British surgeon Nizam Mamode spent some time working at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. And testifying in parliament this week, he explained how Israel’s drones would come and shoot at children and other civilians after airstrikes. The BBC, however, ran with the title “Gaza surgeon describes drones targeting children”. It could have simply added the word “Israeli” before the word “drones”, but it chose not to.
Whose drones are targeting children? pic.twitter.com/TwJsXN0bG7
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) November 14, 2024
This is just the latest example of the BBC‘s clear pro-Israel bias during the apartheid state’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The BBC has consistently echoed Israeli propaganda, seeking to minimise or undermine the veracity of statistics relating to the number of deaths in Gaza, by emphasising regularly that the occupied territory’s health ministry is “Hamas-run“. Calling Mamode a “Gaza surgeon” in the headline rather than a ‘British surgeon’ or ‘former NHS surgeon’, meanwhile, has a similar impact. Because in the end, most people never read beyond headlines.
“The drones would come down and pick off civilians, children”
Mamode told the International Development Committee that:
a bomb would drop, maybe on a crowded, tented area, and then the drones would come down
Then, he continued:
The drones would come down and pick off civilians, children
Acclaimed British surgeon Nizam Mamode, who recently returned from a period of working at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, testified in front of the UK Parliament on the current state of healthcare in Gaza.
Mamode said that Israeli quadcopters would arrive at the scene of airstrikes in… pic.twitter.com/npFDRuEYKl— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 12, 2024
He also stressed that:
This is not an occasional thing. This was day after day after day operating on children who would say, ‘I was lying on the ground after a bomb dropped and this quadcopter came down and hovered over me and shot me’.
BBC complicity in genocide
Many establishment journalists over time have been complicit in manufacturing consent for genocide and other crimes. And some have even faced convictions for their roles. It’s unfortunately uncommon. But it happens, and should happen more often.
The BBC knows how to be clear. For example, this week another headline from the state broadcaster read “Ukrainian girl killed by Russian drone as attacks surge”. When it’s an official cause the British state is supportive of, there’s no problem. When it’s an cause the British state opposes, like holding the war criminals in apartheid Israel to account, the BBC treads timidly.
So when it wants to, or is allowed to, the BBC can clearly name the perpetrator. In fact, even in the article in question about Nizam Mamode’s testimony, the broadcaster was clear in the article itself. It said “A retired surgeon who volunteered at a hospital in Gaza has told MPs that Israeli drones would target children who were lying injured after bombings”. It simply chose not to attribute blame to Israel in its headline.
These choices make a difference. And all licence-fee payers in Britain should demand better.
Featured image via screengrab
