InsIDe: - Palestine Solidarity Campaign

10 palestine news reportsspring2011BBC silent onescalation of killingsFor a few months after Operation Cast Lead, when over 1,400Gazans were killed in three weeks up to January 2009, itlooked as though the international outrage this provoked mighthave curbed the Israeli appetite for lethal violence. But in 2010the death toll began to rise again: 68 killed in Gaza and 14 in theWest Bank (including 9 children) by the IDF and settlers. In the sameperiod five Israeli settlers were killed in the West Bank and twosoldiers in Gaza.*From the beginning of this year there has been a steep rise inPalestinian deaths — including the shooting of a number of youngchildren who came within 300 metres of the perimeter fence. Butthis appears to be of little interest to the BBC. The indifferencereached a peak in late March, when eight Palestinians, including twochildren, were killed and 35 injured in one sustained bombing raidon Gaza: there was no mention of this at all.PSC monitors listened to every BBC newscast the following daybut there was nothing — except a report of two rockets fired intoSouthern Israel from Gaza (no injuries or casualties). The next daythe bomb blast that killed a woman in West Jerusalem was reportedin detail by the BBC: name, age, profession, family situation, eventhe number of the bus she was waiting for.Even when Palestinian deaths are reported, no details are given,only the barest statistics. Victims are faceless and nameless. Is thelife of 17-year-old YousefFakhri Ikhlayl, shot inthe head on 29 Januaryby marauding settlersnear Hebron, worthless?Or that of 66 year-oldOmar Salim Suliman al-Qawasmeh, shot in hisbed as he slept in the earlymorning hours by soldiers,who later said they justmistook him for someoneelse?In this the BBCis following thedehumanising approachof the Israeli media. Theyalso parrot Israel’s officialexplanation followingevery killing spree — thatthis is purely in retaliationfor rocket attacks fromGaza, regardless of thefact that these rarely 17-year-old Yousef Fakhri Ikhlaylcause damage or injuryand often it is Israel that initiates the violence.Another disturbing development is the BBC’s increasing useof Israeli terminology when referring to the Occupied PalestinianTerritories, calling them simply “the Territories.” Are they loathto refer to the occupation? What next, one wonders. Will “theTerritories” become “Judea and Samaria,” will “settlements”become “neighbourhoods,” as these are cosily referred to in the USmedia?The BBC, the sole UK public service broadcaster, funded bythe tax-payer, is committed to providing independent, accurateand objective coverage. But without sustained pressure from aninformed public it may well continue to show both indifference andbias during the comingmonths — which Israel hasunashamedly announcedas Operation ScorchingSummer.*These figures are suppliedby the Israeli human rightsorganisation B’TselemIf you would liketo be involved inmonitoring BBCcoverage contactamena.saleem@palestinecampaign.orgOmar al-Qawasmeh, 66They do have names...The murder on 13 March of five members of a family ofsettlers, the Fogels, who believed in their divine rightto live in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, waswidely reported. To redress the balance a little, hereare details of just a few of the 39 Palestinians who had beenkilled in the first three months of the year. There had alreadybeen a further 15 killed and 60 injured in April by the timePalestine News went to press.On 17 February, in Gaza, the Israeli army killed JihadKhalaf, 20, Talaat Al-Awagh, 25 and Ashraf Al-Kteifan, 29,who, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights(PCHR), were attempting to infiltrate into Israel to searchfor jobs. Agence France Presse (AFP) described the menas fishermen and said they had been hit by a tank shell andmachine gun fire in an area close to both the shore and thenorthern border with Israel. No weapons were found neartheir bodies.On 11 February, Hussam Rwidy, 24, was murderedby a number of young Jewish Israeli men. According toPCHR, while he was walking home from his work in WestJerusalem, an Israeli stabbed him in the face then othersgathered and violently beat him. He died of his injuries afew hours later.On 27 January, settlers shot dead 18-year-old UdayMaher Qadous, from Iraq Burin, southwest of Nablus.His cousin, who witnessed the murder, said four settlersopened fire on them from a nearby hilltop.Nadine Marroushi