CAMERA has learned that BBC World Service reporter Paul Adams was assaulted by a Palestinian mob as he was covering an apparently accidental explosion in the Bethlehem headquarters of a Palestinian militia. The October 19th explosion in the offices of Force-17, which Palestinian officials later attributed to a “gas leak,” drew an angry crowd which assumed the blast was due to an Israeli attack. The mob soon set upon Adams and his cameraman, punching both, according to two independent sources who wish to remain anonymous.
The attack on Adams is part of a troubling pattern of Palestinian attacks on Western journalists, which apparently seeks to ensure pro-Palestinian coverage of the current disturbances. Just as troubling as the campaign of intimidation is the media’s abject refusal to cover it. Like other media outlets, the BBC has not covered the attack on its reporter. In addition, when asked by CAMERA, officials at the BBC falsely claimed that no attack had taken place.
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