BBC on implications of weapons cache seizure

On Wednesday, Israeli officials announced that they had boarded and detained a ship off the coast of Cyprus which contained approximately 500 tonnes of hidden weapons. Israel accused Iran of attempting to smuggle the weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon, via Syria, although this allegation was denounced by both Syria and Hizbollah.

The cargo of the ship soon became the top story in the Middle East section of BBC News Online. In addition to an article reporting the event and an ‘In Pictures’ photo slideshow, an analysis by BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy was also published.

In ‘Weapons haul reveals fragile calm’, Hardy detailed several important implications of the seizure. The first conclusion he drew was: ‘If the Israeli account is true, this is a propaganda coup for the Jewish state.’ The claim that the discovery was primarily a public relations victory was not explained any further, and was somewhat out of step with the rest of the article, which argued, instead, that the seizure provided credible evidence that both Hizbollah and Iran were actively hostile towards Israel.

For example, the amount of weapons discovered was described as ‘unprecedented’ and the correspondent said that it ‘indicates that…Hezbollah has worked hard to replenish its arsenal’. He also cited Israel’s estimation that the cache could ‘have kept Hezbollah supplied for a month of fighting.’

Furthermore, the journalist contended that the discovery ‘strengthens Israel’s argument that Iran is a serious threat to regional stability’. According to Hardy, Iran ‘stands accused of opposing a Middle East settlement…through arming two of Israel’s bitterest armies – Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah.’ The arming of these groups is relevant because ‘what keeps that conflict going are the rockets and grenades of the kind the Israelis have captured.’

All of this suggests that the BBC correspondent takes seriously the argument that Hizbollah and Iran pose a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East in spite of his prioritisation of the propaganda value of the incident for Israel.

5 November 2009