PrintJanuary 19, 2009
BBC human shields in Gaza
Prof. Richard Landes has some interesting commentary at his Augean Stables blog about the less-than-impartial Gaza coverage coming from the BBC. Without a bit of protest, BBC correspondents have allowed themselves to be used as human shields by Hamas "militants." As Landes notes:
Israeli media reports that Hamas took over the first floor of the building that the BBC offices in Gaza last night and fired rockets from there, trapping the journalists above. Despite the fact that their reporters have now escaped the building, the BBC has so far not said anything about this.
All in all, it's what you'd expect from a news organization that once shamelessly published an account from one of its correspondents about how she'd wept openly for a terminally ill Yasser Arafat during the terror master's final days in power.
Canadian correspondent, Barbara Plett, observed that "foreign journalists seemed much more excited about Mr. Arafat's fate than anyone in Ramallah." As for herself, "when the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry... without warning," she noted.
Presumably, Ms. Plett has not shed any tears over Hamas terrorism now being directed against fellow Palestinians, and against Israeli men, women, and children.
