On December 18th the BBC News website published an article credited to ‘Newsbeat’ reporters Manish Pandey and Jordan Kenny, with the latter described as “BBC Newsbeat politics reporter”.
Titled ‘Singer Elyanna on Palestinian identity, Coldplay and ‘trusting the process’’, the report opens by describing its subject as a “22-year-old Palestinian-Chilean singer”.
Just two paragraphs later, readers are told that:
“Elyanna was born in Nazareth, an Arab city in northern Israel.
Israeli Arabs descend from Palestinians who became citizens of Israel when the state was established in 1948, many of whom continue to strongly self-identify as Palestinian.”
In other words, as noted by the LAT two years ago, the “Palestinian-Chilean singer” holds an Israeli passport.
While Elyanna is of course entitled to identify as she wishes, her choices – including to claim that Nazareth is in “Palestine” – do not change facts. Nevertheless, Kenny and Pandey tell their readers that:
“Elyanna and her family moved from Nazareth to California in 2017, but she still feels a strong connection to Palestine.”
And:
“One of her songs, Olive Branch, written with her brother and mum, include nods to the people of Palestine, and she says the song is dedicated to them.”
Apparently, Kenny and Pandey need to be reminded that the BBC’s style guide on the topic of Israel and the Palestinians includes the following:
If BBC journalists “should not affix the name ‘Palestine’ to Gaza or the West Bank” then equally obviously, they should also not affix that name to the State of Israel.
‘Newsbeat’ is of course the BBC department with the remit of providing content tailored for young people. Some might consider that those 16 to 24 year-old members of the BBC’s audience would benefit from having geography reported accurately and impartially.
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