The BBC's pyramid of propaganda
The only way to stop it peddling murderous lies about Israel is to shut it down
Through its reputation as the world’s most trusted and influential broadcaster, the BBC has become the principal engine for the demonisation of Israel and the onslaught against Jews in Britain and the west.
It spares no effort to demonise and delegitimise Israel by presenting it falsely as an aggressor rather than the target of genocidal violence that it actually is, and as being guilty of crimes of which it is not only innocent but the victim.
Almost every day, the BBC displays a pathological obsession with Israel at the expense of other world conflicts. Almost every day, it spews an unstoppable geyser of lies, distortions, decontextualisation, selective reporting, double standards, loaded questions and wild imbalance of interviewees to present Israel, the sole democracy in the Middle East, as the world’s premier rogue state.
There is scarcely a false claim of an alleged Israeli atrocity that it doesn’t uncritically repeat. It trots out as honest witnesses an endless procession of interviewees and sources in Gaza who repeatedly turn out to sympathise with or even be be affiliated to Islamist terrorist groups. Subjecting pro-Israel interviewees to barked aggression and interruptions, it treats their opponents with kid gloves and even fawning admiration.
Obviously, this is the product of the hysterical anti-Israel group-think within the liberal intelligentsia from which BBC staff are overwhelmingly drawn. Now, however, we learn that it’s actually overt BBC policy to substitute propaganda for objective reporting when it comes to Gaza.
In the Spectator, Jonathan Sacerdoti reveals a leaked email in which a BBC executive editor instructs journalistic staff to blame Israel and the Americans for the food crisis in Gaza and gloss over the role of Hamas. Sacerdoti writes:
The email, which was sent to BBC staff on Friday, begins by declaring that ‘the argument over how much aid has crossed into Gaza is irrelevant’ and instructs staff that ‘we should say’ the current distribution system ‘doesn’t work’. It explicitly favours a particular explanation of suffering in Gaza: one that blames the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a relatively new aid body established with US and Israeli cooperation, while glossing over the role of Hamas, the rulers of Gaza and a proscribed terrorist organisation under British law….
The BBC – which declined to comment on the email – appears content to accept casualty figures and starvation claims from Hamas-linked bodies or sympathetic NGOs as definitive, while dismissing or omitting Israeli data and counterclaims. The email directs staff to reference ‘mounting evidence’ of starvation and deaths around aid centres, yet makes no mention of Hamas operatives looting convoys, obstructing access, or even firing on civilians attempting to collect food – allegations which have been made publicly by Israel and backed at times by video and eyewitness testimony…
Most egregious is the email’s declaration that it is ‘indisputable’ that Israel is the occupying power in Gaza and therefore legally responsible for preventing hunger. This claim is presented without qualification, despite the fact that the status of Gaza under international law is disputed.
This email revels that the BBC is engaged in a deliberate falsification of the facts, a deceit upon the public and a total corruption of journalism. It’s a clear breach of its supposedly sacred Charter obligations and a gross abuse of public money.
So has there been an outraged reaction to this leaked email? No. In fact, there’s been no reaction at all. Not one national media outlet has covered it. No MP has been moved to raise this abuse of the BBC Charter in the House of Commons. And of course, the broadcasting behemoth has itself said nothing.
But wait! The BBC is bravely stepping up to the plate!! Following the serious “reputational damage” it suffered when it was revealed that its documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was narrated by the son of a Hamas official, it has now set out a series of measures to get a grip on its coverage of the Gaza war. The Telegraph reports:
One of these measures is hiring a new director with “editorial oversight across our portfolio of documentaries and current affairs journalism”. The successful applicant will sit on the news board, made up of powerful figures at the BBC who typically earn more than £200,000…
The new director will be charged with restructuring how the BBC handles documentary-making, including “rigorous social media and background checks” on those contributing to programmes. Programmes deemed to be high-risk will also be directly overseen by a dedicated senior executive producer to “improve lines of accountability”.
Oh dear. Should we laugh or cry?
In journalism, a person who has “editorial oversight” is called … an editor. An editor is responsible for the journalism and professional behaviour produced in his or her department. That includes ensuring the output is fair, balanced and accurate, material is reliable, sources are checked.
The BBC is stuffed full with editors, senior editors, editors-in-chief, directors of this and that and other kinds of executive, all of whom are already responsible for its journalism — and for each other — in a pyramid of managerial duplication and overkill. The reason the BBC’s output is riddled with lies and distortions about Israel is that none of these individuals sees fit to challenge them. In other words, they are all failing to do their job. In a sane and decent world, they would all be fired.
As far as one can see, however, not one of them has been fired. Instead, they carry on producing this travesty of journalism day after day day, week after week. As we have just learned, one of these editors has actually instructed other editors to blame Israel and sanitise Hamas. And now yet another executive has been added to this dismal and disreputable roster!
There’s only one way to ensure the BBC no longer peddles these murderous lies. Shut it down.