BBC Reporter Expresses
Solidarity With Palestinians
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Israeli-Palestinian Impartiality Review BBC Governance Unit Room 211, 35 Marylebone High Street London, W1U 4AA United Kingdom israelipalestinian.review@bbc.co.uk
Gentlemen:
On October 24, 2001 I wrote the following letter to the BBC:
“BBC reporter expresses solidarity with Hamas
“The Jerusalem Post reported today (24.05.2001) on a Hamas gathering to honor journalists “for the special role they have played through their cameras, pens and skills, as well as through their rare courage and daring by their joining the nation struggling fiercely against the enemy.”
“The Post quoted senior BBC correspondent, Faid Abu Shimalla, speaking on behalf of the journalists, as having said:
“despite the pace of current events and the sensitive circumstances applying to journalists and media organizations, which are waging the campaign shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people.”
“Though Shimalla seems to have let the cat out of the bag, the BBCs response was puerile if not disingenuous. Saying they were unable to locate the Web site does not mean the site doesnt exist.
“More to the point however, BBC should surely have asked Shimalla directly whether she`d been correctly quoted. And, specifically, did she include BBC among the media organizations working shoulder-to-shoulder with Hamas?
“Isn`t essential that the BBC knows which news-distributing organizations are masquerading as Hamas fronts?”
Yours etc.,