The BBC are under fire for transmitting live a Glastonbury act chanting ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Death to the IDF’. And will likely be the focus of more criticism once Channel 4 tonight airs Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was made by two Emmy award-winning filmmakers and originally commissioned by the BBC but they refused to air it.
Damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Tonight’s documentary examines allegations that Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals in breach of international law; with every one of Gaza’s 36 main hospitals attacked or destroyed by Israel, with people forced to evacuate and healthcare workers reportedly killed, imprisoned and tortured. Channel 4 said it had fact-checked it to ensure that it meets its editorial standards and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
Sections of BBC staff are said to be ‘in revolt’ as they claim bosses are meddling ‘for political reasons’. The top brass are accused of being ‘crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government’ with coverage being seen as ‘defined by anti-Palestinian racism’; and they raise concerns over people in editorial positions who have a pro-Israel bias. In addition this week an open letter was published, signed by industry figures like Miriam Margolyes, Charles Dance and Mike Leigh calling the BBC’s reporting about Israel a cause of ‘great shame’; and branding the decision not to show the documentary about medics in Gaza as ‘political’ and ‘nothing to do with the journalism of the film’.
‘Not only is their reasoning pathetic, it goes against how the BBC works. Clearly if they don’t understand the meaning of due impartiality, they should not be in the job.’
Roger Bolton, a former BBC editor, comments that ‘trying to report fairly and authoritatively is greatly constrained by the Netanyahu government’s refusal to allow independent journalists into the Gaza Strip.’ He recommends that BBC should commission programmes that explore the history of Zionism and of the Palestinians; ‘or exploring the difference between being anti-Israel and antisemitic – a difference deliberately blurred by the supporters of this Israeli government.’
The trials and tribulations of the BBC and the Director General Tim Davie are hardly of great import except as weather vanes for journalism, its flaws and challenges, with impartial reporting on the Israel-Gaza mess being shouted down by both sides.
What is of interest astrologically is how the BBC interfaces with Israel. BBC 14 November 1922 6pm London. Israel 14 May 1948 4.16pm Tel Aviv.
The BBC’s stubborn and opinionated 9th house Mars in Aquarius on one leg of a yod sextile Venus inconjunct Pluto, falls in Israel’s domestic 4th house opposition its warlike, intransigent Moon, Saturn Pluto Leo in the 10th.And that is never going to be in agreement.
The BBC’s Scorpio Sun is opposition Israel’s 8th house Taurus Sun but more significantly is exactly conjunct Israel’s Chiron at 21 degrees Scorpio. So the BBC will shine a light on Israel’s deepest wounds and make it overly defensive.
Chiron Sun synastry. ‘When these two meet, there is an opportunity for great growth, but it is also a very painful process – the meeting of light and pain’. Israel’s deep sense of historical injustice will be triggered by the contact making it temporarily worse. There is (normally with individuals) an opportunity for growth through the contact – eventually when the will to heal and grow is there.
The BBC/Israel relationship chart is argumentative, competitive and bitter with a composite Sun square Mars and Mars trine Pluto. More heat than light.
Apropos of astro-coincidences: Keir Starmer has a Water Grand Trine, the BBC has a Water Grand Trine. And Jimmy Swaggart, recently deceased, disgraced televangelist had one as well.
The post BBC and Israel/Gaza – damned if they do or don’t first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
