I was trying to come up with a witty and apposite acronym for BBC to describe what I have just seen on TV, but all I could manage was Beyond Belief Cunts.
Watching BBC World News here in Accra, I have just seen forty minutes of intense and non-stop Israeli propaganda. A live press conference by Netanyahu and Ehud Barak followed by a long, long interview with Mark Regev in which the most searching BBC question could fairly be paraphrased as “How can you be certain that those dastardly Palestinians will not break the ceasefire and start firing rockets again?”
No attempt whatsoever to give a Palestinian a chance to put over their viewpoint. Now fifty minutes of solid coverage around the ceasefire without a single Palestinian view or pro-Palestinian or pro-peace view. And in that entire fifty minutes not one mention of Palestinian dead.
Beyond Belief Cunts. Actually, it’s not a bad effort.
Obama, Israel and drones
pic.twitter.com/0acCNYkv
Robert Fisk
Monday 26 November 2012
The suffering of Sderot: how its true inhabitants were wiped from Israel’s maps and memories
The people of Huj – now almost forgotten – had helped the Jewish Haganah army escape the British. The thanks they got was to be sent into Gaza as refugees
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-suffering-of-sderot-how-its-true-inhabitants-were-wiped-from-israels-maps-and-memories-8348734.html
Interviews with idf soldiers:
“During the operations in Gaza, anyone walking around in the street, you shoot at the torso. In one operation in the Philadelphi corridor, anyone walking around at night, you shoot at the torso.”
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175620/tomgram%3A_oded_na%27aman%2C_is_gaza_outside_israel/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tomdispatch%2FesUU+%28TomDispatch%3A+The+latest+Tomgram%29
Following the “successful conclusion” of the Iron Dome test, this has happened, right on cue: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20491697
You can almost see the strings now…
George Kerevan is a former member of new Labour and although now SNP should still be treated with caution. However his piece here is a reasonably fair report on an interesting development. About a week before he was pouring scorn on the idea of a new radical movement so this is quite a change of tune – perhaps on instructions from above, as the ‘Yes’ campaign needs all the help it can get? His estimate of 10-15% for a radical party in Scotland is realistic, perhaps even conservative (pun perhaps intended). I can’t see any reason why the same level of organised radicalism cannot be present in England, and simply needs some rallying point.
Also noticed, by the way, that the STUC refused to join the ‘No’ campaign – a highly significant development, and worrying for New Labour – thin end of a rather nasty wedge?
BEN FRANKLIN:
“I know some find my prose to be cryptic and undefinable, but ……………………………………………………………………………………….., but………………………………………………………………………… But,…………………………………………………………………………………, but
…………………………………………………….., but may not be intended so.
*****This has been a pubic service announcement…………”
But-job Ben, a pubic service announcement indeed.
Btw, do you know the meaning of silence? Or perhaps you need to look up your but?
Do the Israelis have a Ministry for Silly Names?
Israel successfully tests David’s Sling’s interceptor
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=293395
{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David’s_Sling}
Cost to US taxpayers not stated.
Barak is leaving. Good riddance.
Israeli Defence minister Ehud Barak quits politics
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20493758
Fat faced BBC type Kevin Connolly (embedded and prone to writing dross such as the lemon tree on his balcony in Jerusalem) says that the resignation has nothing to do with last week’s operations which Israel are ‘quietly pleased with’. Bastard.
Growing the world’s most expensive lemons
{http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16654390}
He has never written about the ‘world’s most expensive’ uprooted Palestinian olive trees and the cost to the lives of the Palestinians whose livelihoods are wrecked.
This is a trailer for the film, “The Law in These Parts”. Well worth a watch.
” Can a modern democracy impose a prolonged military occupation on another people while retaining its core democratic values?
Since Israel conquered the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war, the military has imposed thousands of orders and laws, established military courts, sentenced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, enabled half a million Israeli “settlers” to move to the Occupied Territories and developed a system of long-term jurisdiction by an occupying army that is unique in the entire world.
The men entrusted with creating this new legal framework were the members of Israel’s military legal corps. Responding to a constantly changing reality, these legal professionals have faced (and continue to face) complex judicial and moral dilemmas in order to develop and uphold a system of long-term military “rule by law” of an occupied population, all under the supervision of Israel’s Supreme Court, and, according to Israel, in complete accordance with international law.
The Law In These Parts explores this unprecedented and little-known story through testimonies of the military legal professionals who were the architects of the system and helped run it in its formative years. The film attempts to ask some crucial questions that are often skirted or avoided: Can such an occupation be achieved within a legal framework that includes genuine adherence to the principles of rule-of-law? Should it? What are the costs that a society engaged in such a long term exercise must bear? And what are the implications of the very effort to make a documentary film about such a system? ”
http://www.thelawfilm.com/eng#!/the-film
Mike reckoned:
Yes, Mark, I think another Syrian “regime massacre” is just around the corner.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20491697
Where did you get your crystal ball, Mike?
Al-Jaz scoops everyone:
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20Editorials/2012/November/26%20o/15,000%20March%20in%20London,%20in%20Solidarity%20with%20the%20Palestinian%20People%20in%20Gaza.htm
Pusillanimous UK hacks intimidated by Ron Prosor please copy.
I can also let you have the winning lottery numbers for next weekend, Komodo!
There had to be an event to get Syria back as the top news story, now that the Iron Dome test is finished and Morsi has been installed as Pharaoh. I’m surprised by just how quickly it arrived, though. Whoever “they” are, they didn’t waste much time.
Anything to cover the self investigating team of BBC nepotists looking at the mess of past reports that have established and manifested Jimmy Saville as their personal paedophile, to the extend that they can be accused of a cover up.
Without re-opening the Haute la Garenne jersey inquiry and that of Bryn, without looking at the connections between male only Freemasons in the judiciary and the involvement of security service who use sexual proclivities to play off correspondents, not just whistle blowers, this story will fade away under the jingle bells tree and next year will be forgotten.
poor souls will continue to commit suicide and the BBC will continue to cover up the bestialities of the establishment, judges, police and those who know.
I’ve just been reading the sanctimonious “readers'” editor of the Guardian, Chris Elliott, today. Who has been defending the Israel lobby against the paper’s own cartoonist, Steve Bell. Who drew a cartoon of Bibi Netanyahu: here:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/11/15/1353018180510/Steve-Bell-16.12.2012-002.jpg
Apparently that’s a “visual image of” an “antisemitic stereotype”.
This isn’t:
http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/16/30/51/3770948/3/628×471.jpg
That’s a serious statesman seriously in bed with the Yanks. No puppets there.
This has been a public information post.
Greek shippers Dynagas and Usmanov’s Gazprom combine here to take LNG to Japan via the Arctic Ocean.
Gas tanker Ob River attempts first winter Arctic crossing http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20454757
Burn gas, warm the planet, melt the ice caps, passage for shipping opens, take more gas through, burn more gas, warm the planet etc etc.
And BP see profits too in bringing Russian gas to the UK.
BP in Nordstream talks to extend gas pipeline to UK
{http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20495272}
Cupid’s dart strikes at BBC News. Omitted from her biog is mention of Sophie’s visit to Israel courtesy of BICOM.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238425/RICHARD-KAY-Married-BBC-stars-Tim-Willcox-Sophie-Long-break-news-affair.html
Here’s another of Israel’s muppets, Stephen Harper, PM of Canada, and Stevie is a big big supporter of all things Israeli.
“Harper Says He’ll Support Israel Even If It Hurts Canada Politically”
Now you know.
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/national/article/99489–harper-says-he-ll-support-israel-even-if-it-hurts-canada-politically
Why is it that all these Western leaders support unquestioningly what even Israelis recognise is a nasty psychotic state, engaged in the routine murder and slaughter of innocents and all the rest of their disgusting racist policies.
No normal human being would support it, and those who do are easily exposed as talking bollocks. So why all this support from western leaders. This goon admits he’ll support it even if it’s not in his country’s interest.
What’s up?
Re Steve Bell’s cartoon.
Why all the fuss?
Netanyahu himself has bragged at how easy it is to manipulate the US. Surely manipulating the UK is even easier. The British political class all seem to have a hard on for Israel, with their trips and bungs and “friends of” groups.
The whole thing is quite creepy
Seems like Steve got them bang to rights. Maybe that’s it. As soon as someone gets close to the truth, out comes the anti-semitic smear.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/video-netanyahu-brags-about-how-easy-it-is-to-manipulate-the-united-states/20199
“What’s up?” asks Herbie.
This:
http://canadiandimension.com/articles/1890
Same as the US, same as the UK.
(If Steve’s cartoon had had Obama instead of Bibi, there wouldn’t have been a whisper of complaint.)
Actually, Mary, I am old enough to remember the Mekon and Dan Dare and even to have read the Eagle myself. Why do you assume that you’re the doyenne of this blog – I find that rather patronising.
But I wanted to respond to your post about there being lots of Palestinians speaking fluent English in order to put the Palestinian case and your suggestion that the BBC and other media deliberately keep them off the air and choose less fluent people.
That, if I may say so, is paranoia and negativism gone mad. Do you not realise that people like you – whose posts reveal that they seem to see the entire world as one massive conspiracy directed by the forces of evil – end up by simply turning off a lot of people (myself included)? Your “all is a conspiracy” approach just devalues what you say and is therefore, in my opinion, completely counter-productive.
You should really get a tighter grip on yourself. And I (honestly) don’t say that in a hostile spirit.
Habbabkuk
If it makes it any easier for you, don’t think of it as a conspiracy.
It’s just policy.
Next!
Mary’s post at 1.37 pm is typical/
1/. A Greek shipper is joining up with a Russian producer to deliver LPG to Japan via the Arctic Ocean. SO ???? LPG is conveyed by tankers and not by pipeline (pressurized, geddit?). The Arctic is the stretch of water between where the LPG comes from and Japan – do you expect them to ship it round by the Pananma Canal and Pacific?
2/. BP stands accused of seeking profit by bringing Russian gas (not LPG) to the UK. SO ??? BP is a commercial undertaking; commercial undertakings exist to make profits. And, by the way, the UK is a gas importer.
3/. BP would apparently like to see Northstream (pipeline) extended to the UK. SO ??? What is the precise objecction (I assume you mention this in disapproval and not in approval)?
Another example of sloppily thought-out, point-less (in the literal sense of the words), erga omnes negativism.
No, Herbie, I don’t see it as a conspiracy…but Mary seems to.
In that specific example, on which Mary immediately takes the “it’s deliberate (policy)” line : is it not just possible that the Israelis do actually dispose of a lot of people who are extremely fluent in languages (they are probably UK, French, German, etc, nationals) whereas the Arabs (in this instance, Hamas) don’t?
Don’t forget Americans, Herbie. With dual nationality AND voting rights in Israel:
Section 401 (e) of the 1940 Nationality Act provides that a U.S. citizen, whether by birth or naturalization, “shall lose his [U.S.] nationality by…voting in a political election in a foreign state.”
This law was tested many times. In 1958, for instance, an American citizen named Perez voted in a Mexican election. The case went to the Supreme Court, where the majority opinion held that Perez must lose his American nationality. The court said Congress could provide for expatriation as a reasonable way of preventing embarrassment to the United States in its foreign relations.
But then something very odd happened.
In 1967 an American Jew, Beys Afroyim received an exemption that set a precedent exclusively for American Jews. Afroyim, born in Poland in 1895, emigrated to America in 1912, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1926. In 1950, aged 55, he emigrated to Israel and became an Israeli citizen. In 1951 Afroyim voted in an Israeli Knesset election and in five political elections that followed. So, by all standards he lost his American citizenship — right? Wrong.
After living in Israel for a decade, Afroyim wished to return to New York. In 1960, he asked the U.S. Consulate in Haifa for an American passport. The Department of State refused the application, invoking section 401 (e) of the Nationality Act — the same ruling that had stripped the American citizen named Perez of his U.S. citizenship.
Attorneys acting for Afroyim took his case to a Washington, DC District Court, which upheld the law. Then his attorneys appealed to the Court of Appeals. This court also upheld the law. The attorneys for Afroyim then moved the case on to the Supreme Court. Here, with Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, Lyndon Johnson’s former attorney and one of the most powerful Jewish Americans, casting the swing vote, the court voted five to four in favor of Afroyim. The court held that the U.S. government had no right to “rob” Afroyim of his American citizenship!
The court, reversing its previous judgment as regards the Mexican American, ruled that Afroyim had not shown “intent” to lose citizenship by voting in Israeli elections. Huh?
While Washington claims it has a “good neighbor” policy with Mexico, the U.S. does not permit Mexicans to hold dual nationality. The US makes them become either U.S. or Mexican — you can’t be both. But the U.S., in its special relationship with Israel, has become very sympathetic to allowing Israeli-Americans to retain two nationalities and allowing U.S. citizens not only to hold public office in Israel, but to hold US government positions as well! No other country holds this special exception to our laws of citizenship.
So, you might ask, are there any other dual Israel-American citizens who hold US government positions that could compromise American security? Yes. Consider the following list that I obtained on the web – (continues, to list some familiar names – K)
http://www.facebook.com/notes/we-are-all-vittorio-arrigoni/list-of-politicians-with-israeli-dual-citizenship-/175479365845092
Habbabkuk
It’s quite obvious that the BBC has a policy of pushing the Israeli line.
That’s their objective and they’ll employ all sorts of means in order to achieve that, including the tactic Mary described above.
There are plenty of articulate Palestinian voices and indeed plenty of non-Palestinian voices who could present the Palestinian case.
The BBC simply chooses not to present them in anything like the numbers presented to articulate the Israeli case.
Policy.
Re Hague’s literary wallpaper, all his mates have a privileged background, so why shouldn’t he?
(geddit?)
Thanks ary, I also remember mekon and his imagined world.
“Actually, Mary, I am old enough to remember the Mekon and Dan Dare and even to have read the Eagle myself. Why do you assume that you’re the doyenne of this blog – I find that rather patronising”
I find your posts childish habbabkuk, as if someone wrenched a lollypop out of your hand.
The BBC is biased and has goner past the propaganda model, they are part and parcel of the deliberate misinformation of the public, just get used to it when you listen to the Archers, there’s more truth in Ambridge than in the BBC news editors rooms.
This was how the US treated an earlier Israeli spy. Since then Israel have just bought Congress, Senate, Executive, Judiciary and Media.
No need for spies when you can buy the whole polity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard
I think they’ve bought the UK too. There’s no other explanation for the state we’re in.
Re-reading Conquistador by Buddy Levy, because like good movies, good books should be revisited.
It is riveting narrative based on Hernan Cortes journals and letters. The Aztecs had many enemies surrounding them, and their alliances with the eerily devout Cortes and his entourage successfully destroyed a thriving civilisation on the basis of their Divine Right. It seems right on topic for our current religious enmity.