I can say I have déjà vu about that. Almost a year ago I wrote here against the threat of the cable companies to remove the CNN. Now they didn’t threat, but actually removed the BBC. And the way they did it – without warning, like thieves at midnight, sent it off the screen.

The removal was conducted on April 1st, 2003. It did not have as press coverage and protests as the CNN issue had. I learned about it only 3 days before that, when I randomly looked at the channel of the messages. After a day or two they also put a label on the BBC channel itself stating it will be removed. When I turned on the BBC on the first of April 2003 at 1am there was only a message that the channel is not broadcasted anymore, and that we have CNN, Sky News and Fox News (however Fox News is only provided to the digital subscribers, which I am not among).

The picture began to turn clear. The usual story. The BBC is too expensive for them. And how is it not too expensive for the satellite company? The cable companies decided to turn the connection with the BBC into a marketplace, and do it the Israeli way. This time it didn’t work. Amazingly, the BBC didn’t fold in front of the terrorism.

While many of the criticizers of the companies’ action suggest there are political reasons for cutting the BBC, they fail to provide proofs. There was not a recent outrageous case as with the CNN. There is some criticism against the BBC’s coverage of the Iraq war, but is this the reason why the cable companies stopped to broadcast it? I doubt it. I do believe the cable companies. The removal was done for purely economical reasons. If it is for political reasons, then the burden of proof lies on those who say it is.

However it is time to put an end to it. No wonder why Israel is so hated in the world. We should start moving things orderly, and not try to achieve everything with aggression. We can’t threat and blackmail foreign TV channels because they are too expensive. And if their coverage is what troubling us – then the customers, not the companies should handle it.

Even if one has criticism about the BBC’s coverage of Israel and the war in Iraq, the Israeli viewers should have access to the station. It has high quality scientific and historical programs that are not related to the news, and is an excellent station that is very popular in the world. To ban it is a crime against the Israeli society.