Settlements Trump Baby Killers: Sky’s Skewed Priorities

Why did Sky News wait over 48 hours to cover a brutal baby killing terrorist murder - in a story highlighting settlements?

By March 14, 2011

Watching Sky News over the past few weeks, it is clear that the station’s network of correspondents has been stretched covering the uprising in Libya and now, the Japanese earthquake disaster.

It was still something of a surprise however, that the brutal massacre of the Fogel family by a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank community of Itamar did not warrant any coverage whatsoever on Sky News over the weekend.

As a 24 hour rolling news channel, Sky News would have been expected to cover the story that occurred late on Friday night. But nothing. Saturday and Sunday came and went. Still nothing.

Then, on Monday morning the brutal killings were finally addressed – in an article published under the headline: “New Settler Homes Approved In Israel“.

Failing to cover the story for over 48 hours was bad enough but to subsume the murders in a story highlighting settlements demonstrates at best, a lack of judgement and at worst, a seriously skewed set of priorities at Sky News.

HonestReporting has taken the BBC to task for burying its own initial story of the terror attack beneath a later article covering an announcement of renewed Israeli building within settlement blocs. Has Sky News fallen into a similar trap of its own making?

While the eventual Sky News report, which included a video segment, did not descend to the levels of bias shown by the BBC, it is nonetheless extremely worrying that the channel ignored the shocking murders of five innocent people including a three-month old infant and and two small children, only covering it as part of a story on settlements.

Has the dehumanization of Jews living in disputed West Bank territory reached such a level in Britain that the media simply care more about building permits than the human rights of real people, including children and babies?

Please send your considered comments to Sky News – [email protected]

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Simon Plosker

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020.

Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias.

Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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