Remarks made by the US president during a press conference following the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the White House on February 4th prompted a flurry of filmed and written reports on the BBC News website in the hours that followed.
While most of the BBC’s reporting was highly repetitive and predictable, one aspect of the across-the-board framing of the story stood out in particular: monotone portrayal of the reactions of Palestinians to Trump’s proposal to “build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza”.
Filmed reports appearing on the BBC News website (as well as in some of the written articles) included the following:
“‘I don’t think people should go back there’ – Trump’s plan for Gazans after war”
“Watch: What President Trump has said about Gaza”
“BBC Verify: Can Trump really take ownership of Gaza?”
“President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
BBC Verify’s Nick Eardley examines international law to understand if the US has the authority to do so.”
“Watch: Palestinians react to Trump’s Gaza comments”
“Palestinians have said they will not leave Gaza after US President Donald Trump said he wanted his country to “take over” the territory.
“After all we’ve been through, how could we agree to such a decision?”, one woman told BBC Arabic.
Trump’s comments, which have been met with shock and condemnation from many, come amid questions about Gaza’s post-conflict future as a ceasefire is under way between Hamas and Israel.”
“People of Gaza must be allowed home, says Starmer”
“BBC’s Sarah Smith unpacks Trump’s wish for US to ‘own’ Gaza”
The BBC News website also ran a Live Page on February 4th – 5th which included entries such as the following:
Some of the written reports appearing on the BBC News website included the same messaging.
“Trump proposes the US taking ownership of Gaza Strip” Bernd Debusmann Jr and Nadine Yousif
“Trump’s Gaza plan will be seen as flying in face of international law” Tom Bateman
“For ordinary Palestinians, it would amount to a mass act of collective punishment.”
“Palestinians and Arab states reject Trump’s Gaza takeover proposal” David Gritten
“The head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, Husam Zomlot, told the BBC: “It’s a call for ethnic cleansing, for the forced displacement and expulsion of a people from their native land. It is immoral, it is illegal, and it is dangerous.” […]
Palestinians in Gaza also said the plan was completely out of the question.
“We have endured nearly a year and a half of bombings and destruction, yet we remain in Gaza,” one man told BBC Arabic.
“We would rather die in Gaza than leave it. We will stay here until we rebuild it. Trump can do as he pleases, but we firmly reject his decisions.””
“Trump says Israel will hand over Gaza to US after fighting ends” Tinshui Yeung
“Israel minister tells army to plan for Palestinians leaving Gaza” David Gritten
Reports which appeared on pages other than the ‘Middle East’ page included a vox pop with Palestinian Americans, one of whom – presented as an “author and activist” – has previously appeared in BBC content.
“Trump’s real-estate instincts clash with his America First worldview” Anthony Zurcher
“Trump’s proposal flies in the face of the deeply held wishes of the Palestinian people and has been summarily rejected by the Arab nations that would have to play an integral part in resettling those displaced from war-torn Gaza.”
“‘Angry’, ‘numb’ – Palestinian Americans on Trump’s Gaza comments” Brandon Drenon
“Palestinian-Americans across the US have expressed outrage at Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” Gaza, a place many of them still consider home.
“Our right of return, it’s something we’ve thought about our whole lives,” Iman Kishawi, who was born in Gaza but now lives in the Los Angeles area, told the BBC.
She said she was “very angry” over what President Trump has said, asking: “Who are you to own the land?”” […]
“Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinian-American author and activist, said she was “stunned”.
“It was appalling,” the Maryland resident told the BBC.
“It just showed an utter sort of callous disdain and disregard for Palestinian lives and Palestinian humanity and Palestinian dignity, like it’s as though they’re just a pawn that are being played around with,” she continued.
“He was talking about Palestinians as though, again, they existed in some vacuum, as though they had just been the unfortunate victims of some natural disaster.””
Only three of the BBC’s reports made any mention whatsoever of the possibility that there might be residents of the Gaza Strip who would take the opportunity to relocate and that there are those – including BBC staff – who already did so.
“Why does Trump want to take over Gaza and could he do it?” Paul Adams
“Some Palestinians would likely choose to leave Gaza and rebuild their lives elsewhere. Since October 2023, as many as 150,000 already have.
But others cannot or will not, either because they lack the financial means to do so or because their attachment to Gaza – part of the land they call Palestine – is simply too strong.”
“Jeremy Bowen: Trump’s Gaza plan won’t happen, but it will have consequences” Jeremy Bowen
“Some – perhaps many – Palestinians in Gaza might be tempted to get out if they had the chance.
But even if a million left, as many as 1.2m others would still be there.
Presumably the United States – the new owners of Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” – would have to use force to remove them.”
“‘We won’t go out of Gaza’: Palestinians express shock and defiance at Trump plan” Yolande Knell and Rushdi Abualouf
“Even if it costs us our souls, we will not leave Gaza,” said Mahmoud Bahjat, who is from the north. “We are against Trump’s decision. He ended the war but displacing us would end our lives.” […]
“Standing between rows of plastic sheeting in the Deir al-Balah camp, Jamalat Wadi says that her family has now sacrificed enough and that they are determined to build a new home.
“We endured a year and half of war. When [the Israeli military] finally withdraw from here, we want to remove the rubble and live on the land.”
“After the US made Israel destroy our houses in Gaza, he is telling us that Gaza is destroyed and we have to leave?” Ms Wadi goes on. “If there is only one drop of blood left in our children, we won’t go out of Gaza. We won’t give up on it!””
Towards the end of that report, however, readers also find the following:
“Bilal al-Rantisi, a former customs worker, is in shock after arriving back in Gaza City with his wife and four children having spent more than a year displaced in the south.
“We have returned to a catastrophe, the worst in history,” he said despondently. “I found neither my home nor my siblings’ homes were standing. Trump doesn’t speak in vain. He knows that Gaza is no longer a place fit for human habitation.”
He said he was hoping to sell his car and his wife’s gold jewellery to raise funds.
“I will leave Gaza at the earliest possible opportunity. Yes, all Gazans oppose displacement but putting emotions aside, if people were given the chance, many would choose to leave.”” [emphasis added]
In other words, the BBC journalists who produced at least seventeen items of content on this story only managed to find one person whose opinion differs from the overall narrative promoted in those reports.
That is particularly notable given that even before the current war began, the Gaza Strip (which the BBC had been telling its audiences since 2012 was about to become uninhabitable) had seen mass emigration of over a quarter of a million people – primarily young adults. As reported by the ITIC:
“In June 2024, Dr. Khalil Shikaki’s Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published the results of a survey which focused on emigration and was conducted among residents of the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria between September 28 and October 8, 2023. According to the so-called Arab Barometer poll, 44% of young people in Gaza (aged 18 to 29), 38% of all men and 31% of Fatah operatives (compared to 14% of Hamas operatives) had considered emigrating. Among respondents in Gaza, 54% cited economic reasons as the primary factor, followed by educational opportunities (18%), security concerns (7%), corruption (7%), and political reasons (5%). Turkey was mentioned as the leading destination (22%), followed by Germany (16%), Canada (12%, and Qatar (10%) (PCPSR website, June 26, 2024).”
Whatever one’s opinion of Donald Trump’s proposals, it is clear that the BBC’s framing of the story does not adequately reflect the fact that there are not insignificant numbers of Palestinians whose views do not conform to the monotone narrative it chooses to promote.
So far as the IPC (aka BBC) is concerned – if it emanates from Trump, it’s no good.
If it emanates from Iran (via Hamas), it’s true and it’s great.