British government Rewards anti-Israel BBC reporter

[Guest guest]

British government rolls out red carpet for anti-Israel BBC reporter

By: israelinsider staff and partners

Published: April 25, 2005

 

Israeli officials have expressed dismay that BBC reporter Orla

Guerin, who has come under sharp criticism for what some perceive as

an anti-Israeli bias in her coverage, will receive an MBE - Member of

the British Empire - honor from the British government

for "outstanding service to broadcasting."

 

Guerin, who has spent 10 years reporting from war-torn countries, was

to receive the honor last year, but the ceremony was postponed so she

could report from Ramallah on Yasser Arafat's funeral.

 

Diaspora Affairs Minister Natan Sharansky, who last year wrote a

formal letter of complaint to the BBC over Guerin's coverage, said it

is a pity that the absence of anti-Semitism was not a criterion for

the award. If it were, he said, Guerin would not be receiving the

honor.

 

The award is one of a number of honors issued each year by the queen.

 

"It is very sad that something as important as anti-Semitism is not

taken into consideration when issuing this award, especially in

Britain where the incidents of anti-Semitism are on the rise," said

Sharansky.

 

One Israeli official, who responded to the news by saying he

was "shocked," said Guerin is among the most anti-Israeli journalists

reporting from Israel today.

 

According to this official, granting her an award fits into a pattern

that began in 2003 when the United Kingdom's Political Cartoon

Society awarded Dave Brown of The Independent its "cartoon of the

year" award for a cartoon he drew depicting a naked Ariel Sharon

biting off the bloodied head of a Palestinian child.

 

"It seems if you are anti-Israel, you will get an award," he said.

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