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Last update - 13:34 31/07/2009
Media watchdog: British press biased in coverage of Gaza war
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Gaza, IDF, Israel News 
Just Journalism says major British media sources misquoted IDF soldiers' testimonies on Gaza offensive.

A U.K. media watchdog has called into question ongoing British press coverage of the Gaza conflict in January, accusing prominent members of the mainstream media of biased reporting.

The organization Just Journalism claims that the BBC website and the Independent newspaper misquoted controversial testimonies from Israeli soldiers who were involved in the Gaza offensive. Both organizations reportedly truncated quotes from soldiers, thereby altering the impact and context of their comments.

Decisions such as these, the group says, "raise concerns about the handling of this source material and whether audiences are being provided with the full facts." The group defines itself as "an independent research organization focused on how Israel and Middle East issues are reported in the U.K. media."
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The soldiers' testimonies, released in Israel by the organization Breaking the Silence, include allegations that Israeli troops ordered local Gaza residents to go first into houses believed to contain armed Palestinian fighters. This practice, known in Israel as "neighbor procedure," was banned by Israel's High Court in 2005.

The watchdog also claims that the British press charged Israel with committing war crimes in Gaza twice as frequently as similar accusations were levelled against Sri Lankan troops in a conflict taking place at the same time halfway around the world.

"Across the five daily broadsheets, war crimes allegations in relation to Israel were addressed twice as often as war crimes allegations in relation to Sri Lanka," says a report by the group.

Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27, 2008, in an effort to halt ongoing rocket fire on its southern communities. The Palestinians say that more than 1,100 people were killed in the three-week offensive, among them at least 500 women and children.

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      1.   speaks volume 15:26  |  Mohammad 31/07/09
      2.   whats new pussy cat? how many reporters does israel 17:50  |  v hardman 31/07/09
      3.   Britain is a biased kingdom herself 18:10  |  JP 31/07/09
      4.   This is a non-story from a non-source. 18:32  |  Michael 31/07/09
      5.   No press raises legitamite eyebrows 18:33  |  julie 31/07/09
      6.   Sure ... 18:53  |  Boyd 31/07/09
      7.   Almost all british newspaper like BBC are big tabloids 19:15  |  JP 31/07/09
      8.   when did the british media ever say anything good about israel 19:39  |  zionist forever 31/07/09
      9.   Not our watchdog 19:49  |  Adam 31/07/09
      10.   #4 Michael, read the article, please! 19:55  |  Franco 31/07/09
      11.   Get over it and tell us something we don`t know 20:05  |  Vernon Marriott 31/07/09
      12.   Like Hamas broke the cease fire? 20:25  |  Steve J 31/07/09
      13.   zionist forever 8 22:43  |  potobac 31/07/09
      14.   the jews are not going to get off screaming bias and antisemetism 22:54  |  no way 31/07/09
      15.   The truth will come out 04:07  |  The Prophet 01/08/09
      16.   Hasbara 09:48  |  david 01/08/09
      17.   Proportionately biased? 10:30  |  JW 01/08/09
      18.   Another load of nonsense 20:12  |  jens 01/08/09
      19.   `Just Journalism` 21:36  |  Colin Wright 01/08/09
      20.   There is no equal between an occupier and the occupied .. 00:56  |  Dutch 02/08/09
      21.   19 Colin Wright , you bring up another important point ... 01:15  |  Dutch 02/08/09
      22.   ITS not only Just Jouranalism.The BBC is fighting the publication 11:13  |  PETER SM 02/08/09
      23.   peter sm 22 21:11  |  potobac 02/08/09
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