The British Broadcasting Authority (BBC) has omitted to identify Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel on its Olympic website.
The BBC has established a special web page (www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries) containing basic information about each country taking part in the 2012 London Games, featuring details about the nation’s athletes, map, population size and capital city.
When Israel’s page went online, there was no reference to its capital, Jerusalem, while East Jerusalem was labeled as the capital of “Palestine.”
Israel accused the corporation of “failing to adhere to the standards of professional journalism”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign press advisor and spokesman Mark Regev, wrote a series of letters to the BBC demanding they correct their website.
In a letter to the head of the BBC’s bureau in Israel, Paul Danahar, Regev said he was “dismayed by the BBC's decision to discriminate against Israel on the BBC's Olympic website.”
“Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel, and accordingly we respectfully request the immediate rectification of this matter,” he wrote.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London told The weekly Jewish Chronicle: “We are certain that as soon as the senior editors of BBC become aware of it, this will be rectified — as a double standard towards Israel doesn’t adhere to BBC standards.”
The BBC later made changes to the Israel web page and a spokesman said an error was made “when the data was uploaded”. “ We are in the process of changing this in line with BBC policy,” he said.
But the changes now label Jerusalem as Israel’s “seat of government” and mention that “most foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv” while the Palestinian page now refers to East Jerusalem as its “intended seat of government” and Ramallah as its “administrative capital”.
Moreover, the single picture representing Israel on the BBC’s Olympic website is that of an Israeli soldier confronting a demonstrator. In contrast, pictures on the country profiles of Iran, Syria and Libya depict peaceful cultural scenes.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s office has launched a campaign “Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel” on Facebook aimed at correcting inaccurate information regarding Jerusalem. The link is www.facebook.com/JerusalemCapitalofIsrael.