Not content with de-Islamicising and sanitising the Beslan massacre, the BBC continues to play down and thus misrepresent the war against Israel. The item on the Radio Four 8am news bulletin this morning about Israel's killing of 14 Hamas terrorists was an object lesson in bias. Quite apart from the usual description of terrorists as 'militants' and 'fighters', reporter Alan Johnston's language made it sound as if the event was on a par with the murder of Russian schoolchildren. Thus there would be 'many funerals' today for the Hamas 'faithful', much 'anger and grief'.

And then, to compound this odious tone, came the following staggering assertion: 'The movement is struggling to end Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank'. Thus Johnston presented Hamas as some kind of heroic freedom fighters 'struggling' -- a loaded word if ever there was one -- against colonial oppression. But Hamas is not seeking merely to end Israel's presence in the disputed territories. It aims to eradicate Israel altogether as a Jewish state. Its murderous attacks are directed explicitly to that end. What's more, it presents those attacks as part of a wider Islamic jihad against not just Israel but the Jews, whom it libels in language straight out of the lexicon of medieval Jew-hatred as a conspiracy to take over the world. If the BBC bothered to read the Hamas Charter, this is what it would find:

...'The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up...liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for very Moslem wherever he may be...in the face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised...

'With their money, they [the Jews] took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there...They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it....Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"...Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep." '

The BBC is undoubtedly the single most important and authoritative source of information for most people in this country about Israel, the Middle East and foreign affairs in general. Its persistent misrepresentation of the threat Israel faces, its sanitisation of its attackers and its manipulation of public sympathy in favour of those attackers and against Israel, are simply sickening. It has probably done more to give succour and encouragement to terrorists and twist and confuse public debate about Israel and the scourge of global terrorism than any other source in the world. When are the Chairman and governors of the BBC going to wake up their consciences and address this scandalous perversion of public service broadcasting?