Massive Tel Aviv rally for kidnapped teens ignored by BBC

Visitors to the BBC News website’s Middle East page wouldn’t know it, but on the evening of June 29th some 85,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square at a rally in support of the families of the three teenagers kidnapped on June 12th.

“Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog (Labor) told the crowd, “We must not cease our efforts to bring back the boys. Gilad, Eyal and Naftali are not a symbol, but boys whose normal lives were broken off in an instant by terrorists. … I’ve come to this square tonight with thousands of people from every corner of the country to say to the Shaar, Fraenkel and Yifrach families, ‘We will not rest until we bring [your] sons home.'”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVn_bs07QgI

Aside from a few random quotes from people at bus stops, the BBC’s coverage of reactions in Israel to the kidnappings has to date been limited to an article by BBC Monitoring on hitchhiking and part of a report by BBC Trending concerning the related social media campaign. BBC audiences hence remain unaware of how the general public in Israel views the incident or of typical Israeli reactions such as the spontaneous organization of donations for care packages for the soldiers involved in the search and rescue operation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1svQ9NMtDU

Thus, an important part of the context to this story, vital for comprehension of why Israel as a country acts as it does, continues to be ignored by an organization which is committed to the enhancement of “audiences’ awareness and understanding of international issues”. 

 

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