[Boycott - Media Bias] Panorama parrots Israel’s propaganda
Socialist Worker, Issue 2215 (21 August 2010) 17 August 2010 Israel’s barbaric attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla at the end of May caused outrage around the world. Many more people realised Israel was an aggressor, not a victim.
Jane Corbin, with the Israeli commando unit
responsible for the flotilla massacre, parroting Israel's
propaganda
But since shooting nine peace activists dead, the Israeli state has led a concerted attempt to rewrite history—making their commandos the victims of an assault by “terrorists”.
Shamefully the BBC went along with this in Monday’s Panorama programme.
Anyone unfamiliar with the story would not have learned that the Freedom Flotilla was made up of international pro-Palestinian activists taking aid to Gaza. The impression given was that it was simply an Islamist intervention by IHH, the Turkish NGO.
The only footage shown was provided by the Israeli military (IDF) —after all, it had confiscated all cameras from the convoy.
One IHH supporter said that if he died taking aid to Palestine he would be a martyr. This was presented as if it was a suicide bomber’s video, and he was planning to die.
Activists were shown sawing metal railings from the boat as the IDF approached. This was apparently evidence that the flotilla had planned the violence—rather than evidence that desperate people look for any way to defend themselves.
Immediately after the attack the IDF said that its soldiers had been shot, though it soon had to withdraw this allegation. It released a recording it claimed was broadcast from the flotilla, telling the Israelis, “Shut up, go back to Auschwitz.”
The IDF soon backed off, admitting that the recording had been doctored. But both these allegations were included in the “evidence” presented by Panorama.
And the programme repeated as fact Israel’s lying defence that problems in Gaza are down to the rise of the Islamist movement Hamas and IDF attacks are a measured response to rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.
This is not simply about media bias. Israel is now putting the United Nations (UN) under pressure to tone down its investigation into the attack.
Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, is happy to go along with this. The four-member panel will include a representative each from Turkey and Israel, but, she said, “This panel is not a substitute for those national investigations” by Turkey and Israel. Instead, “It complements them.”
Israel’s investigation is set to be a whitewash. And the Financial Times reports that Barack Obama warned the Turkish government to stop criticising Israel or risk losing a massive arms deal from the US.
In one of its more bizarre passages Panorama accused the flotilla of being “political”, rather than being serious about delivering aid. As if there was a distinction between the two in the case of Gaza.
And keeping that political momentum going is vital, which is why socialists should support the new Viva Palestina convoy, which leaves to take more aid to Gaza on 18 September.
Source: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=22163
The BBC’s gift to Israel: a distorted documentary about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Ken O’Keefe 19 August 2010
Kenneth O’Keefe, who witnessed the Israeli assault on the Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, highlights the prejudices, distortions and lies of the BBC, whose Panorama programme on 15 August propagated the Israeli line regarding the assault on the aid ship and murder of nine peace activists, hook, line and sinker.
…the BBC, absent of integrity, contemptuous of humanity, attempts in this programme to turn disarmed, helpless Israeli commandos into heroic self-rescuing commandos who, like supermen, managed to whiz their way out of a circle of well over 100 highly-motivated men whose brothers lay murdered with multiple gunshot wounds.
If you haven’t already seen it, check out BBC Panorama’s “Death in the Med” programme and you’ll be treated to first class propaganda as only the BBC can deliver.
I am one of the passengers/witnesses interviewed for this programme and I am very much aware of the BBC’s role in justifying war and covering up Israeli crimes. I am in no way naive about this; on the contrary, my motivation in giving the interview had lain largely in the all-too-likely opportunity to expose the BBC.
This is a pertinent aim, considering the BBC’s role in the slaughter of over one million Iraqis – a direct role by virtue of its attempted justification of the war. From the start and right up to the present, the BBC had tried to justify the Iraq war, a massive war crime and crime against humanity based entirely on lies (propagated intensely by the BBC). The British Broadcasting Corporation, synonymous with millions of orphans and refugees and countless lives destroyed in Iraq, beating the drums of war without pause, the ultimate prostitutes of propaganda.
Against this background, I solicited an agreement from the BBC producers: in return for my interview, the programme would include the fact that we disarmed, captured and ultimately released three Israeli commandos, after giving them medical attention, no less. That was the deal, which I recorded and you can listen to here (below right).
And yes the poor Israeli commandos were beaten, just as any invader in any capable person’s home would be beaten. I take no issue with that fact.
In fact, the Israeli commandos we captured should thank us for their lives. I ask the Israeli, British and American peoples directly: if your home was invaded and your family murdered, would you be willing to capture, disarm, and then set the murderer of your family free?
You can lie to yourself if you like and bury your head right deep down in the sand, but that ship, the Mavi Marmara, was our home, and we were all brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles, united as one family and engaged in a most righteous cause, with the vast majority of the planet behind us. The primary beneficiary of our mission: over 800,000 innocent children
For those lost in the pit of ignorance and indoctrination, those currently stripped of all reason and conscience, duped and hoodwinked, I know you very well because once upon a time I was one of you, a US Marine robot volunteering to kill or be killed. I see my past self in the Zionist who has no capacity at this moment to think, for in that state it is all about regurgitation, independent thought is but a mere possibility. For you, I harbour no hate – for nobody, actually – rather, what I have is pity, pity for you that you sacrifice the greatest gift of all, the gift of humanity.
And so it is that the BBC, absent of integrity, contemptuous of humanity, attempts in this programme to turn disarmed, helpless Israeli commandos into heroic self-rescuing commandos who, like supermen, managed to whiz their way out of a circle of well over 100 highly-motivated men whose brothers lay murdered with multiple gunshot wounds. That is what we call a bald-faced lie, a big-time, in-your-face lie that treats you the audience as a bunch of drooling idiots.
Away from the Zionist parallel universe, the fact is that we held in our power the fate of three boy commandos who may well have committed murder on that night. Think about that, despite the circumstances, we let them go. That is what we call preserving life.
It is not that the BBC does not know the truth. There are literally hundreds of witnesses and the facts of what happened on the Mavi Marmara are in great abundance. It is simply that the BBC slavishly considers that it has a duty to produce a Zionist storyline of illusions and deceptions. And so the story went that we were the aggressors, “terrorists”, “extremists” and killers. Only in this context can the poor Israeli commandos be victims. Why, if we were killers, would we capture commandos only to set them free? The answer is self- evident, and that is precisely why Panorama blatantly lied.
…the BBC slavishly considers that it has a duty to produce a Zionist storyline of illusions and deceptions. And so the story went that we were the aggressors, ‘terrorists’, ‘extremists’ and killers.
The BBC says there is doubt who fired first. To the hundreds of us on the Mavi Marmara and the other ships, there is indeed no doubt at all who shot whom and when. The Israelis have said we shot at them; well, where are their gunshot wounds? And even if you have gunshot wounds, how do we know you did not shoot yourselves, exactly as you did in “Operation Cast Lead”?
Returning once again from the Zionist parallel universe, the fact is that the Israeli military attacked us in international waters and committed murder within the first five minutes of the attack. The attack resulted in scores of gunshot wounds and death in rapid succession. Blood was spilled all over the ship. In that environment I took possession of a 9mm pistol that I removed from one of the Israeli commandos – and I emptied it of the (real) bullets! Other weapons were seized by other brothers and thrown into the sea, including an assault rifle. Yet, when I and others had the power to end life – and believe me it was as simple as releasing the safety catch, pointing and shooting – we didn’t. Instead, we preserved life by taking those weapons away from established killers; we prevented them from killing more people. We literally saved our lives and their lives. That is what we call cold, hard facts.
We could have taken out at least three of the Israeli commandos but we did not. No, we let them go.
The BBC mentioned the fact that we were in international waters only at the very end of the programme, as if this were an insignificant fact. The fact is that the Israelis stole all the footage that they could lay their hands on, footage that clearly would have shown them firing four bullets into the head of the 19-year-old American passenger, Furkan Dogan. But for the BBC this was no problem. Executing people at close range? No worries. The fact that the blockade itself is illegal? Nah, don’t mention that. More than 800,000 children in Gaza malnourished, anaemic, traumatized? Not important.
I would need to review this programme many times over to identify every poisoned tactic that the BBC employed in order to do what it does so well: justify murder and war.
The BBC’s perversion of the truth will elevate the cause of justice immensely. Delegitimizing itself in such grand fashion was indeed a great big gift.
Hats off to ya, BBC!
Source: http://www.redress.cc/global/kokeefe20100819#audio
Action Alert: Complain to BBC
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
BBC Panorama (16/8/2010) claimed to show ‘what really happened' aboard the Mavi Marmara on the night of 31 May 2010.
However, it was an extremely biased piece of reporting which portrayed the activists on board as violent terrorists who set out to attack Israeli soldiers.
Watch the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00thr24
Complain >>
Please write to the BBC asking the following questions:
- Why was Israel's ‘right' to board the ship presumed throughout the programme?
- Why did the programme completely fail to mention that Israel's siege of Gaza has been declared illegal by the UN? The assumption was made that Israel has the right to blockade Gaza, while the motives of those attempting to break an illegal blockade were questioned.
- Why did Jane Corbin not mention the bombs, rockets and white phosphorus dropped on Gaza by Israel during Operation Cast Lead over a three week period in 2008/9, killing 1,400 people? She did, however, mention the ‘thousands of rockets' fired from Gaza into Israel, but did not say over what time period.
- Why was the Israeli evidence of how and when they killed the activists unquestioned? Activists who were on the top deck of the ship say the first person was killed - shot from a helicopter - before any Israeli had even landed on the deck. However, none of these activists were interviewed.
- Activists shot footage of the Israeli attack, but their cameras, laptops and other recording equipment was taken by the Israelis and has not been returned. Why was this point not raised during the programme, or put to the Israeli spokespeople?
- Why were the autopsy reports - which reveal that each victim was shot several times at close range, in a way that can't constitute self-defence - not used, or even mentioned?
- Why was there no footage of the Israeli assaults on the activists - which led to nine deaths?
- Jane Corbin never questions the use of the word ‘terrorists' to describe the activists, or their alleged willingness to attack the commandoes. Why does she then fail to examine why there were no fatalities or serious injuries among the Israeli commandoes, when these ‘terrorists' were so willing to attack?
- Why were there no interviews with any of the British activists on board the ship, or with any of the journalists who were on board?
- Why was it not pointed out that the IDF has admitted doctoring the audio footage used in the programme, that the BBC claims was broadcast from the captain's deck?
Further points you can make to the BBC:
Israel's ‘right' to board the ship is presumed throughout the programme:
- At no point during the programme does Jane Corbin question Israel's decision to board the ship, or its right to do so. It is assumed as a given that this was an accepted course of action.
- However, Israeli forces boarded the ship while it was in international waters. This is mentioned only once, almost in passing. There is no examination during the programme about the illegality of this, or any reference to maritime law which clearly marks Israel's boarding of the ship as illegal. If this had been established at the start, the entire premise of the programme might have been different.
- Jane Corbin states more than once that the activists' readiness to defend their ship ‘could lead to confrontation'. She therefore questions the right to defence. In balance, she should also question the right of Israel to attack but fails to do so. Surely Israel's readiness to board a ship in international waters, its commandoes armed and ready to use their weapons, could also lead confrontation?
- If Israel's intentions in boarding the ship were peaceful, why did the commandoes board in the early hours of the morning, in the dark, instead of during daylight hours? Israel's motives in its choice of timing warranted questioning, but the time of the attack wasn't even mentioned.
The programme continually questions why the activists were ‘really' going to Gaza, but fails to thoroughly examine this point:
- Israel's siege of Gaza has been declared illegal by the UN, and UN Resolution 1866 calls for its immediate end, but at no point during the programme was the illegality of the siege mentioned. Again, the assumption was made that Israel has the right to blockade Gaza, while the motives of those attempting to break an illegal blockade are questioned.
- If the blockade of Gaza by Israel has been declared illegal by the UN, then Israel's actions in stopping and boarding an international ship sailing to Gaza would also be illegal. The ship would have a right to sail to Gaza, but this point was not examined by the programme. As mentioned before, the BBC assumed, without question, that Israel had a right to board the boat.
- Jane Corbin stated that ‘thousands of rockets' have been fired from Gaza into Israel. She did not state over what time period. She glaringly omitted to mention the bombs, rockets and white phosphorus dropped on Gaza by Israel during Operation Cast Lead over a three week period in 2008/9, killing 1,400 people, including women and children. Nor did she mention Israel's continuous shelling of Gaza, which in July 2010 caused three civilian deaths and scores of injuries. Might the relief of the people of Gaza from Israeli siege and attack have been justifiably cited as a possible motivation for those on board the ships?
The programme makes a mockery of itself when describing the ‘weaponry' used by either side:
- The activists are described as having bars, hoses, one chain, stones, junk and chairs.
- There are no details about the number of Israeli soldiers, helicopters and warships used.
- However, Jane Corbin states that the commandoes were armed with ‘non-lethal weapons. However, each man carried a pistol'. In BBC language, is a pistol really a ‘non-lethal' weapon?
- She doesn't feel the need to point out that the activists were armed with non-lethal weapons, and, in addition, were not carrying pistols.
- There are constant comments by the Israeli soldiers that they thought the activists wanted to ‘finish us off' and ‘kill us all'. Apart from the obvious point, again not examined, that this would be impossible with chairs and junk, it was once more assumed by the BBC that the activists were the aggressors while Israeli commandoes only fired in self-defence, despite the fact they had boarded the ship in international waters - surely an attack and act of aggression in itself?
Jane Corbin talks about IHH recruiting ‘fellow Islamists' to join them on board and states that the organisation's headquarters are in the ‘most Islamic area of Istanbul'
- What is the relevance of the second comment? Where is her evidence for making it?
- Why is she giving the aid flotilla a religious context when it had none? Again, she presents no evidence of the recruitment of ‘fellow Islamists'.
- She does not mention that were other boats in the flotilla, from a variety of countries, including Ireland, all of which were violently attacked by Israel despite putting up no resistance. Nor does she state that there were people of many nationalities and different religions on board the Mavi Marmara, including European and US Parliamentarians and dignitaries. They were going to address a humanitarian need.
Other questions to ask:
- Why was the Israeli evidence of how and when they killed the activists unquestioned? Activists who were on the top deck of the ship say the first person was killed - shot from a helicopter - before any Israeli had even landed on the deck.
- Why were the autopsy reports - which reveal that each victim was shot several times at close range, in a way that can't constitute self-defence - not used, or even mentioned?
- Why were there no interviews with any of the British activists on board the ship, or with any of the journalists who were on board?
- Why was it not pointed out that the IDF has admitted doctoring the audio footage used in the programme, that the BBC claims was broadcast from the captain's deck?
Source: http://palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=24&Content_ID=1445
Action Alert: Next Step - Complain to Ofcom
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Thank you to all PSC members who wrote to the BBC following its Panorama broadcast on Monday (16 Aug).
Many of you will have by now received a reply from BBC Audience Services, justifying the broadcast about Israel's deadly assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla as 'balanced and impartial'.
This is not good enough, and we're now asking you to take the next steps needed to keep up the pressure on the BBC and bring it to account for this shockingly biased piece of reporting.
What to do next:
1. Write to Ofcom - the independent regulator in the UK for the communications industry - asking it to investigate 'Death on the Med'. A template letter can be found below.
How to make a complaint to Ofcom:
a) Call Ofcom on 0300 123 3333 or 020 7981 3040 (Press 4 for your first option choice, then 2, then 1 to get through to 'Complaints about TV broadcasting').
b) Tell the person who answers the phone that you'd like to make a written complaint about a BBC programme. You'll be asked to provide the name of the programme, the channel it was shown on and the date and time (this information can be found in the template letter). You'll also be asked for your name, address and telephone number, and will then be issued with a reference number.
c) Email the template letter provided, or your own complaint, to occbroadcast@ofcom.org.uk Include the details of the programme (name, channel, date and time of broadcast), and your own name, address and telephone number. Also include the reference number you've been given.
d) Alternatively, you can give the details of your complaint over the phone
e) If you prefer, you can write to Ofcom at Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 9HA
2. Write back to the BBC
Stage 1:
a) Tell them you're not satisfied with their response, and that you now want your complaint to be dealt with formally by the BBC Executive.
b) Include the case number given to you by BBC Audience Services (you'll find this in the subject line of their reply email). Ask for a case number if you haven't been given one. This will enable you to follow the progress of the complaint.
c) Include your original complaint in the email.
d) You may want to tell them that you have also submitted a request to Ofcom to investigate the programme.
Stage 2:
a) If after two more exchanges, you have not received a satisfactory response, write to The Editorial Complaints Unit, Room 5168, BBC White City, 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TS.
b) Your letter should not exceed 1,000 words (about four pages). Provide a one-page summary of your complaint.
c) Include the reference number, date and details of your final correspondence to and from the BBC Executive. This written complaint is important as it will be the main basis for deciding whether an appeal is taken on by the Editorial Complaints Unit.
Stage 3:
a) If an investigation by the Editorial Complaints Unit proves to be unsatisfactory, you can request an appeal to the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee.
b) For more information on this procedure, and a detailed guide on complaining to the BBC click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/protocols/2010/complaints_fr_work_ed_complaints.pdf
Panorama: Death on the Med can be viewed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00thr24
LETTER TO OFCOM Email this letter, or your own, to Ofcom (see How to make a complaint to Ofcom above):
Dear Regulator
Name of programme: Panorama ‘Death on the Med'
Broadcast channel: BBC1
Date of broadcast: 16 August 2010
Time of broadcast: 20:00
I'm writing to request an investigation of the above programme under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (2009).
I believe the broadcast breached Ofcom's rules on due impartiality. In particular:
- The programme mentioned only once that the incident took place in international waters. There was no mention of, or examination of, maritime law regulating the protection of international shipping which states that the forceful boarding of a boat in international waters is illegal. The Israeli claim that commandos had a right to board the ship was accepted without question.
- Israel's four year siege of Gaza - which the flotilla was attempting to break - was mentioned briefly. However, viewers were not informed that the siege has been declared illegal by the UN, nor that Israel refuses to comply with UN resolutions to lift it. There was no indication of the desperate conditions inside Gaza, which the British PM has described as a ‘prison camp'. Yet these facts are significant when questioning - as the presenter, Jane Corbin, did - the motivation of people on the flotilla.
- Ms Corbin, referred to the ‘thousands of rockets' fired from Gaza into Israel. She did not say over what time period these were fired. Not a single reference was made to Israel's continuous attacks on Gaza, for example the bombs, rockets and white phosphorus dropped by Israel on Gaza during its three week assault in 2008/9, which killed 1,400 Palestinians.
- Israeli soldiers interviewed spoke freely of their fear that the activists on the Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara, were going to ‘kill us all' and ‘finish us off'. However, no airtime was given to the passengers' accounts of the violence used against them by Israeli commandos, which resulted in the deaths of nine activists.
- The programme, despite being entitled ‘Death on the Med', barely mentioned the deaths of the nine activists killed by Israeli commandos. There was no examination of how they died, the level of violence used against them, or whether their deaths were avoidable. No use, or even mention, was made of the autopsy reports (mostly indicating shots to the head), and the programme also failed to mention that a further 50 passengers suffered serious gunshot injuries. However, a great deal of airtime was spent attempting to prove violence on the part of the activists.
- There was no mention of the five other boats that made up the aid flotilla in addition to the Mavi Marmara. The programme reduced the flotilla to a one-boat, Turkish show, instead of showing it as the huge international effort it actually was.
- The programme failed to mention that the other five boats on the flotilla were stormed (with the use of gas and sound bombs) and violently boarded by Israeli commandos, despite offering no resistance, with injuries being suffered by the passengers on board.
- Viewers were not told that all footage taken by the activists, their cameras and laptops, were confiscated by Israel and have not been returned. Consequently, any footage used in the programme, including footage of gas masks and knives which Israel claims it found on the boat, has been supplied by Israeli sources. This should have been made clear.
- The programme used constant footage of Israeli commandos being attacked by activists, but none of the Israeli assault on the activists - of which footage must exist - which left nine dead.
I believe the broadcast also breached Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that a journalist's right to freedom of expression is subject to ‘the protection of the reputation or rights of others'. In particular:
- The activists who took part in the flotilla were continually referred to as ‘terrorists' by Israeli soldiers and spokespeople interviewed on the programme. This went unchallenged by the presenter, Jane Corbin, and no evidence was provided to back up the claims.
- Ms Corbin repeated Israel's widely known false allegations about the Turkish organisation, IHH, being a terrorist organisation, but no evidence was provided to substantiate this, and viewers were not informed that IHH carries out charity work around the world, not just in the Middle East.
- Ms Corbin stated that IHH had attempted to recruit ‘fellow Islamists' to join the flotilla. No evidence was given for this, or for the implied claim that IHH is an ‘Islamist' organisation. Viewers were not told that passengers on the Mavi Marmara, and on all the boats in the flotilla, consisted of many nationalities and religions, and included European and US dignitaries and Parliamentarians.
- Ms Corbin said IHH's headquarters are based ‘in the most Islamic area of Istanbul'. There was no relevance to this comment, which served only to enforce the Islamophobic and racist tone of the programme. No evidence was provided to back up her claim.
There were also factual inaccuracies in the programme. In particular:
- Jane Corbin, stated, incorrectly, that the ruling party in Gaza, Hamas, refuses to recognise Israel. In 2006, Hamas recognised Israel's right to exist and, in return, asked for a negotiated two-state solution.
- The programme aired an audio recording, which it claimed was broadcast from the captain's deck of the Mavi Marmara during the Israeli assault on the ship. However, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) issued a statement on 5 June 2010 admitting that it had doctored the recording in question. This was not mentioned by Ms Corbin.
The statement can be viewed here: http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/06/05/clarificationcorrection-regarding-audio-transmission-between-israeli-navy-and-flotilla-on-31-may-2010-posted-on-5-june-2010/
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Source: http://palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=24&Content_ID=1455
BBC accused of bias over Panorama report on raid
Jake Kanter, Broadcast 19 August 2010
The BBC is facing a protest this weekend following its Panorama documentary on the Israeli raid on a Palestinian aid flotilla, with complaints beginning to flood in after a campaign by lobby groups.
As of Tuesday, the BBC had received 100 complaints claiming bias in Monday’s Death In The Med investigation, but the number is believed to have surged later in the week as a result of lobbying from various groups, including the Muslim Defence League.
The MDL is planning to stage a protest at Television Centre this weekend, spearheaded by prominent activist Ken O’Keefe. As Broadcast went to press, more than 110 people had confirmed they would attend the demonstration via a Facebook group.
“The BBC once again aired and spread propaganda on Israel’s behalf. Enough is enough,” the Facebook page said. Furthermore, a BBC blog soliciting comments on the show has attracted more than 240 responses, with the majority pointing to what one respondent claimed was “crude” sympathy for the Israeli cause.
A BBC spokesman said Panorama was “impartial and balanced” in its investigation of the raid. “Panorama went to great lengths to give opposing sides the opportunity to air their views, including speaking to organisers of the Mavi Marmara’s aid mission, various activists who were on the ship, Israeli naval commandos, the person who led the Israeli military inquiry, and a leading Hamas official.”
It is not the first time that the BBC has attracted criticism for its reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2006, the results of an independent review into its reporting of the situation cleared the corporation of bias, but branded coverage “incomplete” and “misleading”.
Source: http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/regulation/complaints-log/bbc-accused-of-bias-over-panorama-report-on-raid/5017154.article
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