h/t GB
The January 15th edition of BBC Radio 5 Live’s ‘5 Live Drive’ included an item (from 2:05:35 here) pertaining to what was at the time an unconfirmed ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organisation.
Presenter Chris Warburton introduced that item with a portrayal of the war which Hamas began on October 7th 2023 by invading Israeli territory and perpetrating an unprecedented massacre as having exclusively taken place “in Gaza”:
Warburton: “A source has told the BBC Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire deal to end fifteen months of war in Gaza.”
Following a contribution from the BBC’s Rushdi Abualouf in Istanbul, Warburton brought in (from 2:07:23) “our correspondent in Jerusalem, Jonah Fisher”, to outline “how that will work”.
The explanation provided by “BBC Climate/Environment correspondent” Jonah Fisher included the following: [emphasis in italics in the original, emphasis in bold added]
Fisher: “The way it will work is every few days, some of those hostages – or the bodies of those hostages – ah…will be released by Hamas and then in return…ah…Israel will reciprocate by releasing, we’ve been told, something in the region of thirty Palestinian hostages from prisons here in Israel for each hostage or a body of a hostage that Hamas gives up.”
Warburton made no effort to correct that misrepresentation of Palestinian prisoners – many of whom were convicted of terrorism offences – as “hostages”. With the programme remaining available online for several weeks to come, even more listeners are likely to be misled by that inaccurate portrayal which promotes false and offensive equivalence between hostages and convicted terrorists.
CAMERA UK has submitted a complaint to the BBC.