LONDON (Dispatches) – The BBC has come under fire over its “typical” misinformation about Palestine following the publication of an article explaining the Zionist regime’s latest aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Under the heading “Israel-Gaza violence: The conflict explained” the article offered its readers a historical explanation of the occupation of Palestine and the recent onslaught on Gaza, which killed 44 citizens, including 16 children and four women. Another 360 Palestinians were wounded.
The occupying regime’s attack on the Palestinian territory, which began on Friday, is just the latest of many assaults against the 2.2 million residents who have been subjected to a full blockade by the apartheid regime since 2007. More than 4,228 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Zionist troops in the years since. The last major bombardment was in May last year on the back of a brutal crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East Al-Quds.
In a section headed “Israel’s boundaries today” the BBC addressed the issue of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. It acknowledged that in the past 50 years the occupying regime has built settlements, where more than 600,000 Zionists now live. However, the article did not mention that the settlements are outposts for Zionists only connected by roads for use by Zionists to the land that the regime was created on in 1948. Though this omission was not met with disapproval, readers of the BBC article did express their anger over its description of the status of settlements.
“Palestinians say these [settlements] are illegal under international law and are obstacles to peace, but Israel denies this,” said the BBC. The passage was criticized heavily, especially as the illegal status of settlements under international law is accepted universally, except by the occupying regime, of course.
“Typical BBC article on Palestine” tweeted Chris Doyle, Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding. Sharing “Palestinians say these are illegal under international law and are obstacles to peace, but Israel denies this” with his followers on the social media site, Doyle refuted the BBC’s claim by saying that, “It is not Palestinians who say this. The UN Security Council says this, nearly every major power, the [International Court of Justice] says this.” The ICJ is the highest legal body in the UN.
Others criticized the BBC article for its failure to acknowledge what many say is the root of the Zionist-Palestine conflict. “Settler-colonialism is the root problem,” said one twitter user in response to the BBC article. “You cannot go to another people’s country with the intent of driving them out of their homes and off their land, and not expect ‘problems’.”
In the backlash against the broadcaster, the BBC was described as a state-affiliated media outlet that reflects the British government’s foreign and domestic policies. “We shouldn’t be in any doubt [about this],” tweeted one person.
“Stealing someone else’s land and then trying to ethnically cleanse all the original inhabitants tends to create conflict. How surprising,” said another.
“When is the UK sending weapons & aid to the oppressed state of Palestine?” added a third, in what looked like a reference to Britain’s arming of Ukraine against Russia’s military aggression. Legitimate Palestinian resistance to the Zionist regime’s military occupation and aggression is described routinely as “terrorism” by the British government and its mouthpieces.