We are concerned at the very partial nature of BBC reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While some reporters have shown great bravery in war zones, much home-based journalism lacks context and is unable to report the Palestinian perspective. The attacks on Gaza are presented by Israel and the BBC as being directed at militants, while for Palestinians they are an extension of military rule and collective punishment by a brutal apartheid state.

This inability to report the reality of the Israeli occupation has been repeatedly shown by academic studies and reports, including that led by Quentin Thomas, commissioned by the BBC, which noted the "failure to convey adequately the disparity in the Israeli and Palestinian experience, reflecting the fact that one side is in control and the other lives under occupation", and said: "In short, we found that BBC output does not consistently give a full and fair account of the conflict." (Thomas, 2006: 4-7) The BBC has failed to act on any of these findings.

The search for peace is not well served by giving the public such a partial and limited view. We ask now that the BBC produce a televised, public debate to discuss how to redress the deficiencies in its coverage to offer a better account of the sources of this conflict and therefore how it might be resolved.

Original signatories:

 

Professor Greg Philo

Professor Avi Shlaim

Professor John Eldridge

Professor Natalie Fenton

Professor Julian Petley

Professor Ilan Pappe

Professor John Dugard

Professor Etienne Balibar

Professor Graham Murdoch

Professor Justin Lewis

Professor David Miller

Professor Alan Riach

Professor Hilary Rose

Professor Steven Rose

Professor Gilbert Achcar

Professor Karma Nabulsi

Sir Peter Bottomley MP

Linda Riordan MP

Jim Fitzpatrick MP

Michael Connarty MP

David Ward MP

John McDonnell MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Grahame Morris MP

Caroline Lucas MP

Mark Durkan MP

Yasmin Qureshi MP

Andrew Slaughter MP

Barones Jenny Tonge

Christine Grahame MSP

Jean Urquhart MSP

Neil Findlay MSP

P.J Harvey

Juliet Stevenson

Roger Waters

Alice Walker

Breyten Breytenbach

Mike Leigh

Ken Loach

John Pilger

Trevor Griffiths

Mairead Maguire

Dennis Halliday      

Bella Freud

Frank Barat

Mustapha Barghouti

Ghada Karmi

Gerda Stevenson

Pam Parsons

Mike Berry

Aimee Shalan

Hugh Lanning

Shamiul Joarder

Diana Buttu

Linda Ramsden

Jeff Halper

Hatim Kanaaneh

Paul Laverty

John Hilary