Is the BBC underreporting major peace deals in the Middle East and the Balkans simply out of their hatred for Donald Trump?

 

On an earlier thread rockylives posted a comment which well and truly hit the target: 

The downplaying of the peace developments in the Middle East by the BBC is unconscionable. 

Obviously we know why. They have created an ill-informed groupthink that sees everything as "Israel bad, Palestinians good." 

Add to that the role played by Donald Trump (another who can do nothing right in the eyes of the BBC) and you can see why the Corporation wants to play it down. 

But they should be deeply ashamed of themselves.  These are some of the most significant developments in international relations since the fall of Saddam and the collapse of Iraq, which huge implications for the wider world. 

How dare they say with straight faces that their journalism is impartial? 

My sentiments exactly.

In recent weeks we've had:

• The historic Israel-Bahrain peace deal
• The historic Israel-UAE peace deal
• The historic Serbia-Kosovo agreement
• Muslim-majority Kosovo's recognition of Israel

These are the most historic developments in terms of peace in the Middle East and the Balkans for many, many years, and - fingers crossed - could be truly transformative in terms of peace. Yet the BBC has barely reported any of them. 

Why? 

Well, you could obviously put it down partly to the BBC's ingrained disinclination to report anything positive about Israel, though that doesn't explain the underreporting of the Serbia-Kosovo agreement. 

And you could also put it down to the BBC's increasingly narrow, insular focus as far as its world news output for a UK audience goes (obviously excepting internal US matters, about which it remains obsessed.)

But surely the vital connection between all of the above is that Donald Trump's presidency has played a key part in brokering them, and there's a strong case to be made that Donald Trump has been the most successful US peacemaker president in decades.

How many BBC reporters can you imagine wanted to report that?

Here's the charge then: 

Especially with the US presidential election being just two months away, the BBC simply can't bring themselves to give any credit whatsoever to Donald Trump for being a successful peacemaker. Therefore, they're underreporting these historic developments out of their antipathy for Donald Trump. 

If true, how petty and partisan would that be! 

(Answer: Very.)

*******

P.S. If you're wondering where the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen is in all this, well, he has had nothing to say about the Israel-Bahrain peace deal, even on Twitter. 

He's been busy 'liking' stuff about cooking today though and was retweeting an attack on the UK government for being mean to the EU over Brexit yesterday, so he's around and about and active on other fronts. So why so quiet on this?

Peace again

The piece deal between Israel and Bahrain is another historic breakthrough, following Israel's recent  peace deal with the United Arab Emirates. 

The BBC hasn't paid it much attention, but their Jerusalem reporter Tom Bateman has covered it. He ended his report on the story with the following, downbeat pay-off line:

The Gulf countries believe their move could nudge forward an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but critics see more self-interest than peacemaking for the parties involved. Tom Bateman, BBC News, Jerusalem. 

Earlier in his report, which stressed how the deal "leaves the Palestinians feeling sidelined", he'd seemed to be giving succour to those critics himself by stressing the "new security ties" that could develop "among countries that share a common adversary in Iran". 

A contrasting take comes from Andrew Neil on Twitter:

Now that Bahrain has joined the UAE in recognising Israel, Saudi Arabia cannot be far behind. A sea-change in the geopolitics of the Middle East is underway, leaving the Palestinian leadership isolated.

Consider this from the state-backed Saudi Gazette: "Palestinian politicians have sabotaged negotiations and rejected all peace initiatives for six decades in order to keep the aid funds flowing to their private bank accounts."

Or this: Bahraini activist: “Growing awareness among many in Arab world that Jewish people not foreign colonialists in Land of Israel, but part of this land, and part of our region… it’s a fact, and we can do many things together for prosperity, security and peace for region.”

And Abu Dhabi's official National newspaper: “The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim … Since 9/11, Muslims across the world have been on the defensive. I saw the suspicion of Muslims in the eyes of American officials. It always boiled down to: show us peace in Islam. Now, with visionary accord between UAE and Israel, a new horizon is opening to reinstate Muslim dignity by showing peace between peoples. We can now say: ‘A new way of co-existence is achievable. We are not pawns for mullahs of Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood. Look at the UAE.’”