BBC bias comes through again

Elder of ZiyonElder of Ziyon

Here’s a classic example of how the BBC pretends to be objective but proves its bias, mostly by what it doesn’t bother to mention:
Israel has protested to Egypt over the opening of a border crossing to allow Muslim pilgrims from Gaza to make their way through Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The Israelis say they are concerned that militants may leave Gaza and go for training in Iran. …

It is the first time Palestinians in Gaza have been allowed to cross directly into Egypt since June.

Now let’s look at what the BBC didn’t say:

* Israel is not only “concerned” that terrorists are crossing the border; they identified up to two dozen of them.

* While Egypt might not have allowed Gazans to leave before today, they did allow some 85 terrorists to re-enter Gaza in late September and 30 more in October. This is pretty relevant to the story rather than just saying that Israel is “concerned.”

* By Egypt allowing Rafah to be opened, they are breaking existing agreements with Israel.

* Israel and the PA had created a mechanism for pilgrims to go to Hajj through Israel; the BBC implies that the Hajj pilgrims had no choice but to go through Rafah for their religious duties.

* Egypt’s opening of Rafah legitimizes Hamas as the leader of Gaza Palestinians; they ignored the wishes of Abbas and the PA, let alone Israel.

* Rafah is only supposed to be opened by the PA in the presence of EU observers who have all but abdicated their responsibilities - and the EU Rafah observers include some from Britain.

All of these facts would have made the BBC piece more objective and accurate. By strange coincidence, they would also have made Israel’s “concerns” look much more valid and Egypt’s role much more insidious.


.