BBC finnaly lists Israel’s capital as Jerusalem after receiving complaints

No capital was listed on BBC’s Israel Olympic country profile, whereas East Jerusalem was listed for Palestine.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

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.

BBC

BBC Satellite antenna – Photo: Reuters

 

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.

 

View original Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=278181