The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines make clear that impartiality does not demand precise equivalence in coverage, particularly where enormous asymmetry exists in terms of the number of casualties, and where fatalities on one side may disproportionately affect the prospects for peace.  This bulletin included a report on a bus attack in Jerusalem, the first such incident for some time.  The newsworthiness of the event was not simply a matter of the number of people who died but also of what the incident said about Israel’s security in light of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s justifications for the war in Gaza and increased military presence in the West Bank.  The report also described deaths from Israel’s attacks on Gaza, over footage of rocket attacks on residential buildings.  That part of the report, in the ECU’s view, served to illustrate the fact that, despite heavy Israeli military activity, the underlying conflict remained unresolved.

Not Upheld