UPDATE – Fight Over BBC Olympic Coverage Intensifies
July 23, 2012 14:50 by Alex Margolin
The BBC’s controversial decision to omit Israel’s capital of Jerusalem from the information on countries participating in the London Olympics has drawn a strong response from the Israeli government.
Government officials have sent several sharply-worded letters to the BBC demanding that it list Israel’s capital as it does for virtually every other country. It also launched a popular campaign on Facebook called Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel, inviting the public to join the effort. More than 16,000 already have.
To recap, the BBC initially left out any reference to an Israeli capital while simultaneously listing “East Jerusalem” as the capital of “Palestine.” The BBC then amended the listings in response to public outrage and a letter from Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For detailed information on the BBC’s Olympic coverage, see HR’s last communique, BBC Olympic Coverage Declares East Jerusalem as Palestinian Capital.
The new text replaced the word capital with “Seat of Government” in Jerusalem, while adding that most foreign embassies “are in Tel Aviv.” It made a parallel change to the listing for “Palestine”, listing “East Jerusalem” as the “Intended seat of government.”
For HonestReporting and all those demanding the BBC print the truth about Israel, the change was not good enough. Seat of government is not the same as capital, and Mark Regev sent a second letter demanding that the BBC end the discrimination against Israel. “Unlike all other countries listed,” he wrote, “in Israel’s case, our capital Jerusalem is not classified by the BBC as such but rather as a “Seat of Government.”"
The Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, also issued a press release stating firmly that “irrespective of the BBC’s political agenda, Jerusalem always was, is, and will be the capital of Israel and the spiritual, political, and physical center of the Jewish people.”
As of this writing, the BBC continues to discriminate against Israel by treating it differently than every other country competing in the London Olympics.
Don’t let the media delegitimize Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Take action now and support Israel’s demand that the BBC corrects its error. Send your complaints directly to BBC Sport.
Don’t forget to join the Facebook campaign to publicly demonstrate against the BCC along with thousands of others. And see HR’s Jerusalem Resource Page for more information about Israel’s claim to the city.
Arturo
5:16 pm
Jul 23, 2012
You have to create a page in facebook named: “Edimburg is the capital of United Kingdom” rather than “Jerusalem…. etc”. It will be most explosive in international press.
It is ignorant thing to change the countries capitals, the Capital is where government site, so, they can say The moon is Capital of Israel, so the monkey are they….
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Stan Morrison
9:13 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Awa’ and bile yer heid! Glasgow is the capital of Britain. Tongs ya bass and the BBC can go suck ma wullie!
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Gábor Fränkl
5:25 pm
Jul 23, 2012
This disgusting episode, if I may say so, is not even their most abominable decision, although depressing and aggrevating enoguh. Their WHOLE substandard, biased, primitive, one-sided partial and non-objective disgusting demagoguery theyx constantly beam is the most vexing and outrageous peoblem. Of course from one flows the other… F’ you BBC and f’ you Londonistan, you are finished anyway. As Caroline Glick said in her op-ed’s title 5-6 years ago, “A dieing lion can still do harm” referring to London’s obsessive anti-Israeli, quasi-antisemitic tendencies.
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jimmy
6:22 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Why do you report the BBC’s decision to omit Israel’s capitol of Jerusalem as “controversial”?? It’s unconscionable. They made a unilateral decision to deny Israel its legitimate right to establish the WHOLE Jewish city of Jerusalem as its capitol.
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Shimon Tesler
6:44 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Dear all,
Jerusalem is a capital of Israel and will remain so.
All other newcomers to our region which are british colonial invention products such as palestinians and jordanians will have claim their right from bbc.
With no respect to bbc and its cheap propagandists
Shimon Tesler, Israel
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Geoffrey
7:28 pm
Jul 23, 2012
My complaint to the BBC – You failed to identify in your site that the capital of Israel is Jerusalem. The BBC does not have the power to decide which town or city countries designate as their capital. Your decision not to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is yet another instance of your institutionalised bias against Israel. Again and again you deny any bias but at every turn, you show it, all too clearly.
Now do the right thing and show as Israel’s capital, the city that Israel has chosen. You have no right to decide otherwise.
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Why Did AP Believe The “Gaza Siege” Ended? | Blogs about Israel aggregation
8:40 pm
Jul 23, 2012
[...] mayor Nir Barkat posted his own statement on Facebook. And be sure to see HonestReporting’s update and Jerusal em resource [...]
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Dany
8:42 pm
Jul 23, 2012
BBC=Blind Boars Consortium, these folks ignore
3000 years of real history to side with a virtual
Country which will never come to being, for the
Simple reason that it is not in G-d’s plan, otherwise it would have existed for a very long time. We, in ISRAEL, an existing entity, an existing people, an existing religion, a recognized
land and a prosperous intelligently populated country. ?????? ??????
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Nathan Zafran
8:43 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Before demanding from the BBC recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, (since twenty three centuries before the begining of Islam), we should ask them first to recognize Israel as a COUNTRY, homeland of the Jewish people.
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Nathan Zafran
8:47 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Correction! “Twenty three” should read “seventeen”.
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Dany
8:48 pm
Jul 23, 2012
The question signs are two words in the living language somehow changed
They mean – sheyanutu hakanayim-
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Marilyn
10:42 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Would you be a darling and translate this into English for me please? I keep trying to find Hebrew phrases to learn (can’t afford lessons!) and this looks like it might be a good one! Thanks!
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Nathan Zafran
8:58 pm
Jul 24, 2012
Marylin,
the expression is “she-yamoutou ha-kana-im”, which means “may the jealous die. Personally I disagree with this wish. Why die and be spared the “envy disease” and thus put him out of his misery? I wish the envious a long life, so that they can live in anguish for a long time.
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Make sure to LIKE this on Facebook
8:50 pm
Jul 23, 2012
https://www.facebook.com/BbcMustReleaseTheBalenReport
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Helene White
9:10 pm
Jul 23, 2012
I could not find a way to write a complaint to the BBC on-line. I wanted to say exactly what Geoffrey said, but I couldn’t determine the way to do it. What do I need to do?
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Kinneddar
12:44 am
Jul 24, 2012
Click on the link “BBC Sports” in the article above – takes you right to the complaint form.
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Meir
9:18 pm
Jul 23, 2012
What can be done to either
1. Fire the present management of the BBC for gross incompetence , and replace them with professional management?
or
2. put the BBC out of business?
Another point: our friends, the USA, is tacitly supporting the BBC ; as HR is probably aware the USA does not recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. look at the US State Department’s website, and you will see that Jerusalem is a city without a country.
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Carol Jones
9:20 pm
Jul 23, 2012
I wrote to the BBC that they had “virtually” exterminated the Jews in Jerusalem and gently reminded them that Adolf has gone and the Jews are still here. I also pointed out that on the UN’s website, there is NO country called Palestine and that Israel was listed.
If the Olympians won’t let us do a minute’s silence….why don’t we do a minute’s noise as the olympic torch goes by on Tuesday???
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Adam Weisman
10:25 pm
Jul 23, 2012
Canceling my subscription to BBC channels on the cable tv!!! I turned off CNN years ago, now BBC won’t get my attention either.
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Kinneddar
12:41 am
Jul 24, 2012
Here’s what I wrote to the BBC:
Dear BBC: You are a powerful British institution, but unless there’s been a new directive issued from the On High you don’t have the power to determine national capitals. Yet, that’s just what you’ve done in the case of your web coverage of Israel. Israel’s capital is Jerusalem—no matter how much you wish it weren’t. BBC, your bias is showing!
Yours truly,
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David Sternlight
1:52 am
Jul 24, 2012
It is not for nothing that some Australians call Brits “Pommy bastards”. The arrogant, elitist BBC does not get to decide the capitals of UN member States: those States do.
P.S. I used to be an Anglophile and received my Ph.D. from one of England’s most prestigious institutions.
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kenneth cohen
10:06 am
Jul 24, 2012
Throw the BBC out of Israel.Saudia Arabia has done this.
Israel should fight.
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Why Did AP Believe The “Gaza Siege” Ended? | The Conservative Papers
10:22 am
Jul 24, 2012
[...] mayor Nir Barkat posted his own statement on Facebook. And be sure to see HonestReporting’s update and Jerusalem resource [...]
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Dany
11:57 am
Jul 24, 2012
Yamoutu hakanayim means in plain english
” the jealous will perish”
Their jealousy is eating at their hearts and minds,
YERUSHALAYIM! YERUSHALAYIM!
YERUSHALAYIM! YERUSHALAYIM!
Is for ever, so said THE LORD!
BUILD MY CITY, AND I SHALL DWELL
AMONGST YOU.
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Sylvia fellerman
12:26 pm
Jul 24, 2012
Jerusalem is and will stay the capital of Israel no matter what the BBC say
They are and always will be against the Jews
And we Jews should realise this.
At the present time there is no country called
Palestine, that ended when Israel was given
by G-D through the UN
So BBC change your attitude as you r going
Against the Almighty.
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