On the evening of March 10th a filmed report appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page under the headline “Protests at Dutch Holocaust museum as Israeli president visits”.
Apparently originally presented on BBC News channel TV, that filmed report also appeared at the top of a written report by Rachel Russell titled “Israel’s president Isaac Herzog faces Gaza protest at Dutch Holocaust museum” which was likewise published on the evening of March 10th.
The video includes the following statement from the BBC Europe regional editor, Danny Aeberhard:
Aeberhard: “And one of the things he [Herzog] highlighted was a call for the immediate release of the Jewish hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.” [emphasis added]
Of the 134 hostages still held captive in the Gaza Strip (130 of whom were kidnapped during the October 7th attacks), 123 are Israeli citizens and eleven are foreign nationals, including eight Thai citizens. Among the Israeli hostages are five members of Israel’s Bedouin community: Hisham al-Sayed (who has been held captive since 2015), Farhan al-Qadi (52), Mohammed Altarash (40) and father and son Youssef Ziyadne (53) and Hamza Ziyadne (22).
Isaac Herzog is of course the president of all Israelis, regardless of religion or ethnicity. So did he really call for the release of only “the Jewish hostages” as claimed by Aeberhard?
In fact, President Herzog said the following (from 28:54 here):
Herzog: “Finally, in this shrine of prayer, let us pray for the immediate safe return of our hostages and let us pray for peace…” [emphasis added]
Even if one chooses to interpret the words “our hostages” as meaning only Israelis, that includes five people who belong to the Muslim faith.
CAMERA UK has contacted the BBC to request a correction to Aeberhard’s inaccurate reporting.
In addition, both the written and filmed reports relate to the topic of the ethnicity of some of the protesters. [emphasis added]
Written:
“Activists calling for a ceasefire gathered in a square near the National Holocaust Museum, in the city’s Jewish quarter.
Some people protesting were, themselves, Jewish.
Both Palestinian and Israeli flags were seen being held by demonstrators.
Some protesters climbed onto police vans, and riot police beat them away as they started to throw fireworks and eggs, Dutch media outlet De Telegraaf reported.
Signs were seen reading “Jews against genocide”, and “The grandchild of a holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust.””
Filmed:
“Some of those protesting about Isaac Herzog’s visit were themselves Jewish.”
synopsis: “Signs were seen reading “Jews against genocide”, and “The grandchild of a holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust.“”
As reported by the Times of Israel – those protests were co-organised by a small local anti-Zionist group with a grand total of 585 followers on Twitter which, ironically, calls itself Erev Rav:
“The Netherlands’s National Holocaust Museum opened its doors on Sunday in a ceremony presided over by the Dutch king as well as President Isaac Herzog, whose presence prompted protests led by a local Jewish anti-Zionist group calling for his arrest on war crimes charges due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
A local anti-Zionist group calling itself Erev Rav said in a post on X a day before the opening ceremony that it had reported Herzog to the International Criminal Court and Dutch police “for the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Palestinian people.””
Neither of the BBC’s reports provides audiences with that relevant context.
As always the BBC doing what they can to inflame the situation by incorrectly reporting the truth that was spoken by the President, I do not know why the Israeli government do not sue the BBC on behalf of the President for deformation of character #defundthebbc