BBC News ignores exposure of Palestinian terror cell

Once again news relating to a terror group linked to a BBC promoted NGO gets no coverage.

In early October we noted that the BBC had not produced any follow-up reporting concerning the arrest of three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in connection with the terror attack near Dolev on August 23rd in which 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered and her father and brother wounded.

BBC-promoted NGO’s terror links surface again

On December 18th the Israel Security Agency announced the related arrests of some fifty members of the PFLP terror organisation in Judea & Samaria.

“Israeli security forces in the West Bank have uncovered and dismantled a 50-person strong terrorist cell believed to behind a string of deadly attacks in the area including the deadly Dolev bombing which claimed the life of a teenage girl, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Wednesday.

According to the Shin Bet investigation into the Dolev attack, the cell planned to carry out additional attacks in the near future.

As part of the investigation, approximately 50 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine operatives, including senior members of the Palestinian terrorist group, were arrested and a large number of weapons were seized including M-16s, Kalashnikovs, Uzis, Galil automatic rifles, pistols with silencers, ammunition and fertilizers to build bombs, as well as walkie-talkies, telescopic devices and others were discovered by security officials.”

The Times of Israel adds:

“According to the security service, this large PFLP network of terrorist operatives was led by Walid Muhammad Hanatsheh, 50, who was arrested in October. […]

In addition to Hanatsheh, the Shin Bet said several other senior PFLP members were arrested in its raids, including Khalida Jarrar, 56, the head of the terror group’s operations in the West Bank; Abdel Raziq Faraj, 56, who oversaw Hanatsheh’s efforts and allegedly approved Arbid’s Dolev bombing; and Itaraf Hajaj, 43, who is responsible for PFLP’s activities in Ramallah and helped recruit operatives for the organization.

All three of them have served time in Israeli prisons on multiple occasions over their terrorist activities.”

Unsurprisingly, BBC audiences have to date heard nothing of those latest arrests either.

Khalida Jarrar. Photo credit: NGOM

Khalida Jarrar was previously the vice-chair of ‘Addameer’ – the political NGO which was described by the BBC in 2012 as an organisation “which works on behalf of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails”. As we noted in October, the leader of the terror cell which carried out the attack near Dolev, Samer Arbid, was employed (despite his past history of involvement in terror activity) as an accountant by ‘Addameer’ which is known for its links to the PFLP – a designated terror organisation in the US, the EU, Canada and Israel.

Nevertheless, in late August 2019 the BBC gave heavy promotion to a report which showcased ‘Addameer’.

Partisan report on detained Palestinian ‘children’ from BBC’s Gender and Identity correspondent

BBC World Service radio’s OS promotes narrative over fact

Addameer is however just one of several Palestinian NGOs with links to the PFLP, some of which have been directly or indirectly quoted and promoted by the BBC in its Middle East coverage – for example Al HaqDefence for Children International – Palestine and of course the PCHR, which received particularly extensive exposure during the 2014 conflict between Israel and terror organisations in the Gaza Strip and which was one of the sources behind the casualty figures amplified by the BBC at the time.

The BBC editorial guidelines that came into effect in mid-July include several ‘mandatory referrals’ relating to coverage of terrorists in the ‘War, Terror and Emergencies’ section. Those guidelines however do not relate to coverage of organisations which often portray themselves as ‘human rights advocates’ despite their links to terror groups. Clearly the BBC urgently needs to wake up to the fact that its uncritical promotion of some of those groups actually serves the agenda of terrorist organisations rather than the interests of its audience.  

Related Articles:

Face value: the BBC and Palestinian NGOs

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