BBC to Air Controversial Program Angering Israelis

June 15, 2000

The British Broadcasting Corporation says it will go ahead with the scheduled airing of a documentary that examines whether Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be tried as a war criminal.

The documentary, to be broadcast Sunday on BBC's domestic Panorama program, has sparked outrage in Israel with charges that the BBC is biased against Israel and pro-Palestinian.

The program investigates whether Mr. Sharon should be put on trial for the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by Israeli-allied Lebanese Christian militiamen during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Sharon was Israel's defense minister at the time.

Officials at the BBC defend the documentary as a legitimate analysis of a human rights issue. A BBC statement says the program asks whether the evidence from that time would be sufficient to justify criminal charges. A 1983 Israeli inquiry found Sharon indirectly responsible for the massacres of hundreds of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 in order to put a stop to terrorism on its northern border carried out by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), then based in Lebanon. As a result of the invasion, Yasser Arafat and his PLO fled the country of the safety of Tunisia.

The PLO had terrorized Lebanese civilians while operating out of Lebanon. Lebanese militias entered the Palestinian refugee camps an ostensible effort to find PLO operatives. The operation turned into a massacre as the Lebanese wreaked their vengeance on their Arab brothers for their years of oppression by the PLO.

As Defense Minister, Sharon ordered the invasion. The official inquiry faulted Sharon for failing to anticipate that the Lebanese militias might try to kill the Palestinians. Sharon was forced to resign as defense minister but later served as foreign minister in the Netanyahu government before being elected prime minister.

An Israeli government spokesman on Thursday accused the BBC of being anti-Semitic, and of not operating according to normal journalistic standards. The BBC statement expressed regret at the Israeli reaction, but said the organization will continue to report events in Israel and the surrounding region to the best of its ability. However, the examination of a 19-year old incident for which Sharon was only indirectly at fault raises the question of, why now? The answer is obvious - because Sharon is now the prime minister and Arafat is once again attacking Israelis. It's impossible to defend blowing up teenagers and stoning babies, so the BBC is trying to turn the tables by accusing Sharon of war crimes.

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