BBC News website reports a resignation yet to happen

MK says he will resign in 3 months: BBC reports he already resigned.

Late on the evening of July 28th (UK time) the BBC News website published a report titled “Israeli Arab MP resigns over controversial ‘nation state’ law” on its main homepage as well as its ‘World’ and ‘Middle East’ pages.

Readers were originally told that: [emphasis added]

“An Israeli Arab politician has resigned in opposition to a controversial new law which declares Israel to be the nation state of the Jewish people.

Zouheir Bahloul, 67, branded parliament “racist” and “destructive” for passing the law, which also revokes the status of Arabic as an official language.”

“[The law] removes the Arab population from the path of equality in Israel,” he told Israeli TV network Reshet.”

That second paragraph was amended some eleven hours after the article’s initial publication when someone apparently realised that it gave an inaccurate presentation of the legislation. It now reads:

“Zouheir Bahloul, 67, branded parliament “racist” and “destructive” for passing the law, which also puts Hebrew above Arabic as the official language.”

However, despite the BBC’s claim that Mr Bahloul “has resigned”, that does not yet appear to be the case.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

“…Bahloul said he would submit his resignation letter when the Knesset returns from its extended summer recess October 14 and then “keep away from the Knesset as if it is fire.””

The Times of Israel similarly reported that:

“An Arab Israeli lawmaker from the Zionist Union faction announced on Saturday that he would be resigning from the Knesset to protest the recently passed nation-state bill, which he said officially discriminates against Israel’s Arab minority.

When the Knesset recess is over my resignation will go into effect, I promise you I will not sit in this Knesset again,” Zouheir Bahloul told Hadashot news.”

Ha’aretz reported:

“Israeli Arab Knesset Member Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union) announced Saturday his intention to resign from the Knesset in protest over the controverisal [sic] nation-state law.”

[all emphasis added]

As of the morning of July 30th, Mr Bahloul is still listed on the Knesset website as an MK.

Related Articles:

BBC News website framing of Israeli legislation

How BBC radio programmes misled by adding one letter and a plural

Inaccurate BBC WS radio portrayal of Israeli legislation

 

 

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