Within hours of my article on the proposed ceasefire the Palestinians and the media adhered exactly to what I had written. Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 50 rockets into Israel after Israel accepted the ceasefire and the media was quiet on this until Israel responded, at which point it was blamed for breaking the ceasefire. These headlines (both with photos and captions of "explosions in Gaza" are currently what is showing on the BBC and Sky front pages. You have to dig deep into the stories to discover that "Israeli sources claim ... rockets were fired during the truce". Meanwhile the Guardian whent much further in pinning the blame on Israel.
The BBC headline "Israel hits Gaza as truce bid fails" links to this article which actually has the headline "Gaza conflict: Israel restarts air strikes amid rocket fire". The Sky Headline
"Israel resumes airstrikes as truce bid fails" links to this article. In response I submitted the following comment:
The Palestinians broke the ceasefire by firing 50 rockets before Israel finally responded. Obviously according to Sky the Palestinians have no responsibility for their actions.The comment was rejected.
Just like my ceasefire text, I really, really want my Rules and Guidelines for Westerners reporting on the Middle East to be simply satire. But with each passing day it seems to be closer and closer to reality.
I have already made formal complaints to the BBC and Sky (others are on to the Guardian).
Update: An hour after I saw the Sky report I noticed they actually changed some of the wording in the article (but not the headline). Specifically
"Israel's airstrikes have resumed in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants reportedly fired rockets at the country."has now been changed to the more accurate:
"Israel's airstrikes have resumed in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants rejected a proposed ceasefire and fired dozens of rockets at the country."
Just watched a nasty vile Kay burley interview on sky where she tried several times to get tony Blair to blame Israel for the current conflict and breaking the ceasefire even though she knows the rockets never stopped. Whatever Israel does will be wrong in the worlds eyes and do we need to treat them with the contempt they deserve.
ReplyDeleteFinding a complaints email contact for sky is a full time job
Steven
ReplyDeleteSky never respond to complaints - I submitted my complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. Interestingly the sky online story (but not the headline) has already been reworded
I've now formally complained to PCC but don't believe anything will come of it.
ReplyDeleteWhilst i agree that the BBC is normally anti Israel, the article you referred to, was in my opinion a very reasonable depiction of the events that occurred. It clearly stated that Israel accepted the ceasefire, and it clearly said they only re started attacking after Hamas continued with rocket fire.
ReplyDeleteEli
ReplyDeleteThe complaint was explicity about the front page and headline. Remember that 90% of people never get beyond that. It is also possible that, like Sky they changed the wording from when it first appeared.