By IRNA,
London : The BBC has rebuffed widespread complaints of “extreme pro-Israel bias” in its Panorama documentary on the attack on the Gaza Flotilla in international waters at the end of May, killing nine humanitarian activists.
The documentary was dubbed as revealing ‘what really happened,’ but among the complainants, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) questioned why the programme completely failed to mention that Israel’s siege of Gaza has been declared illegal by the UN.
“The assumption was made that Israel has the right to blockade Gaza, while the motives of those attempting to break an illegal blockade were questioned,” the PSC said. “Why was Israel’s ‘right’ to board the ship presumed throughout the programme?,” it asked.
The BBC was also criticised for not questioning Israel’s alleged evidence of how and where they killed the activists and failing to mention the first person killed was from an Israeli helicopter even before its masked commanders landed.
“Why were the autopsy reports – which reveal that each victim was shot several times at close range, in a way that can’t constitute self-defence – not used, or even mentioned?” the PSC also questioned about the Panorama program broadcast on Monday night.
“Activists shot footage of the Israeli attack, but their cameras, laptops and other recording equipment was taken by the Israelis and has not been returned. Why was this point not raised during the programme, or put to the Israeli spokespeople?” it also asked.
The documentary chose not to show any footage of the Israeli assaults on the activists – which led to nine deaths and never challenged the use of the word ‘terrorists’ by Israel to describe the activists.
There were also no interviews with any of the Britons on board the ship, or with any of the journalists involved, but were held with three Israeli commandos in the raid.
“The bid to break the naval blockade wasn’t really about bringing aid to Gaza. It was a political move designed to put pressure on Israel and the international community,” BBC presenter Jane Corbin also concluded at the end of the documentary.
In contrast, the programme was praised Zionist Federation, which also urged its supporters to thank the BBC for “its fair coverage,” according the Jewish Chronicle.
The BBC also dismissed the bias complaints, insisting the program “intended to explore the considerable confusion about what actually happened on the Mavi Marmara on the day in question.
“Panorama went to great lengths to give opposing sides the opportunity to air their views and we felt the programme accordingly carried out its analysis in a fair, impartial and balanced manner,” the Jewish Chronicle quoted a spokesperson saying.