SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – JULY 2022

Throughout the month of July 2022, twenty five 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 – Israel time – during which the item was available on the ‘Middle East’ page)

Two items (one of which was carried over from the previous month) concerned Iran:

Kidnap alert heightens Iran-Israel shadow war fears Suzanne Kianpour (25/6/22 to 13/7/22) discussed here

Predatory Sparrow: Who are the hackers who say they started a fire in Iran? Joe Tidy (11/7/22 to 14/7/22)

Two items were about a security incident involving Hizballah:

Israel releases footage it says shows three Hezbollah drones being shot down (3/7/22 to 27/7/22)

Israel shoots down Hezbollah drones heading for gas rig Matt Murphy (2/7/22 to 7/7/22) discussed here

One item related to spin off from the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

Russia moves to shut Jewish Agency in Ukraine rift Laurence Peter (21/7/22 to 25/7/22)

One item carried over from the previous month was about Israelis held hostage by terrorists:

Hisham al-Sayed: Hamas video claims to show captive Israeli (29/6/22 to 2/7/22) discussed here

One item carried over from the previous month concerned the BDS campaign:

Ben & Jerry’s criticises resumption of sales in Israeli settlements Jonathan Josephs (29/6/22 to 3/7/22) discussed here

Seven items related to the US president’s Middle East visit:

Joe Biden heads to Middle East amid faltering US sway Jeremy Bowen (13/7/22 to present) discussed here

Biden visits Israel ahead of thorny Saudi Arabia trip Raffi Berg & Tom Bateman (13/7/22 to 14/7/22)

Biden: US prepared to use force to stop Iran getting nuclear arms Raffi Berg & Tom Bateman (14/7/22 to 18/7/22)

Why Biden’s Saudi trip has proved so thorny Barbara Plett Usher (15/7/22 to present) discussed here

‘Saudi Arabia: Biden set to meet Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite criticism’ Matt Murphy (Original here published 15/7/22 with ‘Israel’ tag. Later replaced at same URL by article written by Raffi Berg, ‘Israel’ tag removed)

Palestinian people deserve a state of their own – Biden (15/7/22 to present)

Biden offers Palestinians warm words but deep rift remains Yolande Knell (15/7/22 to 19/7/22) discussed here

Three reports concerned the death of an Al Jazeera journalist in May:

Shireen Abu Aqla: US releases result of test on bullet that killed reporter Raffi Berg (4/7/22 to 5/7/22) discussed here

Shireen Abu Aqla: US report on journalist’s death unacceptable, family says David Gritten (5/7/22 to 7/7/22) discussed here

Shireen Abu Aqla’s brother: ‘I feel abandoned’ (appeared in ‘updates’ 15/7/22. Moved to ME page 18/7/22 to present) discussed here

Two items related to Palestinian affairs:

Algerian president hosts rival Palestine leaders Youssef Taha (6/7/22 to 9/7/22) discussed here

Jenin in the West Bank: Guns and grief on the rise Tom Bateman (12/7/22 to 17/7/22 and 18/7/22 to present) discussed here

Of six items concerning Israeli affairs, two (one of which was carried over from the previous month) were about politics:

Israel gets new PM as Netanyahu targets comeback Raffi Berg & Yolande Knell (30/6/22 to 6/7/22)

Yair Lapid: The ex-TV host who is Israel’s new PM Yolande Knell (1/7/22 to 5/7/22 and 7/7/22 to 18/7/22)

One item also carried over from the previous month concerned illegal migrants:

What happened when Israel sent its refugees to Rwanda Daisy Walsh (in updates 23/6/22 to 26/6/22. Moved to ME page 26/6/22 to 7/7/22)

One item concerned a funeral:

Thousands flock to ultra-Orthodox rabbi’s funeral in Jerusalem (31/7/22 to present)

One report was about an accident:

Man killed as sink hole opens under swimming pool in Israel Raffi Berg (22/7/22 to 26/7/22)

One report concerned nature:

Huge jellyfish swarm surrounds boat in Israel (originally appeared in ‘updates’, later moved to ME page 23/7/22 to present)

In addition – not included in our count – three items appeared in the ‘updates’ section underneath the ‘Middle East’ page but not on the page itself:

Apple launches Lockdown Mode to block spyware attacks on at-risk users Joe Tidy

Racial hatred charges dropped for pair held at pro-Palestine rally

German Documenta art fair chief quits in anti-Semitism row

Stories concerning internal Palestinian affairs which the BBC chose to ignore throughout July included allegations of and demonstrations against torture in prisons, a cleric’s homophobia, a homophobic attack on a cultural event in Ramallah, self-immolation in Gaza, violent celebrations of matriculation results and the arrest of a journalist. A shooting attack against a former minister (of which the BBC is aware) did not receive any coverage and neither did a Hamas tax hike. Even a demonstration by Palestinian lawyers opposed to Abbas’ ‘rule by decree’ and a high-profile initiative to reform the PA political system did not inspire any BBC headlines.

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SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – JUNE 2022

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