Omission and framing in BBC reporting on Ramot terror attack

On the afternoon of February 10th the BBC News website published a report by Raffi Berg about a terror attack which had taken place some two and a half hours earlier just outside the Ramot neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Originally titled “Jerusalem: Child killed in suspected ramming attack”, the report was updated three times over the next couple of hours and is currently headlined “Jerusalem: Two Israelis killed in car ramming attack”.

The report’s opening lines tell readers that:

“Two Israelis – a six-year-old boy and 20-year-old man – have been killed in a car ramming attack at a bus stop in occupied East Jerusalem, officials say.

The attack happened at Ramot Junction. Police say the driver, a 31-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem, was “neutralised on the spot”.

Five people were hurt, medics said.”

It is of course highly unlikely that Israeli officials had said that the attack had taken place “in occupied East Jerusalem” as claimed by Berg. While Berg describes the perpetrator as “Palestinian”, it was reported that the resident of Issawiya held Israeli citizenship.

By the time the current version of the report was published the victims had been identified and the funeral of the child had begun.

“The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the boy, 6, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was named as Yaakov Yisrael Paley. Paley was quickly buried Friday afternoon before the start of Shabbat, in accordance with Jewish law.

The second victim was identified as Alter Shlomo Lederman, a 20-year-old yeshiva student who had gotten married two months ago. He and his wife had been on their way to his parents’ home for Shabbat. Lederman was rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in critical condition, where he succumbed to his wounds.”

As is all too often the case in reports on terror attacks against Israelis, the BBC made no effort to personalise the victims by providing their names and background.

Moreover, after news broke of the death of a third victim of the attack, the BBC did not update its report to inform audiences that eight-year-old Asher Menahem Paley, the brother of the six-year-old victim, had succumbed to his wounds or that the father of both boys is among those injured in the attack.

Similarly, a later report on an unrelated topic which was published on the BBC News website on February 13th tells readers of “two recent deadly attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in occupied East Jerusalem” and goes on to state:

“The and [sic] claimed the lives of a six-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man.”

Berg did not inform BBC audiences that the murders of two children and a young man were praised by assorted Palestinian terror factions.

“The Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror groups, the latter of which rules the Gaza Strip, praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

A Hamas spokesperson called the attack “a heroic response to the crimes of the occupation.””

Over sixty-three percent of the report’s word count is given over to the presentation of ‘background’ which once again promotes false equivalence between Palestinian terror attacks and Israeli counter-terrorism operations.

“It comes amid a particularly bloody period between Israelis and Palestinians, with a mounting toll from Palestinian attacks and Israeli raids.” […]

“Friday’s attack is the latest in a spate of deadly incidents over the past couple of weeks which have ratcheted up tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Late last month, 10 Palestinians, including two civilians, were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in an Israeli raid against militants that Israel said were planning an imminent attack. Hours later, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Jewish worshippers and passers-by outside a synagogue in East Jerusalem, killing seven.

The following morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot a group of people, also in East Jerusalem, wounding an Israeli father and son.

During the past week, five Palestinian militants – some of whom Israel said had carried out a shooting attack at an Israeli restaurant – were killed in a gun battle with troops near the West Bank city of Jericho. Two Palestinians, whom Israel said had stabbed and shot at soldiers, were also shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Tuesday and Thursday.

It brings to at least 39 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year, including militants and civilians, as a nearly year-long military operation against militants there continues. Eight Israelis and one Ukrainian have been killed in attacks by Palestinians also since the start of this year.”

The “Tuesday and Thursday” incidents cited by Berg relate to a gunman who opened fire on Israeli troops in Nablus and a man who tried to stab soldiers near Hebron.

As in the previous BBC coverage of the attacks and operations mentioned by Berg (see ‘related articles’ below), no effort is made to clarify to readers that while the majority of the “Palestinians killed by Israeli forces so far this year” were terrorists or males engaged in violence at the time, all of the nine Israelis and one foreign national murdered in the same time period were civilians, including three children.

While the BBC continues to promote false equivalence between counter-terrorism operations and terror attacks by failing to clarify that the former are the outcome of the latter and to promote false equivalence between perpetrators and victims by failing to distinguish between those carrying out acts of violence and civilians waiting at a bus stop or happening to walk past a synagogue, it simultaneously continues to fail to provide audiences with any serious reporting on the topic of why levels of violence have risen over the past year and a half.

Related Articles:

COMPARING BBC PERSONALISATION OF VICTIMS OF TERROR IN PARIS, BRUSSELS AND ISRAEL

BBC NEWS WEBSITE COVERAGE OF JENIN COUNTER-TERRORISM OPERATION

BBC NEWS CONTINUES TO PRESENT A PARTIAL PICTURE OF TERROR IN JENIN

BBC REPORTING ON NEVE YA’AKOV TERROR ATTACK

FALSE EQUIVALENCE AND FAMILIAR THEMES IN BBC REPORTS ON SECOND JERUSALEM TERROR ATTACK

BBC REPORTING ON JERICHO COUNTER-TERRORISM OPERATION

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3 Comments

  1. says: Sid+Levine

    BBC is not providing unbiased news but is part of the Islamic propaganda machine maintained and operated by Islamic UK staff in its offices, in order to not to offend this substantial minority in the UK.
    Go into their news offices and see the staff working there.
    One could ask under the FOI the number of staff originating from non Christain countries.

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