Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo on Sunday accused Britain's media giant, the BBC, of diluting its reports on Israel's assassination policy after succumbing to intense Israeli pressure.
Rabbo accused the British Broadcasting Corporation of hypocrisy and said the media organization was playing down the killings of Palestinian leaders and children by Israeli forces.
"The BBC wants to... give each kind of assassination or killing a different term or different classification," Abed Rabbo told reporters at the Palestine Media Center in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"But... how do they classify the killings of children - targeted killings, assassination or just a killing by mistake?"
"They want to use the word assassination only when there are high political leaders or high religious leaders killed. The most polite English word I can use towards (the) BBC is hypocrisy."
His comments followed a report in the British newspaper The Independent on Saturday that BBC management had banned its staff from referring to Israeli killings of Palestinians as "assassinations."
The BBC immediately described the report as misleading and inaccurate, maintaining it would still use the term "assassination" when appropriate.
"As part of a routine discussion on terminology, it was felt that 'assassination' should be used to refer to the killing of high-ranking political or religious leaders -- the dictionary definition -- rather than every killing which takes place," the BBC said in a statement.
Abed Rabbo challenged the BBC to be guided by international law, rather than the dictionary, to report on the ongoing conflict.
Israeli forces have carried out such strikes against more than 40 Palestinian militants suspected of anti-Israeli attacks during the 10 months of violence that has gripped the region – RAMALLAH (AFP)
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