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Why Does the BBC Continue to Slander Israel About Hospital Anti-Terror Operation?
The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA.
Previously we have discussed written and filmed BBC reports on the topic of a counter-terrorism operation in late December at the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
BBC News website coverage of that story and its wider background did not however end there. In the days that followed, visitors to the site’s ‘Middle East’ page found two reports promoting one-sided messaging but omitting relevant information.
A December 30 report credited to David Gritten and Yolande Knell – “WHO appeals for end to attacks on Gaza’s hospitals” – promotes (and links to) a statement put out by the head of the World Health Organization in relation to “attacks on hospitals in Gaza,” but fails to provide readers with relevant information in the BBC’s own words concerning the exploitation of Gaza Strip hospitals by terrorist organizations.
That obviously crucially relevant part of the story – which Yolande Knell did manage to report over a decade ago – is similarly absent from the report’s later promotion of similar messaging from the ICRC.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also warned on Monday that hostilities in and around hospitals had “obliterated the healthcare system in northern Gaza, putting civilians at an unacceptably grave risk of going without lifesaving care”.
“Medical facilities have protections and civilians have protections in situations of conflict. These need to be respected and this is our constant call,” spokeswoman Sarah Davies told the BBC.”
The report also promotes statements concerning the detention of the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital from the WHO head and from an American NGO called MedGlobal, which describes the apparently Hamas linked head of that military medical facility as “our lead physician in Gaza” [emphasis added].
And in a related press release, it claims that, “Healthcare personnel and facilities are protected under International Humanitarian Law and must never become targets in hostilities” without clarifying that protected status is lost if a medical facility is used for military purposes, as is the case at the Kamal Adwan hospital.
Dr Tedros also joined rights groups and relatives calling for the immediate release of Kamal Adwan’s director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who was detained by Israeli forces.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that his hospital was a Hamas “stronghold” and that troops had killed about 20 “terrorists” and detained 240 others during the raid. It added that Dr Abu Safiya was among those taken for questioning and that he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative”.
The military did not provide evidence for the allegations, which Hamas dismissed as “lies”.
US-based MedGlobal condemned the detention of Dr Abu Safiya, who was its lead physician in Gaza, as “not only unjust” but also “a violation of international humanitarian law, which upholds the protection of medical personnel in conflict zones”.
The following day – December 31 – the BBC News website published a report by David Gritten titled “UN says Israeli attacks pushing Gaza healthcare towards total collapse.”
The UN Human Rights Office says Israeli attacks on and around hospitals have pushed Gaza’s healthcare system to “the brink of total collapse” and raised serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A new report describes a pattern in which Israeli forces struck, besieged and forcibly evacuated hospitals, leading to patients dying or being killed.
It acknowledges Israel’s allegations that hospitals have been used by Palestinian armed groups, but says the evidence is “vague”.
Around four hours after the report’s initial publication, the following two paragraphs were added:
Israel’s mission in Geneva said the report was an expression of what it called the UN Human Rights Office’s “politically-driven obsession with Israel“ and that it “relied on information from Hamas health authorities”. It stressed that Israeli forces operated in accordance with international law and would “never target innocent civilians”.
“It is the murderous terrorist organisation Hamas that uses civilians as human shields, and uses hospitals for terror activity,” it added.
Once again, the BBC’s reporting failed to provide audiences with information concerning the long-known exploitation of medical facilities by terrorist organizations in the corporation’s own words, thereby reducing the issue to one of competing narratives. Notably too, Gritten has nothing to tell its audiences about the failure of the UN and its assorted departments to condemn – and act against – that Hamas strategy which is detrimental to the healthcare of civilians in the Gaza Strip, before going on to state:
“As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday. […]
Medical personnel and hospitals are specifically protected under international humanitarian law, provided they do not commit, or are not used to commit, outside their humanitarian function, acts harmful to the enemy. Even then, any attack must still comply with the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.
The OHCHR said intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded were treated, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, and intentionally launching disproportionate attacks were war crimes.
And under certain circumstances, the deliberate destruction of healthcare facilities may also amount to a form of collective punishment, which would also constitute a war crime.
Gritten did however find fit to amplify Hamas denials: “Hamas and medical staff have denied that the hospitals have been used by armed groups.”
As is the case in most of the BBC’s reporting on events in the Gaza Strip, both those reports include the following context: “Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.”
Notably, the BBC serially refrains from informing its audiences that 100 hostages still remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, and that – as the BBC knows – some of the hostages were held in hospitals.
These two reports once again clearly show that the BBC has chosen to amplify narratives and politically motivated campaigns rather than to report news and fulfill its obligation to provide its audiences with the full range of information which would enable them to become “informed citizens.”
Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why Does the BBC Continue to Slander Israel About Hospital Anti-Terror Operation? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
The post Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversaries Syria and Lebanon, but the status of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Israeli leaders argue that with its rival Iran weakened by this month’s 12-day war, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.
The Middle East has been upended by nearly two years of war in Gaza, during which Israel also carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and by the overthrow of former Syrian leader and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the first Arab states to establish ties with Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. The normalization agreements with Israel were deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
“We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization, while safeguarding Israel‘s essential and security interests,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“The Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While much of the international community regards the Golan as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office.
Following Assad’s ousting, Israeli forces moved further into Syrian territory.
A senior Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria would never give up the Golan Heights, describing it as an integral part of Syrian territory.
The official also said that normalization efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track.
A spokesperson for Syria‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 2002 initiative proposed Arab normalization with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Throughout the war in Gaza, regional power Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that establishing ties with Israel was conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel‘s Saar said it was “not constructive” for other states to condition normalization on Palestinian statehood.
“Our view is that a Palestinian state will threaten the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria‘s new Islamist rulers had established direct contact and held face-to-face meetings aimed at de-escalating tensions and preventing renewed conflict along their shared border.
The same month, US President Donald Trump announced the US would lift sanctions on Syria and met Syria‘s new president, urging him to normalize ties with Israel.
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