A consistent characteristic of BBC coverage of any story connected to Temple Mount is the exclusion of all mention of the salaried agitators who harass non-Muslim visitors to the site with verbal or physical violence.
Background on Temple Mount ignored by the BBC
The part of the Temple Mount story the BBC refuses to tell
BBC omits vital background information in Temple Mount rioting story
Even a delegation of US Congressmen recently visiting the site was subjected to harassment.
“As part of the delegation’s trip to the Middle East, the group took a tour of the Temple Mount that was constantly interrupted by shouting, first by Arab men in the plaza and then by staff from the Wakf Islamic trust.
“We walked up there, and were almost immediately approached by several men who started shouting,” Rothfus said. “We were tracked the entire time we were there and found these individuals surprisingly intolerant and belligerent.”
The delegation said the harassment began when they ascended the Mount, and a man yelled at Elizabeth Jenkins – who was wearing a calf-length skirt and a long-sleeved shirt – that she needed to cover up more. Police were needed to break up the melee and clear the way for the group to continue its visit.
The group’s tour guide then began to speak about the history of the site, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, but is controlled by Jordan and the Jerusalem Islamic Wakf.
When the guide showed the group a map of Israel, a man who was cleaning nearby notified another man in the area, who approached the guide while he was talking. The man asked the guide questions about the maps and diagrams, demanding to be shown if any of them feature the Temple, and told him he cannot use the term “Temple Mount,” only “Dome of the Rock,” as can be seen in a video the group provided to The Jerusalem Post.
Men wearing shirts with Wakf insignia then repeatedly interrupted the guide and tried to grab his diagrams and maps. The guide responded that he is doing nothing illegal and will only stop if told to do so by police. […]
Soon after, 15-20 men began to harass the group, interrupting the tour guide, shouting and pointing, and once again police were needed to break up the commotion.”
Predictably, the BBC has ignored this story which does not fit in with its prevailing narratives concerning Temple Mount. The corporation cannot, however, claim to fulfil its public purpose remit of building “understanding of international issues” by means of accurate and impartial reporting if it continues to frame its coverage of the topic of Temple Mount in such a way that the existence of foreign funded groups of extremist agitators at the site is consistently erased from audience view.
