On January 25th the BBC News website published two reports by Jon Donnison concerning the release of 200 Palestinian inmates – 121 of whom were serving life sentences – in return for four female hostages held since October 7th 2023 in the Gaza Strip.
Donnison’s reporting on that second stage of the ceasefire agreement included a filmed item presented on the BBC News website under the headline “West Bank celebrations as freed Palestinian prisoners return”.
“The BBC’s Jon Donnison watched on in Ramallah as Palestinian prisoners released by Israel were greeted by cheering crowds in the West Bank.
Israel said it freed 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, but 70 of the most serious offenders who were convicted of multiple murders are set to be deported.
Earlier four Israeli hostages returned to Israel after they were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas in Gaza City.
It is the second part of an Israeli hostage release and Palestinian prisoner swap since a ceasefire was agreed earlier this month.”
Donnison’s observations included repeat references to “long beards” and the claim that the released inmates “look pretty thin”. While he was able to tell BBC audiences that the “black, white, red and green” flags seen were Palestinian and the yellow ones represented “the Fatah political movement”, he failed to note the presence of Hamas flags in the crowd.
The BBC News website also published a report by Donnison and George Wright headlined “200 Palestinian prisoners released to jubilant scenes in West Bank” which includes the above filmed report and – while carefully avoiding the word terrorism – tells BBC audiences that:
“More than half of the 200 released had been serving life sentences in Israeli jails – some were convicted of multiple murders, including the killing of Israeli civilians. Others were never charged with a crime.”
However, Donnison failed to provide further information concerning the terrorists he chose to quote and mention in later sections of his report.
“”Thank God! It’s a great feeling, I can’t describe this feeling! I’ve been in jail six years and two months,” released prisoner Bakker Kwaawish said after he got off one of the buses dressed in grey prisoner fatigues.
The youngest Palestinian prisoner released on Saturday was 16 years old. The oldest, Mohammed al-Tous, was 69. He had spent 39 years in jail, having first been arrested in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces.
Another prisoner, Mohammad al-Ardah, was part of a high profile jailbreak in 2021.”
BBC audiences are not informed that Bakker Kwaawish is a member of Hamas who was arrested in December 2018 and charged with offences including assisting the terrorist who carried out the fatal shooting attack at the Barkan Industrial Park earlier that year. Neither are they told that Mohammad al-Ardah is a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or that he was serving three life sentences plus 20 years for carrying out several terror attacks.
Donnison’s portrayal of “the oldest” released prisoner as having “first been arrested in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces” fails to inform BBC audiences that al-Tous is a member of Fatah who, as reported by PMW, was involved in numerous attacks against Israeli civilians:
Neither does Donnison inform BBC audiences that under the Palestinian Authority’s scheme of salaries for terrorists, al-Tous has reportedly been paid over two-and-a-quarter million shekels during his time in prison.
Similar uninformative portrayals appear in another report published on the BBC News website on January 25th under the title “Four Israeli hostages released by Hamas in carefully-staged handover”.
Credited to Nick Beake and Barbara Tasch and citing “Additional reporting by Jon Donnison in the West Bank”, that report similarly avoids mentioning terrorism in the following section:
“Meanwhile in the West Bank, 200 Palestinian prisoners were released to jubilant scenes.
Some of the released prisoners were hoisted aloft by crowds to loud cheers and fireworks after they stepped off buses.
A total of 121 of the 200 released had been serving life sentences in Israeli jails – some were convicted of multiple murders, including the killing of Israeli civilians.
Some of the prisoners had been held for short periods of time, and some were never charged with a crime but were held under something called administrative detention.
The youngest Palestinian prisoner released on Saturday was 16 years old and the oldest was 69.
“Thank God! It’s a great feeling, I can’t describe this feeling! I’ve been in jail six years and two months,” released prisoner Bakker Kwaawish said.”
Once again readers are told nothing of Kwaawish’s PIJ membership or why he had been imprisoned.
Notably, this is the second batch of reporting from Jon Donnison in which he fails to adequately explain the terror links of released inmates.
BBC audiences cannot properly understand the story if they are not provided with an accurate and impartial portrayal of the reasons why those now being released from prison by Israel were detained in the first place and if they are not informed of their links to terrorist organisations which participated in the October 7th 2023 attack on Israel and are holding Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
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