The British Broadcasting Corporation’s Arabic-language radio programs present the unchallenged views of terrorist organizations that oppose Israel, according to a new report from a British attorney.
Trevor Asserson, who set up the Web site www.bbcwatch.co.uk in 2000, on Wednesday presented a report — co-written by Deena Pinson — at a seminar in Jerusalem attended by Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister.
The report is based on a study of the Arabic-language radio station’s coverage of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon last summer.
The report states: “We identified 17 spokespeople for Hezbollah and Iran among program guests, and only five for Israel.
“The airtime given by BBC Arabic radio to the pro-Hezbollah position outweighed that given to the pro-Israel position by a ratio of some 4.5 to one.”
The report charges that the BBC’s Arabic radio programming is “out of control” and provides a respectable platform to “those who hate the U.S.A. and Israel,” the Jewish Chronicle in Britain reported.
Asserson told the Chronicle: “The BBC is giving a platform of respectability to people expressing views against British foreign policy and UK society and people should be worried that their money is being spent on this.
“It’s alarming that some extreme views are expressed with very little attempt by presenters to contradict them.”
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