The BBC and the Bombers in Dimona

The BBC is once again demonstrating its lack of impartiality by blaming Israel – this time for provoking the Palestinian terrorist bombing on Feb. 4 in Dimona that killed an elderly Israeli woman and critically injured her husband and 37 others. To many BBC journalists, Israel is never the victim of Palestinian violence and terrorism and certainly never warrants sympathy.

Here is the report from BBC World News as broadcast on BBC America:

After briefly introducing the topic of the bombing, anchor Geeta Guru Murthy plunges into attack mode with her first question to Israeli representative Arye Mekel:

We have heard that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has condemned this bombing, but they do also level censure at the military raid by Israel in the occupied West Bank. Isn’t this simply a result of your actions? [emphasis added]

She follows with three other questions, not all coherent, but with one common thread — doggedly attributing culpability to Israel.

2) You don’t accept any responsibility–even for the blockade that you imposed so tightly. Many fears that the blasting of the wall at Rafah has allowed militants to cross through?  [emphasis added]

3) So you’re saying that you will retaliate?

4) But this is the first such attack in around a year. Why do you think the militants have struck now if it’s not a response to Israeli action?  [emphasis added]

It does not occur to Murthy to speculate about how Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Abbas, or how Egypt’s complicity in allowing Palestinians through the Rafah crossing could have enabled or encouraged such an attack, perhaps because this would suggest that Palestinians may indeed be responsible for their own actions.

Comments are closed.