BBC accused of anti-Semitism

[dudeness]

By Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
April 2, 2004



The Israeli Government has written to the BBC accusing its Middle East correspondent, Orla Guerin, of anti-Semitism and "total identification with the goals and methods of the Palestinian terror groups" over a report on a 16-year-old would-be suicide bomber last week.

Natan Sharansky, Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs, complained that Guerin had portrayed the army's handling of the arrest of Hussam Abdu, captured with explosives strapped to his chest, as "cynical manipulation of a Palestinian youngster for propaganda purposes". He said this revealed "a deep-seated bias against Israel".

The BBC said it was looking into the complaint, the first by the Israeli Government since late last year, when it lifted a boycott of the corporation imposed in protest at a documentary on the Jewish state's weapons of mass destruction.

But the letter comes as several foreign news organisations complain of increasing government pressure to curtail critical coverage or to report stories Israel believes help identify the Palestinian conflict with global Islamic terrorism............more

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/01/1080544630297.html?from=storyrhs