Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| article from The Independent |
|---|
| shareefa |
| 08/06/01 at 10:25:53 |
| Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah In a major surrender to Israeli diplomatic pressure, > BBC officials in London > have banned their staff in Britain and the Middle > East from referring to > Israel's policy of murdering its guerrilla opponents > as "assassination". BBC > reporters have been told that in future they are to > use Israel's own > euphemism for the murders, calling them "targeted > killings". > > BBC journalists were astonished that the assignments > editor, Malcolm > Downing, should have sent out the memorandum to > staff, stating that the word > "assassinations" "should only be used for > high-profile political > assassinations". There were, Mr Downing said, "lots > of other words for > death". > > Up to 60 Palestinian activists – and numerous > civilians, including two > children killed last week – have been gunned down by > Israeli death squads or > missile-firing Israeli helicopter pilots. The White > House has gently chided > Israel about these attacks, but already this week > the BBC has been using the > phrase "targeted attacks" for the policy of murder. > The Palestinian killing > of Israelis, however, is regularly referred to – > accurately – as "murder" or > "assassination". > > Mr Downing's memorandum suggests that the murder of > a leading Israeli – the > late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, killed by an > Israeli extremist – is > worthy of the word "assassination" while the killing > of Palestinians is not. > > The memo apparently says that "assassination" can > only be used "sparingly" > and with "attribution". The ban resulted from a > discussion between Mr > Downing and Vin Ray, deputy head of newsgathering at > BBC World TV. Israeli > diplomats have been lunching with BBC officials and > complaining that the > corporation's coverage was anti-Israeli and > pro-Palestinian. > > The Israeli murder campaign is, in fact, far from > "targeted". In the first > such killings, two middle-aged Palestinian women > were killed. After the > initial reporting of the incident, the BBC dropped > all reference to the > female victims. > > Source: Independent > |
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