Opinion
For the BBC, Ismail Haniyeh was ‘moderate and pragmatic’, for the rest of us he was a monster
Why is the corporation incapable of describing him as what he was
July 31, 2024 10:16
1 min read
Why is the corporation incapable of describing him as what he was
July 31, 2024 10:16Do you know what the real problem was with Ismail Haniyeh?
That he was leader of a genocidal terror organisation committed by charter to the extermination of every Jew on the planet? No, don’t be silly.
That he was leader of an Iranian proxy, used as part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy to destroy Israel? Of course not.
That he led the organisation which committed the single worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust? Oh, please.
No, the real problem, according to the BBC’s middle east correspondent, Yolande Knell, is that Haniyeh (who is now, lucky man, off having fun with 72 virgins) used hurty words.
Reporting this morning on what we must assume is Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Ms Knell told us that Haniyeh was overseeing peace talks – heh, he must have been a really good guy because, you know, peace – and so “despite his tough rhetoric”, “analysts” saw the now dead Hamas leader as actually "moderate and pragmatic". She called his killing "shocking" for good measure.
Tough rhetoric. Yes, that’s it. That was the real problem with Haniyeh. As he put it, recording a message to Palestinians from his luxurious home in Qatar: "We need the blood of women, children, and the elderly of Gaza... so as to awaken our revolutionary spirit." So yes, tough rhetoric. But as for being leader of a murderous cult that butchered 1200 people on October 7? Not so much.
I guess in one sense Ms Knell had a point. By the standards of genocidal maniacs, Haniyeh was indeed “moderate”. The total number of Jews murdered by Hamas does not come close to six million. Not that Haniyeh would have regarded that as anything other than disappointing, given he led an organisation committed to wiping out every Jew from the face of the earth.
As for “pragmatic”: well, he was prepared to let others join Hamas in murdering Jews. October 7 saw at least four other Islamist terror groups take part. Kudos to Haniyeh for not keeping the glory all to Hamas. That’s proper pragmatism for the good of the cause.
Ms Knell’s reporting was especially egregious, but the tone of much of the BBC’s coverage so far has been as if the last hope for peace has been brutally extinguished by Israel, rather than the mastermind behind the butchery of 1200 people on October 7 (not to mention all the other victims of Hamas - not least the residents of Gaza) being taken out and the world having now one less terrorist murderer.
Yesterday the JC published this excellent piece by Nicole Lampert about the BBC and Jews. It took just a few hours for it to prove her point – again.