LONDON: Following the terrible October 7 assaults and Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza, a new investigation demonstrated that the mainstream UK media was strongly biased towards Israel and against Palestinians, as well as criticizing Muslims and non-Muslim advocates of Palestinian liberation.
According to a research produced by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), an offshoot of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), right-wing TV channels and British publications have been at the forefront of misrepresenting pro-Palestinian protestors as antisemitic, aggressive, or pro-Hamas.
In 150 pages, the paper indicates that emotive language in UK print and electronic media characterizes Israelis as victims of attacks 11 times more than Palestinians;Israel’s right” to defend itself, overshadowing Palestinian rights by a ratio of 5 to 1; in broadcast TV, Israeli perspectives were referenced almost three times more than Palestinian ones; in online news, it was nearly twice as much; 76% of online articles frame the conflict as a “Israel-Hamas war,” while only 24% mention “Palestine/Palestinian,” indicating a lack of context. Pro-Palestinian voices are misrepresented and vilified by media outlets, reinforcing negative stereotypes; right-wing news channels and British magazines have been at the forefront of characterizing pro-Palestinian protestors as antisemitic, aggressive, or pro-Hamas.
