1 min read
You have to wonder sometimes what motivates the BBC in its coverage of Israel. I mentioned in a post below Jeremy Bowen's view that the raids were prompted by Israel's 'embarassment'. But it's not just one man. Take this latest update from the BBC site:
Israeli jets target Gaza tunnels
Israel has bombed supply tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip in a second day of intense air raids aimed at forcing Hamas militants to halt rocket fire.
A major tunnel bringing fuel into Gaza from Egypt was among three destroyed, Palestinians say. But Israel says its jets bombed more than 40 tunnels.
To read that, you'd be left with the impression that the IDF are simply wrecking Gaza's infrastructure and reducing its capacity to operate by attacking its fuel supplies. Nowhere in the 1000-word report is there any mention of what the tunnels are used for - smuggling arms and weapons with which to murder Israelis. The tunnels - many of them secret - are a key part of the terror operation, and simply had to be targeted.
Yet the BBC cannot, simply cannot, be ignorant of this, so well known is it. Which means that someone - the report's author, or a later editor - actively chose to leave out this critical piece of information, which is vital to putting the latest phase of Israel's operation into context.
Anyone would think the BBC was trying to paint Israel as the villain. As if.
22.24 UPDATE: A cursory reference has now been made to the fact that "Israel accuses Palestinian militants of using the tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza."