On her Tuesday 10 October show Breakfast, Sky presenter Kay Burley repeatedly misrepresented comments by UK Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot concerning recent atrocities in Israel-Palestine.
Specifically, in interviews with three separate guests she asserted that Zomlot:
- 'basically said the Iraelis had it coming' (interview with James Cleverly)
- 'basically said, the last couple of days, that Israel had it coming' (interview with Pat McFadden)
- 'has said Israel had it coming' (interview with Stella Creasy)
- 'said Israel had it coming' (interview with Bell Ribeiro-Addy)
- 'comes out with comments like Israel had it coming' (interview with representative of the British Palestinian committee).
In reality, as has been demonstrated by journalists at Novara Media (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JItciGFsSY), Zomlot – seven of whose relatives, including two children, have been killed by Israeli air strikes over the last few days - said nothing of the kind.
The basis for Burley's grotesque misrepresentation appears to have been an interview on CNN, in which Zomlot said: “What is more tragic, or equally tragic, is the blindness and the deafness of the world and the international community for so many years, of the warnings we have been saying that this was coming. Israel knew that this was coming.”
Plainly, claiming that Israel 'knew that this was coming' and that 'Israel had it coming' are two completely different things.
Burley's misrepresentation of Zomlot's remarks is especially concerning because of his Ambassadorial role, and the dangers of people being misled into thinking that a Zomlot, as a representative of the Palestinian people, attempted to justify attacks on civilians (which he did not).
Please lodge a complaint with Ofcom, the UK’s communication regulator. You can do this here: https://ofcomlive.my.salesforce-sites.com/formentry/SitesFormCSLEStandardsComplaints
Here is the info that you will need:
Programme title: Kay Burley at Breakfast
Date of broadcast: 10 October 2023
Channel / station: Sky
Subject: Repeated misrepresentation of Husam Zomlot
Description:
On her Tuesday 10 October show Breakfast, Sky presenter Kay Burley repeatedly misrepresented comments by UK Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot concerning recent atrocities in Israel-Palestine.
Specifically, in interviews with three separate guests she asserted that Zomlot:
- 'basically said the Iraelis had it coming' (interview with James Cleverly)
- 'basically said, the last couple of days, that Israel had it coming' (interview with Pat McFadden)
- 'has said Israel had it coming' (interview with Stella Creasy)
- 'said Israel had it coming' (interview with Bell Ribeiro-Addy)
- 'comes out with comments like Israel had it coming' (interview with representative of the British Palestinian committee).
In reality, as has been demonstrated by journalists at Novara Media (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JItciGFsSY), Zomlot – seven of whose relatives, including two children, have been killed by Israeli air strikes over the last few days - said nothing of the kind.
The basis for Burley's grotesque misrepresentation appears to have been an interview on CNN, in which Zomlot said: “What is more tragic, or equally tragic, is the blindness and the deafness of the world and the international community for so many years, of the warnings we have been saying that this was coming. Israel knew that this was coming.”
Plainly, claiming that Israel 'knew that this was coming' and that 'Israel had it coming' are two completely different things.
Burley's misrepresentation of Zomlot's remarks is especially concerning because of his Ambassadorial role, and the dangers of people being misled into thinking that a Zomlot, as a representative of the Palestinian people, attempted to justify attacks on civilians (which he did not)