Throughout the month of March 2021, twenty 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 five 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)
Two articles concerned the normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab nations:
Is business the ‘path to peace’ in the Middle East? Sameer Hashmi and Ian Rose (19/2/21 to 1/3/21)
Israel PM delays UAE visit after Jordan overflight ‘difficulties’ (11/3/21 to 15/3/21)
One report concerned security issues:
Netanyahu blames Iran for blast on Israeli-owned ship in Gulf of Oman (1/3/21 to 4/3/21)
One report related to the ICC:
ICC opens ‘war crimes’ investigation in West Bank and Gaza (3/3/21 to 9/3/21) discussed here
One item was about sport:
Saeid Mollaei: Iran’s indefinite judo suspension lifted BBC Sport (1/3/21 to 2/3/21)
One item covered archaeological discoveries:
Rare ancient scroll found in Israel Cave of Horror (16/3/21 to 21/3/21)
One item concerned Palestinian affairs:
Palestinian ‘Techno Queen’ Sama’ Abdulhadi faces court over shrine event Tom Bateman (2/3/21 to 4/3/21 and 6/3/21 to 8/3/21)
Of 13 items relating to Israeli affairs, three concerned the Coronavirus pandemic and associated vaccination drive, with some of those promoting the political campaign concerning Israel’s supposed ‘obligation’ to supply vaccines to non-citizens:
Israel study finds Pfizer jab effective in all ages (25/2/21 to 26/2/21 and 28/2/21 to 1/3/21)
Israel starts vaccinating Palestinians with Israeli work permits Tom Bateman (8/3/21 to 10/3/21) discussed here
Covid-19: Palestinians lag behind in vaccine efforts as infections rise Reality Check (republished 15/3/21 to 17/3/21) discussed here, here and here
Three items related to Israel’s general election:
Israel election hopes and fears play out in crater town Tom Bateman (22/3/21 to 29/3/21) discussed here
Israel’s Netanyahu faces uphill battle as voters return to polls (23/3/21) discussed here
Israel election: PM Netanyahu short of majority as vote count ends (23/3/21 to 3/4/21) discussed here and here
Two reports concerned legal issues:
Congo mining: US reimposes sanctions on Israeli tycoon (10/3/21 to 11/3/21)
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav: Zaka founder and Israel Prize winner accused of assault (12/3/21 to 16/3/21)
One item related to the weather:
Jerusalem sees first snow in six years (18/2/21 to 6/3/21)
Three items related to environmental issues:
Israel pollution: Mayonnaise helps save turtles rescued from oil spill (25/2/21 to 2/3/21)
Clear-up of Israel’s coastline after oil spill continues Tom Bateman (22/2/21 to 27/2/21 and 2/3/21 to 8/3/21)
Israel minister accuses Iran-linked tanker over oil spill (4/3/21 to 8/3/21)
One item concerned a traffic accident:
Roei ‘Jinji’ Sadan: Israeli round-the-world cyclist killed outside home (12/3/21 to 16/3/21)
Once again the BBC demonstrates less interest in reporting on internal Palestinian affairs than it does Israeli affairs. Visitors to the BBC News website have yet to see any coverage whatsoever of the scheduled elections which were announced in January.
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SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – FEBRUARY 2021