BBC’s Bowen states the obvious – but fails to explain

On the evening of January 15th the BBC News website published an article by the corporation’s international editor Jeremy Bowen headlined “Bowen: Long-overdue ceasefire may stop the killing but won’t end the conflict”. Some eight hours later, early on January 16th, the article – which originally read like a list of talking points – underwent a significant overhaul.

The version currently appearing online begins by promoting inaccurate information perhaps provided by one of the Hamas sources frequently used by the BBC, despite that organisation being proscribed by the UK government. [emphasis added]

“A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas would release three female soldiers on the first day of the ceasefire.”

The first three hostages released – named on January 19th as Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher – are not “soldiers”.

Bowen tells readers that:

“The ceasefire is a considerable diplomatic achievement. It’s long overdue. Versions of the deal have been on the table since it was announced by US President Joe Biden in May last year. Hamas and Israel have blamed each other for the delays.”

He refrains from clarifying that the US administration has repeatedly stated that “the delays” were attributable to Hamas, including on the day that his article originally appeared when the US State Department spokesperson told journalists that:

“…I will say really for the past five, six months or so, it has been Hamas that at first was unwilling to negotiate, and then for a while unable to negotiate. So after this period in August when we thought we were getting really – we thought we were getting really close to a deal in July and then in August, we saw Hamas at – around that point just decide that they weren’t going to negotiate off of their position anymore. They had a position and they weren’t going to budge, they weren’t going to move at all. And we were still at the table, Israel still wanted to be at the table; Hamas wasn’t. And that continued for some period of time, and then you had this period of time where Hamas, because of the death of Sinwar, wasn’t able to really make decisions and – could have conversations, but couldn’t negotiate in any kind of meaningful way.

So when you hear us say that Hamas has been the prime obstacle to accepting the deal, that is very much what we have meant. It’s very much been accurate.”

Bowen continues:

“In Khan Younis in Gaza, journalists working for the BBC filmed Palestinians dancing and chanting as it became clear that the ceasefire had been agreed.”

Like his colleague David Gritten, Bowen does not tell readers that armed Hamas terrorists took part in some of the celebrations – including outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis – and he has nothing to tell BBC audiences about the documented chants such as “we are Mohammed Deif’s people”.

As he has been doing for months, Bowen then goes on to laud “Palestinian journalists” in the Gaza Strip, without clarifying that some of those killed had ties to terrorist organisations while others – including at least one hired by the BBC – have made their ‘professional’ loyalties abundantly clear.

“Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza to report freely, so the BBC and other news organisations rely on valiant Palestinian journalists to gather news for us. Reporting of the last 15 months of war would have been impossible without them. Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza.”

Bowen’s article goes on to twice promote a rounded-up version of unverified casualty figures sourced from the terrorist organisation which started the war while failing to clarify that Hamas deliberately does not distinguish between “combatants and civilians”. Bowen even touts a “study” published at The Lancet (and promoted by the BBC) while disregarding its problematic methodology.

“Apart from survival there is not much to celebrate for Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has killed almost 50,000 people at least. More than two million people have been forced out of their homes by Israeli military action.

Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 that killed around 1200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, has left Gaza in ruins. According to the Hamas run health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed almost 50,000 people, both combatants and civilians. A recent study in the Lancet medical journal says that might be a major underestimate.”

Bowen’s report includes several references to “prisoners”:

“Umm Muhammad, an elderly Palestinian woman, told one of our journalists she felt happy and relieved.

“The pain has disappeared a bit, though it’s still there. Hopefully it will be overcome by joy. Let our prisoners get freed and the injured get treated. People are exhausted.” […]

In the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 women, older men and the sick and wounded are due for release in the next six weeks in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners – but the future of the rest of the hostages depends on more negotiations.

Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement, to free the remaining Israeli hostages in return for imprisoned Palestinians and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza are due to start 16 days into the agreement. […]

With luck, political will and hard diplomatic effort the ceasefire will hold despite inevitable violations. With luck, it can stop the killing and get Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and prisoners back to their families.”

Not once, however, does the BBC’s international editor refer to the fact that many of those prisoners are convicted terrorists with the blood of Israelis on their hands. Neither does he adequately inform BBC audiences about the disparity in the terms of the deal:

“For each of the living women, children and elderly, 30 Palestinian prisoners will be released; for all nine sick hostages, 110 prisoners will be released; for each of the female IDF soldiers, 50 prisoners will be released; for hostages Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held in Gaza for a decade, 30 prisoners will be released for each, in addition to 47 Palestinians released in the 2011 Shalit deal and re-arrested; and for the bodies of hostages in the first stage, Israel will release the 1,000+ Gazan detainees.”

Bowen also manages to make more than 370 missile and drone attacks on Israel by the Houthis completely disappear from the story.

“The Houthis in Yemen have halted much of the shipping between Europe and Asia that passes the Red Sea. Now reports say that they have announced their own ceasefire. Since they started attacking shipping early in the war they have said that only a ceasefire in Gaza would stop them.”

The most notable part of Bowen’s article, however, is his refusal to explain the decidedly obvious statement made in its headline: “Long-overdue ceasefire may stop the killing but won’t end the conflict”. Although no-one with any knowledge of the issue has claimed otherwise, he ends his report by telling readers that:

“But after 15 months of war in Gaza, the conflict which has lasted more than a century is as bitter and intractable as ever.

The ceasefire doesn’t end the conflict. The consequences of so much destruction and death will be felt for a generation, at least.”

In other words, although the BBC’s international editor is already ‘explaining’ future rounds of conflict by citing “destruction and death” in the Gaza Strip (without of course mentioning that Israel disengaged from that territory twenty years ago), he has nothing whatsoever to tell the corporation’s audiences about the fanatical ideologies of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups – including their aim to dismantle Israel – which is the real reason why the conflict continues. Notably, he also has nothing at all to say about the high rate of return to terrorism by Palestinian prisoners released under previous deals, including the Hamas terrorist who gave the order to start the current war. 

Related Articles:

THE BBC’S OWN RECORD DEBUNKS JEREMY BOWEN’S ‘FREE ACCESS’ CLAIMS

BBC NEWS WEBSITE AIRBRUSHES HAMAS CHIEF’S CEASEFIRE SPEECH

BBC PROMOTES THE LANCET REPORT ON GAZA CASUALTY FIGURES

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1 Comment

  1. says: Neil C

    No words can describe Bowen’s despicable stance on Israel based upon his own stupid mistakes of the past. It is bizarre though that even the BBC report falls short of 50,000 deaths, which is a far cry from the PSC marching in London with banners stating 186000 deaths. The figures are more like
    20,000 terrorists killed
    11,000 natural deaths based upon world averages for 15 months
    8000 civilians.
    4000 unverifiable with incorrect registration details giving a total of 43, 000. No other army in the world has or could have achieved that level of citizen protection Bowen is a racist bigot who needs putting out to grass. Notice how all those cars were driving around with fat overweight fighters waving guns around in glee.
    Famine no never
    Genocide no never
    Well pressed clean uniforms being worn. The media should be ashamed of themselves and the world have been conned thanks to other organisations all of which need defunding and disbanding like the UNITED NATIONS, UNWRA , WHO , Am Nasty International. The Red Cross War on Want. Not one Israel hostage has been visited in fifteen months or given medication by the Red Cross what a shameful organisation.
    #defundthebbc #journalismisdead #shutdownunwra # defundtheun

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