Review of the BBC’s reporting of security incidents in Judea & Samaria in January

Earlier this month we noted that the BBC had only reported on 25% of the terror attacks which took place on Israel’s southern borders during January. In this post we will look at its coverage of security incidents in Judea & Samaria during the same month.IDF Jan 4

In this article we documented some of the attacks and incidents which took place during the first half of January – none of which were reported by the BBC. Additional unreported incidents include a fire-bomb attack on a home in Hebron, a shooting attack at Migdal Oz, the arrest of two suspects in a drive-by shooting attack near Kedumim, numerous weapons seizures including one gun concealed in a child’s schoolbag, numerous incidents of fire-bombings and stonings and rioting

Throughout January the BBC News website reported on a total of two incidents which took place in Judea & Samaria: the arrest of a Global Jihad cell in Jerusalem and the Jenin area and the shooting of a Palestinian man after he opened fire on soldiers near Ateret. IDF Jan 5

The IDF’s round-up of incidents in Judea & Samaria during January includes the seizure of 19 firearms, five explosive devices and 30 knives.  468 rock-throwing incidents, 121 incidents of fire-bombings and two shooting incidents were recorded and fourteen civilians were injured.

With the exception of the shooting incident near Ateret in which the perpetrator was killed when soldiers returned fire, the BBC did not report any of the above incidents, meaning that audiences were informed of 50% of the shooting attacks and none of the other types of attacks. Hence they continue to be unaware of the continuing trend of a sharp rise in terror attacks in Judea & Samaria since the commencement of the latest round of talks between Israel and the PLO. IDF Jan 6

That of course means that – in breach of BBC public purposes – audiences are deprived of the information and context which would enable them “to participate in the global debate on significant international issues” such as the progress of the current talks between Israel and the PLO in general and to understand the rationale behind specific Israeli standpoints such as the need for security arrangements in the Jordan Rift Valley.

 

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