The BBC’s roller-coaster reporting on the number of victims of Palestinian terror

We previously noted the BBC’s inconsistent and inaccurate reporting of the number of fatalities resulting from terror attacks in recent months.

Between October 1st and December 31st 2015, twenty-four people lost their lives in terror attacks – twenty-one of whom were Israeli citizens. Between January 1st and February 24th 2016, a further eight Israelis were killed during additional attacks.

Below is a round-up of the BBC News website’s presentation of the subject since January 1st 2015. One noteworthy point is that all the reporting is framed in terms of the number of Israeli fatalities and hence the fact that non-Israeli victims were also killed during terror attacks is erased from the view of BBC audiences. [all emphasis added]

January 1 – “As of 23 December, at least 21 Israelis had been killed in the recent violence, most of them in stabbings and shooting attacks by Palestinians.”

January 8 – “Israel was already on high alert amid a wave of attacks on Israelis by Palestinians and some Israeli Arabs which have killed 22 Israelis since the beginning of October.”

January 9 – “Relations between Israelis and Palestinians remain tense amid a wave of attacks on Israelis by Palestinians and some Israeli Arabs which have killed 22 Israelis since the beginning of October.”

January 15 – “In that time, 26 Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli-Arabs.”

January 17 – “Since October, 27 Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.”

January 18 – “Twenty-seven Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October.”

January 20 – “More than 25 Israelis have been killed.”

January 26 – “Since October, 28 Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.”

February 1 – “The Israeli authorities have struggled to halt a wave of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs that have left 28 Israelis dead since October.”

February 3 – “In the past four months, 29 Israelis have been killed in a wave of stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.”

February 11 – “Twenty-nine Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October.”

February 14 – “… 26 Israelis have been killed since October 2015.”

February 18 – “Since October, 30 Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.”

February 24 – “At least 27 Israelis have been killed in a wave of stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October.”

The inaccurate, inconsistent and confused nature of the BBC’s reporting is all the more apparent when seen in visual form.

Graph BBC reporting terror fatalities

Clearly the BBC News website’s presentation of this topic to its audiences over time does not meet editorial standards of accuracy, with the reported numbers of fatalities going up and down without connection to actual events.

Seeing as the readily available official information concerning victims of terror attacks is quickly and meticulously updated by the Israeli authorities, it really is very difficult to understand why the BBC is having so much trouble producing accurate and consistent reporting on this subject.

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