More Hamas terror designations ignored by BBC News

For over a year now the BBC has consistently avoided telling its audiences about the senior Hamas member based (at least until recently) in Turkey who directs the terror group’s military operations in Judea & Samaria. As has been noted here before:No news

“Back in August 2014 the BBC managed to avoid telling its audiences about a thwarted coup against the Palestinian Authority engineered by Hamas’ Saleh al Arouri from his base in Turkey. In the same month, al Arouri’s public admission that Hamas had been behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers two months earlier was also not covered by the BBC.

In November 2014, when the ISA arrested some 30 Hamas operatives in Judea & Samaria, the BBC made only a veiled reference to “Hamas officials based in Turkey” despite the fact that al Arouri was named in the ISA’s report as the organiser and financer of the terror network.

When the BBC reported on the resumption of PA tax transfers in March 2015 it failed to inform audiences of related professional assessments of al Arouri’s role in attempts to increase terrorist activity in Judea & Samaria.

And when a report on Hamas recruitment in Malaysia – which involved sending recruits for training run by Hamas’ branch in Turkey – appeared in May 2015, the BBC ignored that story altogether.”

It comes therefore as little surprise to find that BBC News also apparently has no interest in reporting on the recent designation by the US Treasury  of both Saleh al Arouri and Mahir (Maher) Salah (a dual nationality British citizen) along with others.

“Al-Aruri is a Hamas political bureau member who funds and directs military operations in the West Bank and against Israel.  In the late 1990s, al-Aruri was a key Hamas recruiter and his authority over Hamas military activity extends back to at least the early 1990s, when he served as a commander in Hamas’s military wing.  In 2010, immediately after his release from a 10-year prison term, al-Aruri resumed his military activity for Hamas and reconnected with Hamas political figures. Since 2010, al-Aruri has also maintained longstanding relationships with SDGTs and Hamas political bureau officials Khalid Mishaal and Musa Abu Marzouk.  Since 2011, al-Aruri has maintained a working relationship with Saudi Arabia-based senior Hamas financial officer Mahir Salah, who is also being designated today.  In 2011, al-Aruri facilitated a transfer of funds in coordination with Mahir Salah for the families of convicted terrorists and deceased Hamas fighters. 

Since at least 2013, al-Aruri has overseen the distribution of Hamas finances and has been a key financier and financial facilitator for Hamas military cells planning attacks and fomenting unrest.  As of 2014, al-Aruri had authority over Hamas military personnel in the West Bank and was in charge of a Hamas initiative to destabilize the Palestinian Authority in preparation for a Hamas takeover.  He also financed and directed a Hamas cell in the West Bank that sought to instigate clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces. 

In 2014, al-Aruri directed and financed Hamas military cells in the West Bank and Jordan and facilitated the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas, including to the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, for the purchase of arms and storage facilities for weapons.     

In 2014, al-Aruri publicly praised and announced Hamas’s responsibility for the June 2014 terrorist attacks in which three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank.

As of early 2015, al-Aruri was responsible, along with other Hamas members, for money transfers for Hamas.”

Clearly, as long as the BBC continues to avoid telling audiences about Hamas’ infrastructure in Judea & Samaria (and its management from a NATO country) it cannot be said to be meeting its remit of enhancing “audiences’ awareness and understanding of international issues”. But the really interesting question is why the corporation has consistently buried this story for over a year.

Related Articles:

BBC covers US terror designations for Hamas and Hizballah operatives – but not in English

The return of the BBC’s Jon Donnison and his tall Twitter tales

Jon Donnison’s breach of BBC editorial standards unravels

BBC sticks to inaccurate narrative despite Hamas claim of June kidnappings

 

 

More from Hadar Sela
BBC WS radio news fails on accuracy and impartiality
h/t This Ongoing War A BBC World Service radio news bulletin aired...
Read More
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *