Palestinian envoy to UK calls out BBC's double standards

The Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, publicly slammed BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, accusing her of “double standards” during an interview on Israel’s attacks against Palestinians in Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Israeli occupation forces have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on numerous occasions over the past week, shot and abused Palestinian worshippers as they prayed the nightly Ramadan prayers. In response, resistance factions fired rockets into Israel.

Israel, which continuously strikes the besieged Gaza Strip throughout the year, then increased its attacks and levelled numerous housing blocks, killing 35 Palestinians including ten children.

Despite the deaths, Maitlis repeatedly asked the ambassador if he condemned the rocket fire on Israel, to which he responded, “Hamas did not decide to evict people from their homes.”

“This isn’t about Hamas, this is about Israel. Israel provokes, Israel commits every crime you can imagine, Israel injures more than 300 worshippers – peaceful worshippers – this morning in Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Israel evicts people from their homes, continues with its sheer violations of the very basic rights of people, and then they try to blame the react rather than the act. This must stop.

As part of Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign, Palestinians are currently being forcibly evicted from their indigenous homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

Criticising the presenter’s line of questioning, the ambassador questioned: “Who should be condemned, Emily? Did you see the images of the nine children being dissipated in Gaza tonight? Who should be condemned?”

“And then the UK Foreign Secretary is quick to condemn Hamas and never to condemn the Israeli atrocities on a daily basis.”

“We are sick and tired of the double standards. We have to call it right this time. Call a spade a spade.”

Rather than providing a historical and political context, some media outlets continually resort to recycling familiar tropes. The recent Israeli attacks against Palestinians were referred to as “clashes” or “tensions” with little context given as to why Palestinians have been protesting. Nor has the media covered the heavy-handed response of the Israeli occupation forces who face the unarmed Palestinian civilians.

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