The Plight of the Palistinians and the BBC's Reporting of Events in Palestine

In my inbox appeared a moving email from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. One day, the Palestinians will get justice. In the mean time, please follow events by going to the website for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/

Dear friend,

Some of us in the office lost our friend Hashem today. He was killed by tear gas when occupation forces refused him medical attention. He was a peace activist and spent his life refusing to give in to the occupation.

When you wake up to news like this, it's tough to think positively. So this email is a reminder of the power we have when we work together. It's this power - which Palestinians harness every day - that will ultimately end the occupation.

Scroll down for some incredible actions that happened in the last week, but first how we challenged the BBC and won.

The BBC’s reporting of events in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during October has been consistently one-sided, favouring Israel, and portraying the occupier solely as a victim. [1]

However, in the last two weeks we've shown that people power can make a difference to reporting.

On the morning of Saturday 10th October, two Palestinian boys - Marwan Barbakh, 12, and Khalil Othman, 15 – were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The BBC failed to report the killings. Instead, the BBC Online headline for the day was: Jerusalem attacks: Israelis hurt in two Palestinian stabbings.

That evening, we highlighted this extraordinary bias on social media, particularly Facebook, and asked you to send complaints to the BBC. An hour later, the BBC had changed the headline to Israeli-Palestinian violence continues and began the article with news of the killing of the two Palestinian boys. [2]

Days later, on 14th October, the BBC’s Diplomatic Editor, Mark Urban, called Jerusalem ‘Israel’s capital’ during a broadcast on Newsnight (BBC Two). [3] Again, we highlighted this enormous error and asked you to complain.

You did, and, on 16th October, the BBC issued a clarification on its website and on Twitter. [4]

Your complaints to the BBC have already made an impact.

The BBC is notorious for its misreporting, its politically skewed narrative in the name of "balance", and one-sided stories which further dehumanise Palestinians.

We've written a guide – How the BBC constructs its biased news reporting (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=b2bbe4a772&e=ab86d850da) – to help you unpick the BBC’s bias and make an efficient complaint. You may also find our guide – How to complain to the BBC (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=9a9ec9f27f&e=ab86d850da) – helpful.

When you see bias, inaccuracies and blatant omissions in BBC news reporting, you have the power to change it. Using our guide, make sure you make a complaint to the BBC. (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=d42b81dff7&e=ab86d850da ) The success we've had just this week demonstrates how important this is, and how effective our collective voice can be.

Notes:
1. Amena Saleem’s report for The Electronic Intifada (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=ef15c4451a&e=ab86d850da) on the BBC's open concern for Israelis under attack and its near disdain for the mass murder of Palestinians.
2. The BBC's amended headline (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=3a8b6b4fe3&e=ab86d850da) after our complaints
3. Mark Urban referring to Jerusalem as Israel's capital (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=f80b3cfa86&e=ab86d850da)
4. The BBC's clarification after our complaints: on their website (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=3e1d759413&e=ab86d850da) and Twitter (http://palestinecampaign.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=39b479575f6b893766d815ffd&id=60fa325564&e=ab86d850da) .

Elsewhere, powerful actions and important victories:

In London on Saturday over 2000 of us took to the streets to send a clear message of solidarity with Palestine, and to demand an end to the Israeli occupation at the heart of the current violence. London Palestine Action followed the protest with direct action, shutting down Oxford Street to make people stop and think about their own complicity in Israel’s occupation through our government’s relationship with Israel.

This week, activists from PSC and Campaign Against Arms Trade in East Kent occupied an abandoned airport, which is the proposed new site for Elbit, the company which manufactures Israeli drones. This brilliant action was the culmination of months of lobbying the local council to refuse Elbit’s application.  And they won! The Council’s planning committee voted unanimously against Elbit’s application to expand.

When we take action, on the media, on the arms trade, and on the Israeli occupation in general, we win. In moments of sadness and anger when we see Palestinians being killed for doing nothing more than being Palestinian, we can remember our collective power to change the situation one step at a time.