Sky News hit with 1200 Ofcom complaints for host's controversial comment
Over 1,270 complainants were lodged from viewers.
Sky News has received 1,270 Ofcom complaints over one host's comments about a vessel delivering aid to Gaza. The episode in question was On Today with Samantha Washington on June 7, where there was coverage of the Madleen vessel.
The Madleen vessel was halted before landing in Israel this week, with activist Greta Thunberg claiming she was "kidnapped" and calling on the Swedish government to help. The news of the vessel delivering aid was covered on Sky News on Saturday, writes The Mirror.
Ofcom have now unveiled that they received 1,270 complaints from viewers who alleged that a comment by the presenter misrepresented the peaceful nature of the mission. The comments were made on Today with Samantha Washington.
During an interview with Activist Thiago Avila, Samantha said: "What you're actually carrying is really a drop in the ocean to what people in Gaza need, so really it's a symbolic mission rather than a humanitarian one."
Thiago then replied: "It's a humanitarian mission. There's a very big effort to be bigger than what we are."
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the organisation which was responsible for the yacht, said it was carrying humanitarian aid and said the vessel was "prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack" and they claimed that it was "forcibly intercepted" by Israeli officials. The vessel was stopped at approximately 160 nautical miles from the Gaza coast.
Defence minister Israel Katz had said that the state would "act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organisations". It had been intercepted at 5.30am local time near the Egyptian coast.
Thunberg said that the team was "intercepted and kidnapped in international waters" by "forces that support Israel" and urged her loved ones to "put pressure on the Swedish government" for a response. She said: "I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible."
Israel Katz, Israel's Minister of Defence, said on social media that it was a "hate flotilla". He said: "I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act to prevent the 'Madeleine' hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza - and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end." He sensationally then claimed that members of the crew were "anti-Semitic".
He wrote: "To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back - because you will not reach Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organisations – at sea, in the air, and on land." The Palestinian defence ministry said that the activists' actions were "noble" and said it "salutes the international solidarity activists aboard the ship attempting to break the siege on the Gaza Strip".
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