On Yer Bike, Jon!: More Outright Anti-Israel Propaganda From The BBC's Fauxtography Tweeter Donnison

A human shield in Israel: mother protecting child from Hamas missile

Back in 2002, Jon Donnison, the BBC's correspondent in Gaza, was a reporter on BBC Radio Sheffield.  A BBC article at the time told of keen cyclist Donnison's participation in that year's Tour de France.  The article was headed "On Yer Bike, Jon!"

"On Yer Bike, Jon!" is what the BBC should have told this snide, subjective, smart alec of a reporter following his disgraceful, and now deservedly notorious, retweet of a photograph purporting to show an injured child in Gaza, but which in fact showed an injured child in Syria.

But of course he kept his job, despite that example of shoddy journalism, and despite (some might say because of) his outrageous tendency to act as a spokesman for the Palestinians, thus breaching time and time again the BBC's editorial guidelines on impartiality:

"Presenters, reporters and correspondents are the public face and voice of the BBC - they can have a significant impact on perceptions of whether due impartiality has been achieved.  Our audiences should not be able to tell from BBC output the personal prejudices of our journalists or news and current affairs presenters on matters of public policy, political or industrial controversy, or on 'controversial subjects' in any other area."

Donnison's a keen cyclist still, it seems.  But he's an even keener recyclist by the look of things. 

Online, some Palestine Solidarity Campaign members and sympathisers have claimed that Donnison did not publicise the tragic death of his BBC colleague Jihad's baby son Omar (though in fact Donnison referred to it in broadcast after broadcast, as well as online).

Omar's fate was indeed deplorable, and I like most people sympathise with his distraught family.  However, Donnison has proved his worth to Israel's enemies once again by planting on the BBC website an emotive essay about Omar's death that, despite cursory lip service to the fact that Israeli civilians have died, is a hook on which to hang yet more subjective propaganda against Israel: 

"Despite the evidence pointing towards an Israeli air strike, some bloggers have suggested it might have been a misfired Hamas rocket.

But at that time, so soon after the launch of Israel's operation, the Israeli military says mortars had been launched from Gaza but very few rockets.

Mortar fire would not cause the fireball that appears to have engulfed Jehad's [i.e. Jihad's] house.

Other bloggers have said that the damage to Jehad's home was not consistent with powerful Israeli attacks but the BBC visited other bombsites this week with very similar fire damage, where Israel acknowledged carrying out what it called "surgical strikes".

As at Jehad's home, there was very little structural damage but the victims were brought out with massive and fatal burns. Most likely is that Omar died in the one of the more than 20 bombings across Gaza that the Israeli military says made up its initial wave of attacks.

Omar was not a terrorist....

In Israel, too, there were fatalities: four civilians and two soldiers. There were also many injuries. But the fact the Israeli Ambulance Service was also reporting those suffering from anxiety and bruises is an indication of the asymmetric nature of the conflict."

On Yer Bike, Jon!

(Update: Snap!)

As I remark in a comment on BBCWatch:

"Donnison is so subjective, so obviously emotionally involved with the Gazans, so irredeemably “gone native”, that if the BBC had any scruples and honour at all, let alone concern for objectivity, it would relocate him to another part of the globe."

 (Updated again: First the good news - Donnison's going on leave.  Now the bad news - he'll be back.

Jon Donnison ‏@JonDonnison

Out of #gaza for a few days break. Back soon. BBC Gaza old boy Aleem Maqbool holding the fort. 

Some people have already tweeted that he should take as long as he likes ... )