An Anti-Israel BBC Journalist Published a Piece Sympathizing with Hateful UK Group and Terror Suspects

For more than three years, CAMERA UK has been documenting examples of the BBC’s failure to fully inform the British public about the agenda and actions of the radical group calling itself “Palestine Action.”

On November 14, a report was published on the” London” page of the BBC News website under the headline “‘My daughter was branded a terrorist.” The article — credited to Anna O’Neill of BBC London — opens as follows:

In August, Clare Rogers’ daughter was arrested after allegedly taking part in direct action at an Israeli defence firm near Bristol.

“I discovered, three days in, still no phone call, that she was held under the Terrorist Act. And that meant seven days in solitary, and no right to a phone call… It was shocking,” she said.

Zoe Rogers, 21, is one of a group of pro-Palestinian protesters charged in relation to an incident at the Elbit UK, part of Elbit Systems, a global Israeli defence firm.

Zoe was eventually charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary and denied bail. Her trial is not set to take place until November 2025.

The link in that third paragraph leads to a BBC Bristol report from August 13, 2024 titled, “Seven appear in court after ram-raid at defence firm,” which provides details of the incident that are absent from O’Neill’s article:

Seven people have appeared in court over a ram-raid on a defence technology firm – with two others held on suspicion of terrorism offences.

A group allegedly used a vehicle to smash through the doors of Elbit Systems UK, near Bristol, in the early hours of 6 August. […]

Police said two officers who attended the incident, on Bolingbroke Way in Patchway, were “seriously assaulted in the course of their duties”.

Extensive damage was caused to the building and employees were allegedly seriously assaulted.

That report describes the charges filed against the two women who are the topic of O’Neill’s report — Zoe Rogers and Fatema Zainab Rajwani — as follows:

Jordan Devlin, 30, of Stoke Newington High Street, London, Leona Kamio, 28, of Clifden Road, Hackney, London and Fatema Rajwani, 20, of Commonside, East Mitcham, Merton, have all been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary using a sledgehammer.

Charlotte Head, 28, of White Ash Glade, Caerleon, Newport, and and Zoe Rogers, 20, of Selborne Road, Southgate, Enfield, have also been charged with the same offences.

The same report states:

A 33-year-old man, from Manchester, who was arrested on Friday, also remains in custody on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism after a warrant of further detention was granted by magistrates.

Another BBC Bristol report published three days later on August 16, under the headline, “Three more charged after ram-raid at defence firm,” provides the name of that “33-year-old man from Manchester”:

Three more people have been charged after an apparent ram-raid at a defence technology firm.

Members of the campaign group, Palestine Action, allegedly used a vehicle to ram the entrance of the Bristol HQ of Elbit Systems on Bolingbroke Way in Patchway, Bristol, shortly before 04:00 BST on 6 August.

Employees at the premises were “seriously assaulted” and “extensive damage” was done to the building, Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said.

The trio have been jointly charged with criminal damage and aggravated burglary.

Ian Sanders, 45, of Regent Place in Royal Leamington Spa, William Plastow, 33, of High Croft Avenue in Manchester and Madeline Norman, 29, of Wester Drylaw Drive in Edinburgh, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

Interestingly, the BBC’s report does not clarify that William Plastow — also known as Will Nyerere Plastow — is (as some have noted was already reported by the Standard in September) a BBC script editor who had participated in previous Palestine Action agitprop in Leicester in April.

Anna O’Neill’s report amply promotes emotional quotes from the mothers of the two women charged with criminal damage, violent disorder, and aggravated burglary, rather than terrorism offences:

The idea of my daughter being branded a terrorist just fills me with horror,” Clare said.

She added: “Someone who believes so passionately in justice, is lamenting the deaths of innocent civilians and children. To be called a terrorist?

“That really disgusts me.

“It makes me very angry and it worries me about the future of activists in this country, and the expression of free speech.” […]

“She is someone who is very loving and very shy,” Clare says of her daughter.

“She thinks very deeply and cares very deeply about social justice. She started to see what was unfolding in Gaza and that became a huge part of her life.”

That “loving and shy” activist is quoted as follows on the ‘Palestine Action’ website:

I am honoured to be imprisoned in solidarity with thousands of Palestinian political prisoners. Down with the apartheid state!

Readers of O’Neill’s report also find a quote from Palestine Action — but no explanation of that organization’s agenda and record of violence and vandalism is provided.

In a statement to the BBC, Palestine Action defended direct action and condemned the use of anti-terror laws.

“Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons producer, market their arms as “battle-tested” on the Palestinian people,” it said.

“By misusing counter-terrorism powers against those who take direct action to shut Elbit down, the state is prioritising the interests of a foreign weapons manufacturer over the rights and freedoms of its own citizens.”

O’Neill also promotes a quote from the NUJ, without explaining its relevance to the story:

And organisations such as the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are also worried about the use of counter-terror legislation by police.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “The rise in the use of counter-terror legislation by British police against journalists is alarming and we are concerned recent cases are without clear or sufficient explanation to those under investigation.

“Being able to report freely on issues in the public interest without fear of arrest is a fair expectation for every journalist abiding by the union’s code of conduct. We have urged an end to the apparent targeting for its harm on a free press and the risks posed to both journalists and their sources.”

O’Neill goes on to present comments from two lawyers, one of whom is Michael Mansfield. Readers are of course not provided with any information about that contributor’s long-standing anti-Israel activism and collaboration with lawfare campaigns against Israel.

The one-sided nature of O’Neill’s long report, together with her failure to provide readers with relevant context, including that relating to the agenda and actions of Palestine Action, becomes more comprehensible when one is aware of her social media activity.

Apparently the BBC is of the opinion that its obligation to provide its funding public with impartial reporting is not compromised by a puff-piece about members of a violent anti-Israel group which, according to a UK government report, “engages in law breaking and business disruption” (with the help of a BBC script editor) written by a journalist who “likes” social media posts promoting BDS and other anti-Israel content.

Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.

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