tweet today from an Israeli government official. He *orders* the BBC to change a headline – and soon afterwards they comply pic.twitter.com/3yruv6amrF
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) August 9, 2018
Nahshon and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the headline was a “deliberate misrepresentation of reality,” and demanded it be changed.
The BBC duly complied, changing the headline to ‘Gaza air strikes ‘kill woman and child’ after rockets hit Israel.’
BBC News reports Israel's attack on Gaza last night accurately (top).
Netanyahu's government pressures BBC to change headline.
BBC News changes headline (bottom).https://t.co/CzFosx4z2Z pic.twitter.com/If9fVnhsnf
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) August 9, 2018
Hours later, the BBC issued a statement saying:
“Although the original headline was not factually incorrect, we updated it to add more context. Whilst there was no intention to mislead our audiences, we regret any offense caused.”
So, @BBCNews capitulated to @BoardofDeputies, thus:
1. Obfuscating the fact that *Israel* had killed a woman and toddler
2. Implying that Israel was merely 'retaliating' in response to attacks from Gaza (the standard Israeli narrative)
Shame on the BBC.https://t.co/OnwKwrwmyX pic.twitter.com/p5URIpST9M— Media Lens (@medialens) August 9, 2018
The spokesperson tried to highlight the Israeli narrative that victims on the Palestinian side are in retaliation for their own rocket attacks, which reportedly affected southern Israel.
BBC yet again turns Israel defence against attempted mass murder into Israeli war of aggression. All decent people should protest at BBC's systemic Corbynesque distortions and demonisation of Israel under never-ending existential onslaught https://t.co/ZZ8AbgyCGQ
— Melanie Phillips (@MelanieLatest) August 9, 2018
Israeli media and supporters of the occupation have bashed British media outlets such as the BBC and the Guardian for their allegedly biased reports, but the BBC consistently uses language that favors the Israeli narrative: ‘targeted killing’ as a euphemism for ‘execution without trial,’ or ‘Palestinians demand to return’ instead of ‘right to return.’
Several media outlets were reporting a ceasefire by midnight, but an Israeli official denied this and told Haaretz that Hamas had been seeking a ceasefire agreement since Thursday morning, but Israel continued to attack targets in the strip.
#Israel, #Hamas Agree Truce to End Gaza Escalation (VIDEO) https://t.co/d7tI33VLN6 via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/xd4gOJqtRj
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 10, 2018
The Israeli occupation forces also reported they had destroyed a five-story building used by Hamas’ security forces, but residents claim it housed the Said Mashal cultural center.
Gaza cultural centre demolished in Israeli airstrike pic.twitter.com/dnrRvT0VNk
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) August 9, 2018
One Gazan told Haaretz:
“The attacked building is an art and culture center which has no political or security use. The building also serves the Egyptian community that lives in Gaza. There is no reason to target this building other than harming a Palestinian cultural symbol.”
(TeleSur, PC, Social Media)
The BBC has always acted as apologists for Israel and will presumably continue to do so for as long as the USA dictates Israel has to be shielded from all criticism.