Jeremy Bowen guilty of breaking guidelines on inaccuracy and impartiality
This is a guest post by Chas Newkey Burden
Breaking news: The BBC’s Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has been found guilty by the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) of breaking BBC guidelines on accuracy and impartiality in his coverage of Israel. (This is the news I mentioned that was due to break tomorrow morning. The announcement has been brought forward.)
This has been a long time coming. Time and time again Bowen has distorted and twisted his coverage of the Middle East. To list all the examples would be a mammoth undertaking. I have included a mere selection here, and here, and here, and here, and here and here.
I got a first-hand experience of Bowen’s hideous bias when I saw him speak at a literary event some years ago. He preened and puffed out his chest as he claimed he was an impartial reporter. Yet all night, every time he said the word “Palestinian” his eyes glazed over, almost romantically, and every time he said the word “Israel” he spat it out.
(Incidentally, Bowen’s book that he was launching that evening, about the Six Day War, has been described by Professor Efraim Karsh, a leading expert on the modern history of the Middle East, as: “superficial, derivative and rife with standard anti-Israel prejudice”. I’ve read the book, I think the Professor was too kind.)
It is extraordinary to think that the BBC entrusts a man such as Bowen with coverage of such a monumentally important issue. As we saw during Operation Cast Lead, anti-Israel distortion contributes to the atmosphere of hate that leads to violence against Jews on the streets of Britain.
The Zionist Federation said in response to today’s news: “Mr Bowen’s position as Middle East Editor of a public service broadcaster is untenable in the light of the ESC’s findings.”
Too right. He is now officially guilty of breaking guidelines on impartiality and inaccuracy.
He has to go.
Gene adds: The ESC’s report can be read here (pdf).