Throughout the month of February 2020, twenty-one written or filmed reports relating to Israel and/or the Palestinians appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page, some of which were also published on other pages. Eleven of the 21 reports were carried over from the previous month, with ten of them relating to the US Administration’s ‘Peace to Prosperity’ proposal.
(dates in brackets indicate the time period during which the item was available on the ‘Middle East’ page)
Five reports concerned security issues:
Syria war: Israel ‘hits Iran-backed fighters near Damascus’ (6/2/20 to 10/2/20) discussed here
Israeli-Palestinian violence flares up (6/2/20 to 12/2/20) discussed here
Russia says plane ‘almost hit’ by anti-aircraft fire in Syria (7/2/20 to 12/2/20)
Israeli soldiers duped by Hamas ‘fake women’ phone ruse (17/2/20 to 19/2/20) discussed here
Israel-Gaza sees surge of cross-border violence (24/2/20 to 27/2/20) discussed here
Ten items (all originally published in January) related to the US Administration’s ‘Peace to Prosperity’ proposal (discussed here):
Abbas on Trump peace plan: ‘Conspiracy deal won’t pass’ (28/1/20 to 11/2/20 and 13/2/20)
Netanyahu: Trump Middle East peace plan ‘deal of the century’ (28/1/20 to 13/2/20)
Trump outlines Middle East peace plan (28/1/20 to 17/2/20)
Trump’s Middle East peace plan: ‘Deal of the century’ is huge gamble Jeremy Bowen (27/1/20 to 7/2/20)
What does Trump’s Middle East plan say on key issues? (29/1/20 to 10/2/20)
Trump Middle East plan: What he gets out of it Aleem Maqbool (29/1/20 to 11/2/20)
Trump’s Middle East peace plan: Smiles and sorrow on the ground Tom Bateman (28/1/20 to 25/2/20) discussed here
Why Trump’s Middle East plan is so divisive Jeremy Bowen (29/1/20 to 3/2/20 and 7/2/20 to 17/2/20)
Trump Middle East plan: Palestinians reject ‘conspiracy’ (29/1/20 to 3/2/20)
Palestinian PM defends stance on Trump Middle East plan Orla Guerin (30/1/20 to 3/2/20)
Two additional items related to other political aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict:
UN lists 112 businesses linked to Israeli settlements (12/2/20 to 15/2/20) discussed here
Israel-Palestinian conflict: The family with its own checkpoint Tom Bateman (14/2/20 to 20/2/20) discussed here and here
One item concerned Palestinian affairs:
Mental health: Coping with the trauma of living in Gaza (29/2/20 to present) discussed here
Of three items relating to internal Israeli internal affairs, one report concerned a legal/criminal case:
Naama Issachar: US-Israeli woman released from Russian prison (29/1/20 to 1/2/20)
One item related to planning:
Jerusalem: Jordan condemns Israeli Western Wall railway plan (18/2/20 to 23/2/20) discussed here
One article concerned tourism:
Crossing Divides: The hostel promoting tourism to ease Israel’s tensions Lucy Sherriff (16/2/20 to 19/2/20) discussed here
As we see, 47.6% of the items appearing on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page throughout February concerned the US administration ‘Peace to Prosperity’ proposal which had been released the previous month, with some of those items remaining available for an unusually long time. As ever, Israeli affairs received wider coverage than internal Palestinian affairs.
Related Articles:
Summary of BBC News website portrayal of Israel and the Palestinians – January 2020
Reviewing BBC News website coverage of the US ‘Peace to Prosperity’ plan
Reviewing BBC News website coverage of Palestinian affairs in 2019
