How the BBC Covered a Palestinian Terror Attack

Late on August 6, the BBC News website published a report by the Jerusalem bureau’s Yolande Knell about a counter-terrorism operation that had taken place several hours earlier.

During that operation, three wanted terrorists on their way from Jenin to carry out a shooting attack against Israeli civilians near Mevo Dotan were shot dead. Nevertheless, the portrayal of that incident on the BBC News website’s Middle East page was a deliberate distortion of the truth. More on this journalistic travesty can be found here: “Over 24 Hours Late and Just 37 Words: BBC News ‘Reports’ Tel Aviv Terror Attack,” by Hadar Sela, CAMERA UK, August 8, 2023:

The headline to the report itself likewise failed to mention the word terrorists and instead merely informed readers that “Israeli security forces kill three Palestinians in West Bank”.

Knell’s portrayal of that incident read as follows: [emphasis added]

“Israeli security forces say they have killed three alleged Palestinian militants in the north of the occupied West Bank, near the Jenin refugee camp. […]

These were not “militants,” but terrorists; nor were they merely “alleged” terrorists — all three were recognized by Palestinian terror groups as their members; when the IDF encountered them, they were armed with an automatic rifle and were headed toward an Israeli settlement.

In a statement, the army said the group was heading to carry out an attack and that an automatic rifle was found in their car.”

Two hours later Knell found it appropriate to add uncritical amplification of the talking points of a Palestinian Authority official and two UK designated terrorist organisations to her article. Notably, she made no effort to put their descriptions of the elimination of wanted armed terrorists en route to an attack against civilians as “crimes” and “terrorism” into their appropriate and accurate perspective.

“After the killing of three Palestinians on Sunday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said: “These horrific crimes in Jenin would not have taken place had the perpetrators not felt safe from punishment.”

Knell’s account uncritically accepts Shtayyeh’s characterization of the IDF attacks, both on the Jenin camp against the PIJ, and on the three terrorists en route to carrying out an attack on civilians, as “crimes.”

Palestinian armed groups condemned the killings, vowing for revenge.

“The enemy, which assassinated three of our Palestinian people, will not escape paying the price of its crimes,” said a spokesperson for Hamas who rules Gaza.

The Islamic Jihad, which has members in Gaza and the West Bank, said: “The enemy will realise that its foolishness and terrorism will be met by a strong response from the resistance.””

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad does indeed have “members in Gaza and the West Bank” and in fact it claimed two of the three people Knell chose to describe merely as “alleged Palestinian militants”. The three terrorists were:

Naif Abu Suias (or Souis/Sweis), aged 26, who was claimed by the PIJ and was apparently the leader of the cell

Lu’ayy Abu Na’asa who was also claimed by both the PIJ and Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades

Baraa Ahmed Qurum (or Karem), aged 15, who was claimed by Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

It was the Palestinian terror groups themselves that claimed the three Palestinians killed by the IDF while on their way to attack Israeli civilians as their members — the leader of the group belonged to the PIJ, the second belonged both to the PIJ and to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, and the third, still a teenager, also belonged to Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. Yolande Knell ignored their terrorist affiliations — proudly admitted to by PIJ and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade — and described them only as “alleged militants.”

Despite having amplified the messaging of Hamas and the PIJ, Knell failed to inform her readers that the Israeli security forces’ statement on the incident noted that Suias was a “prominent military operative… who was involved in military activity against our forces and in advancing military activity directed by terror elements from the Gaza Strip.” [emphasis added]

Readers of the second version of Knell’s report also found a brief two-and-a-half sentence reference to a fatal terror attack in Tel Aviv on August 5^th which had not previously received any BBC News website coverage whatsoever:

Here was Knell’s laconic initial description of the terror attack in Tel Aviv:

“…an Israeli security guard was killed in an attack in Tel Aviv.” […]

“The killings came the day after a Palestinian gunman fatally shot an Israeli security guard in Tel Aviv. Another guard shot and killed the attacker.”

BBC audiences were not informed that the victim of that attack – Chen Amir – was a civilian municipal employee and the father of three small girls. Neither did Knell bother to inform readers that the terrorist who carried out that attack was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from Jenin.

Knell did not see fit to give any details about the Israeli who was killed that might have brought home to readers the reality of his loss. She failed to provide his name, his age, or the fact that he was a civilian employee who risked his life in approaching the killers, or that he was the father of three small girls. No attempt was made to humanize him; he was simply an unidentified “security guard..killed in an attack.”