BBC reporting on the Hamdallah resignation

First there was this: 

Then, shortly after the last amendment to that article, came this:

In both those reports it was suggested that Hamdallah’s resignation might have some sort of detrimental effect upon attempts to restart negotiations between Israel and the PA

“If Mr Hamdallah’s resignation is accepted, it could leave a damaging gap as the Palestinian leadership grapples with a financial crisis and the US leads efforts to revive peace talks with Israel, says the BBC’s Yolande Knell in Ramallah.”

“If his resignation had been accepted, it would have left a damaging gap as the Palestinian Authority grapples with a financial crisis and the US leads efforts to revive peace talks with Israel, says the BBC’s Yolande Knell in Ramallah.”

In fact, as was pointed out by veteran journalist Khaled Abu Toameh when the BBC and others made similar suggestions in the wake of Salam Fayyad’s resignation in April, Hamdallah – like his predecessor – was highly unlikely to have had any influence whatsoever in that sphere.  

“Fayyad himself once explained that ever since the signing of the Oslo Accords about 20 years ago, it was the PLO, and not the Palestinian Authority, that was conducting peace talks with Israel.”

“The only people Abbas consulted with were PLO and Fatah loyalists. Decisions regarding the peace talks with Israel were always taken either by Abbas alone or in coordination with members of the PLO Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee.”

Despite the BBC’s apparent confidence in the claims of unnamed “officials” who insisted that Hamdallah had withdrawn his resignation, other sources seemed to suggest that things were far from cut and dried. 

And indeed, on June 23rd it became clear that Hamdallah was standing by his resignation.

Mr Hamdallah will apparently stay on as head of a caretaker government until a replacement is found. In the meantime, the final message of his equally short-lived venture into social media might perhaps give the BBC inspiration for some real investigative reporting which could bring valuable information and insights to BBC audiences. 

Related posts:

Soft BBC portrait of new PA prime minister

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