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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (103779)	7/2/2003 12:15:00 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

Israel decided this was an opportune moment to declare the BBC persona non grata, after the BBC broadcast (for the second time) a show that accused the Israelis of using nerve gas on the Palestinians: Israel freezes out BBC over 'biased' reporting By Reuters Israel said on Monday it had severed contacts with the BBC over what it termed coverage akin to the worst "Nazi propaganda", but Britain's state broadcaster can still report from the Jewish state. Israeli officials have criticized BBC coverage of a 33-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood and one official described as the "last straw" a documentary called "Israel's Secret Weapon" on alleged nuclear and chemical arms programs. Israeli officials said the Government Press Office (GPO), the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office would no longer grant BBC correspondents interviews or offer them services usually provided to foreign journalists. "The way BBC is trying to portray Israel competes with the worst of Nazi propaganda," said GPO head Danny Seaman. "In the guise of journalistic integrity it lends support to evil portrayals of Israel and the Jewish people which has been done before in the gravest of circumstances." A BBC spokesman said: "We stand by our program. We regret any response that the Israeli government might make that would hinder our journalism." A BBC documentary, shown in Britain in March and aired abroad on Saturday, mainly focused on Israel's nuclear program. But a BBC script of the program alleged Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip had used a new gas in February 2001 that put 180 people in hospital with severe convulsions. "The program tried to show that we don't abide by international law," Seaman said. "There was a decision by the state of Israel to cut off all contacts with the BBC because of what we feel to be a bias and an anti-Israeli line apparent in a series of programs that portray Israel in a very evil light," he said. Seaman said in interviews that the GPO had withdrawn help it usually extended to allow journalists to receive quick press accreditation, bypass red tape in getting work visas and ease passage through army roadblocks in Palestinian areas. Israel would continue to withhold cooperation from the BBC until it "believes there is full understanding of the Israeli policy-making and the BBC is behaving in a professional and balanced manner", he said. Seaman declined to say how the BBC could satisfy the conditions. The BBC's Jerusalem office would retain its accreditation and would not be kept out of government news conferences, Seaman said. But the BBC would not be invited to special briefings. The BBC and the British government are currently trading blows over the broadcaster's allegations Prime Minister Tony Blair's office exaggerated the arms of mass destruction threat posed by Iraq. haaretzdaily.com