{"id":9392,"date":"2018-09-02T07:20:43","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T07:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohelet.org.il\/article\/yes-the-bbc-is-biased-against-israel\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:09:25","slug":"yes-the-bbc-is-biased-against-israel","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/yes-the-bbc-is-biased-against-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, the BBC Is Biased against Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ran Bar-Yoshafat<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the BBC biased against Israel? Simply by researching the BBC\u2019s website during July, the answer is yes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare three main components: the number of articles related to Israel as compared to other countries; the number of casualties in those countries; and the difference in the terminology that was used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number of Articles<\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During July, the BBC reported on Israel almost every day, with 22 articles all focusing on conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparison, 19 articles were published about Syria during that time, with nine of those articles featuring Israel.\u00a0 For example, \u201cSyria War: More than 200 dead in suicide attacks<\/a>,<\/u>\u201d should have been about civilian casualties, but the BBC injected Israel into the article by detailing Israel\u2019s evacuation of the White Helmet workers. However, it does so with the following caveat: \u201cthe Syrian government condemned the move, describing it as a \u201ccriminal operation\u201d by Israel and others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Syria, there were 8 articles published about Sudan; 10 published about Egypt; and 7 about Cyprus. At most, two out of those 25 articles discussed conflicts. Crimea is amongst the most contentious areas of the world, and was reported on 6 times, but only two of the articles focused on the conflict.\u00a0 Myanmar was reported on 6 times, but no articles were directly related to current conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casualties<\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the article \u201cIsrael suspends fuel deliveries to Gaza over arson attacks<\/a><\/u>\u201d, it says that two Palestinians were killed and 14 others wounded in an Israeli air strike, while failing to mention any of the Israeli casualties during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare this to Syria, where more than half a million people were killed and 11 million displaced since the civil war began, or with Crimea, with 10,000 people killed in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Sudan\u2019s ongoing civil war has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions forced to flee the country. 232 civilians were killed, \u201csome hung from trees and others burned alive in their homes.\u201d 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar during last year\u2019s military crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terminology<\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BBC tends to report on Israel by using a different structure for its headlines than other countries with conflicts. Most of the titles of articles published about Israel begin with actions carried out by Israel. For example, the BBC published an articles entitled \u201cIsrael suspends fuel deliveries to Gaza over arson attacks<\/a><\/u>,\u201d \u201cIsrael deals \u201chardest blow to Hamas since 2014 Gaza war<\/a><\/u>\u201d, \u201cIsrael carries out Gaza strikes as soldier dies from gunshot<\/a><\/u>\u201d and \u201cIsrael freezes Palestinian funds over attacks payout<\/a><\/u>.\u201d In each instance, there is more to the story than what the headline portrays. This misrepresentation helps fuel the world\u2019s inability to hold Hamas responsible for its actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When examining Syria, the headlines are more factual and more accurately represent the content of the article. For example\u201cSyria War: IS \u2018Seized women and children\u2019 in Sweida attack<\/a><\/u>\u201d clearly informs readers what to expect. Other examples include: \u201cSyrian War: What we know about Douma \u2018chemical attack<\/a><\/u>\u201d and \u201cSyria conflict: Syria\u2019s Druze vow to free women and children kidnapped by ISIS<\/a><\/u>.\u201d \u00a0These examples illustrate that articles regarding the Syrian conflict begin with either the \u201cSyria conflict\u201d or the \u201cSyria war.\u201d These headlines focus on events occurring within Syria instead of headlining the actions of the Syrian government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria is not the only country in which the BBC uses this style of reporting for its headlines. BBC articles about Crimea and Myanmar have similar styles such as \u201cRohingya crisis: Myanmar to try Reuters journalists who reported on massacre<\/a><\/u>\u201d and \u201cUkraine crisis: US to give Kiev $200m in defense support<\/a><\/u>.\u201d It is clear that BBC reports about specific conflicts in a similar fashion through its headlines except<\/em> when it reports on Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, the BBC apologized for some of its headlines, but it seems the apologies are mere lip service, since the misleading headlines and articles continue. This dishonest reporting should not only be alarming to Israelis who suffer partly due to media coverage like this, but also to the British citizens who are counting on their sources to be fair and honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(First published in the Times of Israel<\/a>, Aug 27, 2018)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ran Bar-Yoshafat Is the BBC biased against Israel? Simply by researching the BBC\u2019s website during July, the answer is yes! Compare three main components: the number of articles related to Israel as compared to other countries; the number of casualties in those countries; and the difference in the terminology that was used. Number of Articles […]","protected":false},"featured_media":9393,"template":"","article-category":[525],"custom-tags":[1096,657,658,659],"ppma_author":[49],"class_list":["post-9392","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-category-publications","custom-tags-anti-israel-bias","custom-tags-bbc","custom-tags-bias","custom-tags-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYes, the BBC Is Biased against Israel - kohelet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/yes-the-bbc-is-biased-against-israel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yes, the BBC Is Biased against Israel - kohelet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ran Bar-Yoshafat Is the BBC biased against Israel? 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