The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA.
As long-time readers know, the BBC cannot resist promoting politicized messaging in its Christmas coverage, and this year was no exception.
On the morning of Christmas Day, the BBC News website published a report by the BBC Jerusalem bureau’s Yolande Knell titled “Palestinian Christians struggle to find hope at Christmas,” which opens by telling readers that a town which has been under the exclusive control of the Palestinian Authority for twenty-nine years is “occupied.”
The little town of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank has good reason to consider itself the capital of Christmas but this year it does not feel like it.
There are very few visitors at what is typically a peak time. There are not the usual cheerful street decorations nor the giant Christmas tree in front of the Nativity Church, built over the spot where it is believed that Jesus was born.
Public celebrations of Christmas have been cancelled for a second year because of the war in Gaza. Palestinian Christians are only attending religious ceremonies and family gatherings.
As was the case in a very similar report published a year earlier, Knell does not bother to inform her readers that one of the reasons why there are “few visitors” is because most major airlines cancelled flights to Israel following the October 7, 2023 invasion and massacre by Hamas that led to the current war.
Neither does Knell explain that tourists are unlikely to be attracted to a town which has cancelled Christmas celebrations for the second time and – as was also the case in the BBC’s 2023 report – she fails to clarify that (as other media outlets were able to report) the political decision to cancel public celebrations was taken by local authorities, including the municipality.
Despite having failed to clarify that the cancellation of Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem is a political decision, Knell later goes on to promote talking points concerning the town’s economy:
The economy is in dire straits especially in Bethlehem, which relies heavily on tourism which has almost entirely stopped. Guides stand idly by the Nativity Church, feeding the pigeons.
“If there [are] tourists, all the people will work: hotels, transportation, accommodation, all of them,” says one guide, Abdullah. “But [if] there [are] no tourists, there is no life in Bethlehem city.”
“I am broke! No business! For more than one year we stay home,” exclaims Adnan Subah, a souvenir seller on Star Street.
“My son is a tour guide in the church, we stay home, all my kids stay. No jobs, no business, no tourists.”
Knell fails to comply with BBC editorial guidelines concerning Contributors’ Affiliations by neglecting to inform readers that the pastor to whom she gives a platform to promote lies concerning “genocide” is a long-time political activist.
”This should be a time of joy and celebration,” comments Reverend Dr Munther Isaac, a local Lutheran pastor. “But Bethlehem is a sad town in solidarity with our siblings in Gaza.”
At his church, the Nativity scene shows baby Jesus lying in a pile of rubble. In the run-up to Christmas, a prayer service focused on the catastrophic situation in Gaza.
“It’s hard to believe that another Christmas has come upon us and the genocide has not stopped,” Isaac said in his strongly worded sermon. “Decision makers are content to let this continue. To them, Palestinians are dispensable.”
Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide in Gaza and judges at the UN’s top court have yet to rule in a case alleging genocide, brought by South Africa.
Neither does Knell tell her readers that the same pastor also promoted “baby Jesus lying in a pile of rubble” agitprop last Christmas.
Another political activist (who, like Isaac, is linked to the Bethlehem Bible College and “Christ at the Checkpoint” conferences) is portrayed by Knell merely as a “theologian.” His promotion of the politically motivated falsehood of “starvation” goes unchallenged.
”My mum told me that what we see on television doesn’t capture one per cent of what’s happening,” says theologian, Dr Yousef Khouri, who is originally from Gaza City.
His parents and sister are among a few hundred Christians who have spent much of the past 14 months sheltering in two Gazan churches.
“They are subjected like the entire Gaza strip to starvation. Of course, almost non-sleep because of bombardment, because of all the drones hovering above their heads and the lack of medical attention and services,” he says.
“We’ve lost friends and relatives.”
In addition, Knell promotes the notion that casualty figures provided by the Gaza-based terrorist organization which started the war are “reliable.”
“In Gaza, more than 45,000 people have been killed in the war that was unleashed in response to the Hamas attacks on southern Israel. Figures come from the Hamas-run health ministry but are considered reliable by the UN and others. The assault on 7 October 2023 killed some 1,200 people – Israelis and some foreigners – and led to about 250 being taken hostage.
Knell tells her readers that: “Tensions have risen in the West Bank in parallel to the war. Israel has imposed new restrictions on Palestinians’ movements and cancelled tens of thousands of permits for workers who used to cross into Jerusalem or Jewish settlements each day.”
BBC audiences are not informed that “tensions” in fact began long before October 2023 due to the rise in terrorism that has been encouraged and facilitated by Iranian-backed terrorist groups for over three years.
Knell also returns to themes that she has been promoting in Christmas coverage for at least a decade: “Many local Christian and Muslim families have emigrated in the past year. With the constant threat of violence and expansion of settlements on lands where Palestinians have long sought an independent state of their own, there is increased fear and uncertainty over the future.”
Christian emigration from PA controlled areas began long before “the past year” but like so many of her colleagues, Yolande Knell opts for the easy option of blaming “settlements” and an inadequately explained “threat of violence” rather than informing her readers accurately on the topic.
And so once again BBC audiences find Yolande Knell self-conscripting to the opportunistic exploitation of Christmas for promotion of context-free political sloganeering.
Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why Does the Media Continue to Smear Israel With Anti-Christmas Lies? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
