In November 2023 BBC Radio 4 provided Mustafa Barghouti with a platform from which to promote his framing of the deal to free some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. As was noted here at the time:
“Barghouti’s main aim in this interview was to promote the pernicious notion of parity between the women and children kidnapped by Hamas and females and minors held by Israel due to their having committed crimes involving violence, terrorism or terror related activities. Throughout the interview he deliberately used the word ‘prisoners’ to describe both Israeli hostages and Palestinians arrested by Israel.”
Days later, the BBC’s Lucy Williamson told visitors to the BBC News website that: [emphasis added]
“Israel’s jailing of large numbers of people on security grounds is widely seen by Palestinians as a tool of the occupation.
Charges range from murder and violent attacks on Israelis to stone-throwing. Many Palestinians say Israel is criminalising acts of resistance by an occupied people – the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) told the BBC all prisoners are detained “according to and under the provisions of the law”.”
“The release of 39 women and teenagers is a tiny drop in the ocean of prisoners, but a massive symbol for Palestinians of their ability to – occasionally – force Israel’s hand.” […]
“To Israel the prisoners it released today are a security threat.
To the Palestinians gathered to greet them, they are victims of Israel’s occupation – and their release is symbolic of a wider goal.”
On August 12th 2024 a shooting attack took place in Qalqilya:
“A Palestinian terrorist shot and seriously wounded an Israeli man, along with two Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Monday evening, the military said.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the gunman opened fire at an Israeli man near a car repair shop in Qalqilya, wounding him seriously.
Another two Palestinians next to him were also hurt, according to the military, although their conditions are not known.
The Israeli man, in his 60s, was rescued by the IDF from Qalqilya and taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, where he was listed in serious condition.”
The perpetrator of that attack was named by the Palestinian Authority as Tariq Daoud, aged 18. As reported by the Israeli media:
“Daoud, a Hamas operative, had been jailed by Israel previously.
He was released in November as part of the hostage deal with Hamas, in which Israel released Palestinian terror convicts and detainees, mostly from the West Bank, in exchange for Israeli civilians abducted by the terror group on October 7.”
Another Hamas terrorist released in November under the same deal – Wael Masha, also aged 18 – was killed on the night of August 14th/15th in Balata while posing a threat to Israeli troops conducting a counter-terrorism operation.
Visitors to the BBC News website have not seen any coverage whatsoever of either of those incidents, meaning that audiences are unaware of the fact that at least two of those it portrayed last November as “children”, “teenagers” and “victims of Israel’s occupation” did indeed pose “a security threat” because they were Hamas operatives who returned to terrorist activities after their release.
That omission is of course all the more relevant given the BBC’s generous – if mostly speculative – coverage of current efforts to reach a ceasefire, which would include the release of hostages in exchange for more Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
Remarkably, a report on that topic by Lucy Williamson and Rushdi Abualouf which appeared on the BBC News website on August 24th under the headline “Israel-Gaza ceasefire: Is a deal still possible?” tells readers that:
“Compromises on prisoner exchanges are seen as easier for the group [Hamas] to swallow than accepting the continued presence of Israel’s army in Gaza, and checkpoints for residents moving north.”
By avoiding stories such as those of Tarek Daoud and Wael Masha, the BBC can continue to promote the notion of parity between Israelis and foreign nationals kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel due to their involvement in violence, terrorism or terror related activities, just as it did ten months ago when it platformed Mustafa Barghouti.
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