So I (Uri Gobey) was called up by the BBC to do a quick interview with them, regarding the situation in Gaza and how my life has been here in Israel during this time. I was told that there will be a resident from Gaza who will also have his say and then I would have mine.
The first interview by BBC Radio 5 started off with a so-called resident of Gaza, who has perfect English and who was coached to say specific things, rambling on about Israel and all the people that are being “genocided” by the Israeli military. That just ticked me off but it was an obvious piece of bait that cannot just be left alone. It never ceases to amaze me how much garbage they can come up with, while abusing powerful words in the English language to paint a not-so-pretty picture. When you take a step back and put Syria next to them, it makes Gaza look like a walk in the park. Genocide? I think not.
Well I did what I could in the very short time the interviewer gave me but then I was abruptly cut off, even though the person before me had more time it seemed. It was clear that they weren’t really in interested in my side of things but it was expected of them in the first place.
The very same day, BBC World Service called me and asked me to do an interview with them the next day. I accepted and was told the same thing as the previous interview but what took place was a whole other story. I knew it would be a set-up but I didn’t think they would stoop so low…(that was sarcastic, of course I know they would stoop this low). There was supposed to be another, or the same, Gaza resident on the other end of the call who would give his say and then I would also. They told me this call would be a live broadcast and well it was from my end but from the Gaza end they decided to put on a pre-recorded message from the day before of a BBC reporter at the site of a hospital which the IDF hit due to it being a hotbed for terrorist activity. They then moved over to my side of things with the intention of showing a completely off balance, and out-of-context comparison of the specific situation that happened the day before in Gaza and the current situation I was in at the time of the call. At the time of the call there were no rockets or sirens, so it would seem as though all is fine and dandy in Israel while mayhem is striking in Gaza. I found this cheap move pathetic and so instantly called them out on it. Some have said that I shouldn’t have but I did what I did. I then continued to describe the reality of mayhem that we have to live under. She seemed quite surprised that not everyone has a bomb shelter in Israel.
I have no issue with being put into this situation, I can handle it fine but it was a deliberate dirty trick to make me believe that it would just be a fair one-on-one, giving our input on life where we live at the moment but they really showed how dirty they can be. They do this so the audience is swayed to feel for the Gazans but feel nothing for Israelis.
The same day of the 2nd interview, they called me again for a 3rd interview, but this time I told them I am not interested due to the way they set me up by making me believe it would be the same as the first one. I have no interest in being a pawn for the BBC or any other anti-Israeli mass media who only gives a person 1 minute to try an explain an impossible situation while deliberately playing games with people’s thoughts. However, if they had to call me for a proper 30 minute debate live on air, I would not reject it, that would be a lot more worth it.
