That kidnapped BBC reporter

By Vel Nirtist

Now we know who reports from Gaza for the BBC. On a purely human level, one cannot but feel sorry for the father of kidnapped Gaza BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, and hope for his son’s speedy release. But an interesting fact transpired in his appeal to the Palestinian kidnappers of his son: the BBC correspondent is a “friend of Palestinian people.”

Like many, I’ve been wondering about the reasons for the strange symmetry of BBC’s Mid-East reporting, with its studiously equal assignment of blame, with is strenuously even-balanced presentation of facts, so utterly at odds with the actions (and stated intentions) of the parties in the conflict. Now we know the reason – a BBC’s man in Gaza is a “friend” of the Palestinians – and of course, a friend won’t speak ill of the friend – nor will he speak well of the friend’s opponent.

Journalistic detachment at the BBC? Not when it comes to coverage of Israel and the Palestinians. To judge by the quality of reporting – or rather, too-frequent absence thereof, only proven “friends of the Palestinian people” get assigned to that region to report for the BBC.