Rarely, if ever, does the BBC refer to politically or nationalistically motivated acts of violence against Israelis as terrorism. Yet, the BBC has less of a problem when it comes to attacks on British soil, whether carried out by Irish republicans or Jihadi-inspired ‘lone wolves.’
Given the need to cater for its domestic audience, it was hardly a surprise that the BBC covered last week’s appalling terrorist attack on London’s Westminster Bridge and Houses of Parliament by actually referring to terror. Would the British audience have accepted any less?
So UK license fee payers who keep the BBC in business along with those very same politicians who found themselves in lock-down for several hours during and after the attack on the symbol of British democracy might be outraged at the policy of the BBC’s Brazilian subsidiary.
When one concerned news consumer questioned on BBC Brasil’s Facebook page why the London terror attack had been described as an “incident,” the response was shocking:
Translated from the Portuguese:
Terrorism is a word full of connotations, so we avoid using it. The terrorist for some is the defender of freedom for others. The terrorist for others is the avenger of injustices against others. It is not up to the BBC to judge the motives of those who execute attacks, as cruel and bloody as they are.
Ironically, the BBC license fee, paid by the British public, is set by the British Government, agreed by the very same Parliament that came under terrorist attack. While the license fee does not fund much of the BBC’s foreign language services, these are considered an important arm of spreading British influence and culture abroad.
So while Tobias Ellwood MP, the Minister for the Middle East and Africa in the British Foreign Office, bravely fought to save the life of police office Keith Palmer, the BBC’s Brazilian subsidiary not only refused to call PC Palmer’s murderer a terrorist but questioned whether he could be termed a terrorist at all.
HR Managing Editor Simon Plosker says:
Is this seriously the message that the BBC wishes to spread in Portuguese or other languages – that a vicious terrorist attack on members of the British public and politicians is simply to be treated as an “incident” without any moral judgment attached?
Even in Portuguese, the British public and government will understand that the BBC not only betrays the victims of terror around the world but is now prepared to do the same to the victims on its own doorstep.
Are the BBC’s other foreign language subsidiaries treating the London terror attack in a similar fashion? If you see this, let us know by contacting us through our Red Alert page.
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