Previously we documented omission and inaccuracy in a February 15th BBC News website report about an attack on UNIFIL personnel near Beirut airport:
OMISSIONS IN BBC REPORT ON ATTACK ON UNIFIL
As noted at the time:
“Atkinson closed her report with the following portrayal of UNIFIL:
“Unifil was created to monitor a buffer zone created near the border with Israel following the end of the 2006 Lebanon war, and has posts throughout southern Lebanon.”
UNIFIL was in fact established in 1978.”
We also observed that:
“As is more often than not the case in BBC reporting, Atkinson refrained from informing readers that in all the years since it was passed in 2006, UN SC resolution 1701 has not been implemented, meaning that UNIFIL failed to meet its primary purpose of overseeing the prohibition of Hezbollah’s military presence in southern Lebanon.”
CAMERA UK submitted a complaint to the BBC on those issues. On February 23rd we were informed that it would take the BBC more time to address our complaint. On February 27th we received a communication which includes the following:
“I note your concern that the article incorrectly stated that UNIFIL was created in 2006 and that you believe the report should have included a line on the body’s failure to clamp down on the military presence of Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
The article no longer states that UNIFIL was created in 2006. It also includes a line to state that its presence in Lebanon increased after a war with Hezbollah: “Unifil was created as a peace monitoring force in southern Lebanon in 1978. Its presence there was stepped up following Israel’s war with Hezbollah in 2006.””
No footnote had been appended to the report in order to inform BBC audiences that they were previously misled on the topic of the date and circumstances of UNIFIL’s founding.
The BBC’s response continues:
“Regarding whether Unifil has met its objectives, the BBC has reported on this in other areas of our online coverage, which I do believe demonstrates due impartiality over time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9j74z7xvmo
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylekwngz8o
All things considered I do believe our overall coverage has been duly fair and accurate in accordance with our editorial guidelines.”
The first of those links leads to a report by Wyre Davies dating from October 15th 2024, one aspect of which was discussed here:
BBC’S WYRE DAVIES MISLEADS ON ISRAELI HISTORY
Davies’ editorialised portrayal of UNIFIL’s decades-long failure to fulfil its mandate is not presented in the BBC’s own words but rather is depicted as ‘accusations’ made by Israel and a “pro-Israel pressure group”. [emphasis added]
“But Israel accuses Unifil of falling woefully short in one of its other key responsibilities. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, the UN was meant to create an area in southern Lebanon free of armed forces other than those of the Lebanese army.
“The UN is a failed organization and Unifil is a useless force that failed to enforce Resolution 1701, failed to prevent Hezbollah from establishing itself in southern Lebanon,” said Israeli cabinet minister Eli Cohen in a recent social media post.
Israel accuses Unifil of having turned a blind eye to Hezbollah’s extensive regrouping and rearming, as the Iranian-backed Shia organisation grew into a formidable fighting force – even bigger than the official Lebanese army. Hezbollah is now proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and other countries.
According to the pro-Israel pressure group, UN Watch, Unifil “did nothing” as “Hezbollah was digging tunnels to invade Israel, kidnap & attack Israeli civilians… and embedding missiles in civilian homes.”
UN Watch and the Israeli Government’s Media office have published several posts in recent days alleging that Hezbollah had been able to operate freely and within clear sight of UN bases and posts along or near the Blue Line.
Tunnels, heavy weaponry and equipment in preparation for attack on Israel have all been discovered after Israeli troops crossed the border into Lebanon.
That, said a belligerent Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video message addressed directly to the UN secretary general this week is why Israel is demanding that Unifil forces withdraw from conflict areas in southern Lebanon.” [emphasis added]
The second of the links provided by BBC Complaints leads to a BBC News website report by Aleks Phillips dating from October 13th 2024 which was discussed here:
BBC NEWS FACILITATION OF UNIFIL TALKING POINTS
Phillips likewise failed to inform readers of UNIFIL’s failure to fulfil its mandate in the BBC’s own words, similarly using the ‘Israel says’ formulation.
“Israel argues that Unifil has failed to stabilise the region and prevent Hezbollah fighters from operating south of the Litani River – among the reasons for a UN presence there.”
As the examples provided by BBC Complaints show, the corporation has not in fact “reported on this in other areas of our online coverage” and has not demonstrated “due impartiality over time”.
Rather, it has for years avoided providing its audiences with accurate and impartial information on the issue of UNIFIL’s failure to meet its primary purpose of overseeing the prohibition of Hezbollah’s military presence in southern Lebanon as defined in the 2006 UN SC resolution 1701. In recent months, when that essential context became unavoidable, the BBC has preferred to portray it as something that ‘Israel says’ is the case.
