BBC lists Israel's capital as J'lem after complaint

BBC lists Israel's capital as J'lem after complaint

By JPOST.COM STAFF

07/19/2012

No capital had been listed on BBC's Israel Olympic country profile; East Jerusalem listed as "intended" seat for Palestine.

Photo: Reuters

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev sent a letter to the Director of the BBC's Bureau in Israel, Paul Danahar on Thursday after the BBC Sport page failed to identify Israel's capital city as Jerusalem.

Until Wednesday afternoon, the page offering information about the Palestinian Olympic team referred to its capital as 'East Jerusalem', but the equivalent page for Israel made no mention of a capital city at all.

In the letter, Regev commented that he is "dismayed by the BBC's decision to discriminate against Israel".

 

The letter has been shared on Facebook over 400 times.

One member commented: "I am shocked, shocked that the UK does not treat Israel as a sovereign nation".

As a result of the controversy, the BBC added Jerusalem to Israel's country profile on Thursday afternoon, informing browsers that the "seat of government is Jerusalem" adding a disclaimer that "most foreign embassies reside in Tel Aviv."

Likewise, the Palestinian page stated that its “intended seat of government is East Jerusalem. Ramallah serves as [the] administrative capital.”



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