The BBC has … started its news broadcast as usual from Ashkelon in Israel, highlighting rocket attacks on Israel. There is no mention on the BBC – there has never been any mention on the BBC, or anywhere in the Western mainstream media – that for at least 4,000 years Ashkelon was an Arab town, until in 1948 the entire, Arab population of 12,000 was driven out by armed force, many being massacred. Doubtless some older inhabitants of Gaza are refugees whose home is Ashkelon.
Israel is exercising its right of self-defence in precisely the same sense that Hitler was exercising the right of self-defence in Normandy in 1944 – ie not at all. Why the world puts up with this blatant ethnic cleansing and prolonged, agonizing genocide of the Palestinian people, I have no idea. It is not just about bombs and rockets and deaths now. It is about the shepherds being pushed out of their village in 2012 as part of the same process as the massacre of Ashkelon in 1948, all a process of genocide of the Palestinians in which Obama, Clinton, Cameron and Hague, as two whole generations of western politicians before them, are actively complicit.
I blogged this on 21 November 2012. Today every single BBC News bulletin leads with precisely the same trick, from precisely the same stolen Arab village. There is evidently a BBC policy to bias coverage of massacre in Gaza by basing it in the stolen town of Ashkelon. Every single BBC news programme is led by a report of the terror of people in Ashkelon at the rocket attacks which have killed and maimed – precisely nobody. There is then a brief “balancing” mention of the continual bombing of Gaza, which sometimes does and sometimes does not mention that at least 25 people have been killed, and hundreds maimed. Of the five reports I have seen, not one has mentioned that many of the Palestinian dead are women and children (although I once saw it on the strapline underneath). Rather the BBC says that “the Israeli government states it is targeting militants and weapons factories”.
The time given to the attacks on Palestine is abut 25% of that given to the rocket attacks on Israel. The coverage is also very different – we see human interest coverage of Israelis hiding from rockets in cafes. There is nothing remotely similar of the Palestinians under infinitely more deadly attack. There was one showing of funeral footage from Gaza, not of any of the women or children killed but of someone the BBC told us was simply a “militant”.
It is so blatant it is absolutely sickening. There are decent people I know in the BBC. Why do they put up with this?
“There was one showing of funeral footage from Ghana,..”
_________
Typo : Gaza.
I may (or not) make some comments later.
Thanks, corrected
43 dead as reported by RTE in last half hour, Craig. Thanks for putting this up.
No-one dead in Israel yet, though some play has been made of someone’s wedding being interrupted.
And no comment from the Quartet representative yet. Despite (noting his professed desire to enhance the Palestinian economy) Israel’s increased constraints on what can be let into Gaza. Like, not fuel. Or the continuing export ban.
There are decent people I know in the BBC. Why do they put up with this?
Because decent people are rigorously excluded from making policy, perhaps.
Relevant, I think. You may not like this messenger, but the facts check out-
http://electronicintifada.net/content/apologists-israel-take-top-posts-bbc/12395
James Harding, Director of News and Current Affairs, on £340K + exes.
Gaza Poem
Locked in,
Trapped and herded,
A captive target tightens
Beneath the Cruellest Storm.
Death raining down
From land sea and sky,
Raking the jailed, dead.
There is, I think, another dimension to this. ISIS are on the Iraq-Jordan border, and have been reported as intending to include Jordan in their area of operations. Israel may have in mind reducing the problem of Palestinian militancy before the shitstorm hits its east side. There may be some very strange alliances made, and I wouldn’t altogether rule out Hizb’ullah joining in.
“CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel) works to promote its twin aims of supporting Israel and promoting Conservatism. With close to 2,000 activists as members – alongside 80% of Tory MPs – CFI is active at every level of the Party.
http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/AboutCFI/Whatwedo/
A list of Labour Friends of Israel
http://www.lfi.org.uk/lfi-supporters-in-parliament/
Even though Ed Miliband’s name is not on that list he still has an interest:
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/119916/miliband-warms-hearts-labour-friends
The BBC is the British State Broadcaster. It’s just following the line set by the Government and Opposition.
Taub was on BBC News earlier with that strange whining voice. Usual stuff. ‘If Hamas won’t stop, we will make them.’ He said it with menace.
Then Manuel Hassassian the Palestinian Ambassador came on mucg to my surprise. Much more polished and confident than in his earlier days. He would not be put off by the presenter Ms Gosling (husband Craig Oliver – Coulson’s replacement at No 10) and her repetitions about the rockets. He would only deal with the occupation and the daily oppression of 4.8m Palestinians. Good for him. Fluent too which helps as the BBC are inclined to have Palestinian spokespersons on whose English cannot be easily understood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Hassassian
Susan Abulhawa got the ‘treatment’ from the Sky presenter this morning. She was hardly allowed to say anything without interruptions. She is a lovely woman. I have met her. She does a lot for the Palestinian cause in and from America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Abulhawa
No links and not on iPlayer of course.
Yes and I also believe that Hamas must be either very stupid or very… Israeli Agents by sending always those harmless rockets who justify retaliation from Israel.
Besides not a single time I’ve heard reports of rocket launchers being hit, despite all the satellite coverage which should make it very easy to spot.
But that’s it, no investigation at all is done on the identity and nature of those attackers. The real terrorists are never caught by fire, only harmless civilians or political leaders.
Miliband has more than an interest in Zionist Israel Doug the Dog. Listen to what he had to say on his recent visit there with his wife.
I think he is bound to be a member of LFoI.
The LDs have such a grouping too. There is a very fervent vice president called Monroe Palmer, now elevated to the peerage!
http://ldfi.org.uk/
http://ldfi.org.uk/the-committee/
Are they flames or feathers coming out of the star of David? LOL
First comment.
‘I may (or not) make some comments later.’
Stating the obvious there!
…she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening. The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the Government of Oceania itself, ‘just to keep people frightened’. This was an idea that had literally never occurred to him.
George Orwell 1984 Chapter 2
Pierluigi
I agree it is an utterly stupid tactic by Hamas. But I think the simplest explanation is that, like almost all political “leaders”, they are more interested in enhancing their own power than doing good for the ordinary people.
As Taub said.
9 July 2014
Israel ‘to intensify Gaza attacks’
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “further intensify attacks on Hamas” in the Gaza Strip after talks with his defence chiefs.
He said the Palestinian militants would “pay a heavy price” for their rocket attacks on Israel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28233135
Well, there is some awareness in the Israeli press…. http://www.jta.org/2014/07/08/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/beating-of-palestinian-american-teen-another-black-eye-for-israel
Disproportionate Gaza retribution is above the parapet in the US for once as the boy was a US citizen.
Beyond odious as the Israeli regime is, the lack of action or meaningful support from fellow Muslims in the Middle East (with the exception for example of Hezbollah) and elsewhere is nauseating. If the Arab (Islamic) world really wanted an end to the suffering inflicted on the benighted Palestinians, for whom they pledge such “sympathy” they could make it happen, but the horrible bastards want to preserve their own dynastic heritage and will do anything for anyone to keep themselves and their inbred spawn in power for the rest of time. Deeply depressing.
“Israel may have in mind reducing the problem of Palestinian militancy before the shitstorm hits its east side. There may be some very strange alliances made, and I wouldn’t altogether rule out Hizb’ullah joining in”
Shouldn’t rule out the ISIS/Israel alliance either.
MJ; ISIS or ISIL may be largely responsible and Palestians are Sunni.
http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2014/07/isis-in-gaza-hamas-losing-control.html
“Hamas seems to be losing control of the dozens of terror cells in the Gaza Strip.”
Craig
“I agree it is an utterly stupid tactic by Hamas. But I think the simplest explanation is that, like almost all political “leaders”, they are more interested in enhancing their own power than doing good for the ordinary people.”
________________
I’d agree with both of your points.
Since attention has switched from the previous thread to this new one, perhaps I might be allowed to re-post a comment I made on the previous one, ie:
“Is it conceivable that Hamas, which controls Gaza, might think it would be a good idea to ensure that rockets are not fired towards Israel?
Which would presumably make it more difficult for Israel to justify “pounding” Gaza?
I think the answer must be yes.
Given that
-these rocket attacks are of no military value (we are continually being told that they are crude home-made devices which tend to land in the desert and cause no Israeli casualties)
– Hamas or whoever launches them should by now know that such firings invite stern reprisals
is it conceivable that they continue to be fired from time to time precisely in order to invite military reprisals as a means of keeping tensions high?
That would be very callous and cynical of Hamas, wouldn’t it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perhaps more later if Mary (cf. 16h33) will allow it.
Perhaps Elm House and the shameful failure of western ‘free’ press coverage of israeli atrocities are not entirely unrelated.
We all, not just good people at the BBC, put up with this crap because we have found no way to stop it.
Assassinations, covert operations, ‘false flag’ missions, man-made disasters and the like go on unabated because we have no way to stop them, no matter how much we try by complaining.
From within the belly of the beast.
Cultures of Hate
Israelis, not Palestinians, Excel at Vengeance
by Jonathan Cook / July 9th, 201
Shock and anger have engulfed Israeli and Palestinian societies since they learnt last week of the barbarous murder of children from their communities. Hours after three Israeli teenagers’ bodies were located, long after their abduction, a Palestinian youth, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was kidnapped, beaten and burnt to death, apparently as revenge.
These horrifying events should serve as a lesson in the obscene futility of vengeance. As a relative of one of the murdered children observed: “There is no difference between blood and blood.”
Sadly, that was not the message implicit in much of last week’s coverage. On social media, a juxtaposition of pictures from the same day’s New York Times showed how easy it is to forget not only that our blood is the same but that grief is too.
[..]
As Human Rights Watch warned, Israel’s recent actions – mass arrests; armed raids; the killing of Palestinians, including minors; lockdowns of cities, house demolitions; and air strikes – amounted to “collective punishment”, international law’s euphemism for revenge, against Palestinians.
In the face of the enduring violence of Israel’s occupation, and the licence it provides soldiers to humiliate and oppress, ordinary Palestinians have a stark choice: to submit or resist. Ordinary Israelis, on the other hand, do not need to seek revenge on their own account. The Israeli state, military and courts are there every day doing it for them.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/07/cultures-of-hate/
Jonathan Cook, based in Nazareth, Israel is a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). Read other articles by Jonathan, or visit Jonathan’s website. http://www.jonathan-cook.net/
Mary
“Jonathan Cook, based in Nazareth, Israel is a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). Read other articles by Jonathan, or visit Jonathan’s website.”
____________________
This comment is in no way meant to detract from Jonathan Cook’s merits as a journalist, but I do note that he is based in the occupied West Bank and cannot help wondering whether he would be free to write his books and articles and still remain alive and well if he were writing about Russian activities in Dagestan and Chechniya from a Russian town situated in close proximity to those two republics.
(Yes, I know this is a long shot and barely on topic – but no less so than Notmyrealname’s comment at 17h30, above).
Alex (17h03)
That is a fair comment but you err in not including other Arab regimes (other than the monarchies) in your condemnation.
Must I once again – sigh! – remind readers of the fact that Jordan was happy to hold on to the West Bank from 1949 until 1967 instead of assisting in bronging about the creation of a Palestinian state?
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies, of course.
Petitioning BBC Director of News and Current Affairs James Harding and Colleagues
Highlight the over 1,500 Palestinian Children Killed by Israeli ‘Defence’ Force since 2000, and Restraint and Peacemaking rather than Condoning ‘Inevitable’ Collective Death Sentence!
An Eye for an Eye and the Whole World will be Blind.
BBC – British Establishment-Serving Media – loves to tell us how balanced and meticulous at seeking out truth it is. But for those willing to look at the facts and statistics – not made readily available on BBC – the favourable bias afforded to the Israeli government and military is astounding and sickening.
The recent killings of the three Israeli children are horrific, whoever is proven to be responsible, and should in any sane and fair news provider prompt a balanced look at the history of killings on both sides and a concerted effort to highlight the possible paths to peace available.
Instead the BBC stands once again firmly on the side of Israeli militarism, which is promising violent retribution, and has failed to highlight the herd of elephants in the newsroom: over 1,500 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli attacks since 2000, 1 Palestinian child killed every 3 days, yet Israel with BBC support still places itself in the role of the unique victim in BBC and mainstream reporting!
/..
https://www.change.org/petitions/bbc-director-of-news-and-current-affairs-james-harding-and-colleagues-highlight-the-over-1-500-palestinian-children-killed-by-israeli-defence-force-since-2000-and-restraint-and-peacemaking-rather-than-condoning-inevitable-collective-death-sentence
Jonathan Cook married a Palestinian. Find out what life is like in Nazareth. Write to him.
~~~
Ten bloody years.
In the SpotlIght: 10 Years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion | July 2014
Highlights
On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ICJ stated that the sections of the Barrier route which run inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, together with the associated gate and permit regime, violated Israel’s obligations under international law, and should be dismantled.
Ten years on, 62 per cent of the Barrier has been constructed, including 200 kilometres since the ICJ Advisory Opinion. This report summarizes the continuing humanitarian impact of the Barrier on Palestinian rural and urban communities.
http://www.ochaopt.org/
Complete disregard by Israel for any laws, international or otherwise.
Mary – An Eye for an Eye and the Whole World will be Blind.
An Eye for an Eye is actually an act of restraint – someone takes your eye, you take theirs. But you don’t take two eyes, or a leg or kill them. Would that the Israelis practised an eye for an eye.
They wouldn’t be killing dozens of Palestinians when recent Gaza rockets haven’t killed anyone. Not that the BBC mentioned that fact. Or the word “occupation” when interviewing the Israeli ambassadeur this morning.
(BTW Turning the other cheek isn’t what people think it is either. It was a slight or insult.)
I don’t have a TV so I went along to the BBC web site to see what all the fuss is about.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28230391
Looked factual to me, makes it clear that the rackets are in response to Israeli air attacks.
Sorry, but the Beeb is a cesspit of symbiosis between the cunning Yentobs and the militant Boadens. Both evil forces scratching each others backs (and more). How the Wolf Blitzers and Anderson Coopers get away with shamelessly mouthing ludicrous deceit and illogical dershowitzery at every breath may only be explained as occultic – even satanic. At this rate we will all end up being like the “Kardashian” zombies across the pond, and we havent even started being TSA groped yet ! The Bolsheviks are upon us.