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Jerry Markatos letter to BBC to BBC
Newshour 10-5-2004
Thank you Jerry for this letter. I suggest that it be placed on the
web site. MLou
To: Newshour, BBC
Re: Alan Johnston's report from Gaza
10/5/04, 45 minutes into the program
Why inflammatory language?
Did the Hamas spokesman interviewed today really speak
of "pushing Israelis into the sea" as characterized by Alan
Johnston? The statements I heard translated were entirely
about resistance to occupation, quite legal by international law.
I condemn, as we all should, some of the tactics of some
Palestinians, and believe we must also condemn the long list
of abuses that attend Israel's illegal occupation. But mere
condemnation seems pathetically beside the point.
After all these years of witnessing fixable problems, don't we all
have an obligation to seek fair and just solutions for the
central conflict in the Middle East?
When Alan Johnston chose to hype the drama in the story
we heard on the air, he used the "into the sea" 1961 quote
from David Ben Gurion, whose cover-up of ethnic cleansing
and acts of terror against the Christian and Molsem population
of Palestine are fully documented by Israeli historian Benny Morris.
But Johnston ascribes the quote to Hamas, setting aside the
reality that Ben Gurion understood that long term violence
begets violence in return, even from patient and long-suffering
people.
I've heard Alexander Cockburn joke that journalists drink a lot
because they understand news work is a squalid profession that
defers to the most powerful interests. In the same talk, he
delivered the unforgettable quote, "After the battle, the journalists
descend from the safety of the hills and shoot the wounded...."
While the BBC may shoot fewer wounded than US media,
today's report is a reminder that improvements are in order.
Your programs have every opportunity to broadcast regular
analyses by the Mid East peace movement's best commentators,
or conduct interviews with them. Their observations are an
all-important antidote to the callous cynicism fed into our homes
by the typical "newscast." These commentators include Israeli
Jews, Palestinians, and importantly: Americans who oppose the US
practice of promoting regional conflict for unworthy reasons,
while pretending to support peace.
When the attacks arrive over such interviews, just remind everyone
that 70% of Israelis -- when polled -- consistently affirm the need
to remove the settlements and withdraw from the Occupied Territories.
Lacking a reliable stream of ethically and politically based
discussions, even BBC listeners are fooled into tacit support of
corrupting land theft and fresh cycles of predictably brutal conflict.
Cheers,
Jerry Markatos
Balance & Accuracy in Journalism
Chapel Hill / Pittsboro, North Carolina
usa
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