An outdoor recording of BBC’s flagship The One Show was last night disrupted and forced to move inside by a noisy 75 strong demonstration against the broadcaster’s pro-Israel bias.

The demonstration outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House in central London premises could be clearly seen and heard as the One Show went live on air from a temporary outdoor studio. Producers were forced to move the live show to an indoor studio as security and police struggled to prevent the demonstration from disrupting the broadcast.

Campaigners from London Palestine Action say that research from the Glasgow Media Group shows that the BBC is consistently biased in favour of Israel and fails to report the context of Israel’s decades old system of occupation and apartheid.

This bias has worsened during Israel’s recent operations in the West Bank and Gaza, with the deaths of three Israeli settlers having received far more coverage than the deaths of the more than 70 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since ‘peace’ negotiations began last summer, campaigners say.

A member of London Palestine Action today said:

“Recent press coverage has been a whitewash. Israel is only able to maintain its system of apartheid and its ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians because of the way in which the BBC and other media outlets consistently privilege the Israeli narrative, as academic research from the Glasgow Media Group has shown.

"The BBCs coverage reflects the colonial nature of what is happening, when one group’s lives are valued more than another group, just as Israel’s policies are designed to privilege Israeli Jews at the expense of Palestinians. License payers are funding the BBC to reproduce Israel’s colonialism.”

A UK court is to rule on a complaint relating to the BBC’s policy of describing Jerusalem as an “Israeli city” despite the fact that the UK government and international community recognises East Jerusalem as Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. In press coverage, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law, are presented as normal homes and cities.

The demonstration at the BBC is part of a wave of action planned to protest Israel’s continued collective punishment of Palestinians and to call on the UK government to stop arming Israel.

The London Palestine Action campaigner continued:

“Since the disappearance of 3 Israeli settlers on June 12, Israeli forces have ransacked over 1,000 Palestinian homes and 10 people have been killed.

"Amnesty International has joined Palestinian organisations in describing Israel’s actions as amounting to collective punishment, a crime prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Punitive house demolitions have been carried out against suspects who have not stood trial and Israel has sanctioned the use of torture against them and other. Let us remember that this collective punishment is taking place in the context of Israel’s decades old oppression of Palestinians, including the deliberate killing of Palestinian children and youth”

“Israel looks set escalate the current situation. We’re calling on the UK government to pressure Israel to end its collective punishment of Palestinians and for the British media to stop whitewashing Israeli war crimes.”

In one report from July 1, the BBC explains that five Palestinians were “killed in fighting with Israeli troops”, giving the impression they were involved in gun battles. This deeply inaccurate and misleading statement obscures from the reader the fact that none of these five civilians were armed when shot dead by the Israeli military. Indeed, one was a mentally disabled man and one was a 15-year-old boy.

A second emergency demonstration will be held at the Israeli embassy on Saturday from 2pm to protest Israel’s continued use of collective punishment.

London Palestine Action is a new network of people in London taking creative action against Israeli apartheid. The group recently disrupted the AGM of G4S to protest its role in Israel’s prisons and military occupation. See more photos from this demonstration here and here.