SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – SEPTEMBER 2020

Throughout the month of September 2020, twenty-seven 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 and two of which were carried over from the previous month.

(dates in brackets indicate the time period during which the item was available on the ‘Middle East’ page)

Four reports (including one carried over from the previous month) related to security matters/terrorism:

Israeli rabbi killed in Petah Tikva knife attack (26/8/20 to 1/9/20) discussed here

Israeli soldier condemned for putting knee on Palestinian protester’s neck (2/9/20 to 10/9/20) discussed here

Gaza violence flares after Israel signs deals with Gulf states (16/9/20 to 20/9/20)

Bulgaria court convicts two over 2012 Burgas bus attack on Israelis (21/9/20 to 23/9/20) discussed here

Seven reports (one of which was carried over from the previous month) concerned the agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain to normalise relations:

Israel and UAE in historic direct flight following peace deal (31/8/20 to 4/9/20) discussed here

Young Israelis and Emiratis meet online after peace deal  Yolande Knell (2/9/20 to 10/9/20)

Trump announces ‘peace deal’ between Bahrain and Israel (11/9/20 to 15/9/20) discussed here

Five reasons why Israel’s peace deals with the UAE and Bahrain matter Jeremy Bowen (14/9/20 to present) discussed here

Trump hails ‘dawn of new Middle East’ with UAE-Bahrain-Israel deals (15/9/20 to 18/9/20)

Trump on Israel-UAE-Bahrain deals: ‘We mark the dawn of a new Middle East’ (15/9/20 to present)

Israel’s borders explained in maps (15/9/20 to present)

One item had a historical theme:

Mystery of ‘magnificent palace’ found in Jerusalem (3/9/20 to 10/9/20)

Two items concerned the Coronavirus pandemic and Israelis abroad:

Jewish New Year: Virus restrictions thwart pilgrims on Ukraine-Belarus border (15/9/20 to 16/9/20)

Coronavirus: Ukraine accuses Belarus over stranded Jewish pilgrims (16/9/20 to 20/9/20)

Of thirteen items relating to internal Israeli affairs, ten concerned the Corona pandemic:

Covid recovered patients volunteer in Israeli hospital Tom Bateman (5/9/20 to 21/9/20)

Israel imposes overnight curfews as death toll passes 1,000 (7/9/20 to 10/9/20)

Coronavirus: Israel considers nationwide lockdown as cases spike (10/9/20 to 13/9/20)

Coronavirus: Israel to impose three-week national lockdown (13/9/20 to 16/9/20)

Israel’s government details second lockdown restrictions (17/9/20 to 20/9/20)

Coronavirus: Israel marks Jewish New Year with second lockdown (18/9/20 to 22/9/20)

Coronavirus: what Israel’s second lockdown feels like (18/9/20 to present)

Israel hits new high in daily cases Tom Bateman 23/9/20 to 24/9/20)

Coronavirus: Israel tightens second lockdown amid acrimony originally titled “Israel tightens second lockdown to avoid ‘abyss’” (24/9/20 to 1/10/20)

Coronavirus: Israel passes law to ban mass protests during lockdown (30/9/20 to present)

Two filmed reports concerned social issues:

Tel Aviv: Drone filmed dropping suspected cannabis over city (4/9/20 to 8/9/20 and 11/9/20 to 12/9/20)

The fight for women’s prayer rights in Israel (26/9/20 to 30/9/20) discussed here

One widely promoted item concerned the funding of an Israeli organisation:

Israeli settlers’ Chelsea boss backer (21/9/20 to present) discussed here

Throughout the month of September visitors to the BBC News website saw no reporting whatsoever on internal Palestinian affairs such as the ongoing detention of three activists in the Gaza Strip, the death of a detainee whilst in custody in a Palestinian Authority police station or a fatal drive-by shooting outside Bethlehem.

Related Articles:

SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – AUGUST 2020

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1 Comment

  1. says: Neil C

    Well why would the BBC want to write about a mysogynistic terrorist based society that pays the families of it’s ‘shahids’ a ‘blood money pension’, from the handouts the EU and UK governments give them, they do not want the world to know the truth now do they? Just more BBC ‘reporting by omission’ and OCD reporting of everyday life in Israel without reporting the daily terrorist activities of those who seek the destruction of Israel, which actually makes the BBC complicit in these actions by consent.

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