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by Hadar Sela
Palestinians hold pictures of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an IDF counter-terror raid in the West Bank, May 11, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Raneen Sawafta
BBC coverage of the death of the Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May 2022 included cross-platform promotion of an interview with one of her colleagues, Ali Samoudi, who was injured at the same time. He spoke from his hospital bed.
In that and additional content, the BBC repeatedly promoted the notion that Israel deliberately targets journalists, as claimed by Abu Akleh’s employer at the time.
On August 5 2023, following the fatal terror attack in Tel Aviv that was barely reported by the BBC, members of terror groups in Jenin took to the streets for a celebratory procession that was reportedly dispersed by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces using tear gas and live fire.
During those events, two journalists were injured, one of whom was Ali Samoudi.
While the source of Samoudi’s injury is disputed, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (MADA) blamed the PA security forces:
The security services of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the Internal Security Forces in Gaza Strip, have increased their aggression against journalists in a violent manner that threatens the professional work of journalists, which is a bad indicator of the reality of media freedoms that is witnessing bloody violations. For instance, the reporter, ALI AL-SAMOUDI, was injured by shrapnel in the head as a result of the shooting in Jenin camp yard, while the citizens were celebrating the shooting attack that took place in “Tel Aviv” yesterday, Saturday. The security personnel also targeted the reporter of “Quds News Network” MOHAMMED ABED with a gas bomb directly at the event.
BBC audiences have not seen any coverage whatsoever of Ali Samoudi’s latest injury, or of that procession in Jenin celebrating the fatal attack by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist and its dispersal by PA security forces.
As we have seen on previous occasions, BBC interest in the topic of the safety of journalists (like that of the NUJ) apparently does not extend to incidents which do not involve Israel.
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.
