On October 31st the BBC News website published a report by the corporation’s religion editor Aleem Maqbool on its UK page.
Titled “British Jews are ‘full of fear, like I’ve never seen before’”, the report begins with interviews with two members of Britain’s Jewish community – Justin Cohen and Benjamin Bell – on the topic of their concerns relating to the recorded rise in the number of antisemitic incidents and the anti-Israel demonstrations in the UK in recent weeks. [emphasis added]
“If people who are so boiling over with rage in these demos see Jewish people as inextricably linked with Israel, they will inevitably target those Jewish people. The fears are never-ending at this point,” says Mr Cohen.
The demonstrations in the UK, attended by tens of thousands of people calling for an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza, have been viewed by him as hostile, threatening and unsettling.
In the most recent marches, he points to some being filmed calling for “intifada”, the term given to violent Palestinian uprisings.
“We’ve seen calls for an intifada where, in the past, suicide bombings have targeted civilians, in cafes and restaurants and in nightclubs. Whether it’s one person saying this stuff or 10 or 10,000, the chilling effect on British Jews is the same,” says Mr Cohen.”
Maqbool then adds the following commentary as introduction to his second interviewee, without providing any information about the “protest organisers” and their records:
“Although protest organisers insist the focus has been on Israel’s massive bombing campaign in Gaza – and that antisemitism has not played a part – that is not how many British Jews see the marches.”
Among the statements made by Mr Bell is the following:
“”The Holocaust cast a long shadow over the Jewish spirit and we feel that the state of Israel provides that sanctity, that safe haven, that last resort – it goes to the very heart of my being,” he says.”
Maqbool then adds his own commentary:
“It is why Mr Bell says he feels unnerved by the demonstrations and particularly by the use of slogans like “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” referring to the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. He feels it can only mean the destruction of the Israeli state in its current form.”
Maqbool continues with amplification of a dishonest and inaccurate take on that slogan from an organisation which cheerleads the terrorist organisation that instigated the current conflict and collaborates with other groups that have ties to Hamas.
“The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which helps organise the demonstrations, contests this interpretation of that particular chant, saying the slogan refers to “the right of all Palestinians to freedom, equality and justice”.”
Maqbool of course makes no effort to inform BBC audiences of the highly relevant fact that LGBT, female, Christian and politically dissident Palestinians who currently live under the rule of either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority do not enjoy such rights or to explain why that fact is clearly is not of concern to the PSC.
Moreover, he then goes on to platform a long-time patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign without mentioning his many years of anti-Israel campaigning and his dismal record on antisemitism.
“Activists also point to the make up of the pro-Palestinian protests as evidence they are not antisemitic.
“There are hundreds of Jews on the demonstration. In fact, I’ve never experienced the more beautiful energy. I saw no hate, just a kind of a wonderful caring for humanity,” says Alexei Sayle who is both Jewish and also a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.”
Others of course have seen plenty of hate at those demonstrations – as well as support for a terrorist organisation proscribed by the UK – but Maqbool does not provide any alternative view to Sayle’s ‘As a Jew’ whitewashing of their content and aims.
The rest of Maqbool’s report is given over entirely to Sayle’s opinions, including more glossing over of a slogan calling for the annihilation of Israel:
“Referring to the “river to the sea” chant, he insists it is not meant to mean the eradication of Jews in the region.”
Maqbool does not bother to inform BBC audiences that the 2017 document put out by Hamas states that:
“Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” [emphasis added]
A breakdown of Aleem Maqbool’s supposed reporting on the worries currently haunting British Jews shows that while his two Jewish interviewees were afforded 154 and 273 words each in which to express their concerns, Alexei Sayle was given 283 words – 32.4% of the article’s total wordcount – with which to dismiss and belittle their fears.
When the BBC publishes reports such as this, is it really any wonder that so many members of the public are dismayed by their national broadcaster’s ridiculous insistence on taking an ‘impartial’ stance on one particular form of racism and that trust in the BBC’s ability to report on antisemitism has dropped even further?
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BBC NEWS CONTINUES TO IGNORE ANTISEMITISM AT UK ‘PRO-PALESTINIAN’ RALLIES
Absolutely disgusting article of lies and omissions by the Muslim, Maqbool, displaying beyond all doubt the anti-Israel stance by the Iran Propaganda Corporation – aka BBC. And they are after me for my second 4-monthly licence payment to listen to more of this traitorous garbage.
From the river to the bbC
Danny Finkelstein said it well in his Times piece on the 21st Nov: “It’s perfectly plain that if Palestine exists from the river to the sea, Israel cannot. There is no other possible meaning for this slogan. So if it is used by people who want a two-state solution then it is not my fault for misunderstanding their view. They should try chanting something else.”