I have had BBC News on in the background for the last two hours. In that time there have been three lengthy interviews with different relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. There has not been a single interview with a Palestinian relative of a Palestinian prisoner held by Israel.
Today 13 Israeli prisoners and 39 Palestinian prisoners are due to be released. 90% of the BBC mentions of prisoner releases do not include the Palestinians at all. Just finished is a ten minute interview of a Professor in Kent on the psychological effects on Israeli hostages. Earlier there was an expert from Tel Aviv on the psychological impact on Israeli hostages’ families. There has been no report whatsoever of the impact on Palestinian prisoners and their families.
The BBC simply does not treat the Palestinians as human, whereas the emphasis on Israeli personal victimhood is incessant and unrelenting.
Of the 300 Palestinian women and children prisoners on the list possibly to be released during the ceasefire, 252 have never been charged with any crime. 23 were charged with stone throwing.
Since October 8 over 200 Palestinian children have been taken prisoner, none of whom had anything to do with the October 7 attacks. That rather puts the possible release of 33 children and six women today into perspective. But it is not a perspective the BBC would ever give you.
Over 2,000 Palestinians are held by Israel in “administrative detention”, without charge or trial. Some for over twenty years.
Since 1967 Israel has made over 1 million arrests of Palestinians. This “justice” system is an essential part of the imposition of apartheid and the slow genocide, which did not just start this autumn. The BBC won’t tell you that either, and appears to have no problem with permanently showcasing its Israel based correspondents churning out the Israeli propaganda narrative, with no attempt at either perspective or balance.
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The disjunction in BBC coverage of Israeli and Palestinian hostages/ victims, and in the language applied to them, is quite deliberately intended to dehumanise Palestinians. The reporters and presenters all know what they are doing. It comes from exactly the same place as the naked racism of Obama’s advisor. It is far more insidious and dangerous however because the BBC represents itself as respectable, authoritative and impartial and a great many undeveloped minds will always regard it as such.
I think that at one time, many BBC journalists tried to be impartial. How far they succeeded is debated, but they clearly tried.
For example, the BBC website still carries a report from 2014 from reporters on the ground in Crimea, confirming that the referendum was free and fair – contrary to the “politically correct” view in the West that the referendum was somehow bogus.
The change seems to have started after the import of the Snowden revelations became clear, and within the last year or so has become complete.
Townsman
I read that linked BBC piece carefully and didn’t find any assertion (other than by Putin) that the Crimea referendum was “free and fair”.
Can you direct me to the relevant part of the piece?
The 2014 referendum in Crimea was not “free and fair” for the simple reason that no vote that does not produce the “right” result is “free and fair”.
“They’ve got to be protected, all their rights respected,
Until someone we like can get elected”
That’s a free and fair vote.
I remember that well, Townsman…the US govt sent people (soldiers?) into the Guardian offices and stole their hard drive that had all of Snowden’s stuff on it. The Guardian has never been the same since and I don’t look at it anymore.
Carol
The most comprehensive report on this GUARDIAN affair that I have read is still the one from Declassified UK.
But are there other sources too?
In all those years since, more stuff should have been published on this (actually I would expect some scholarship too, since there are always independent minds in academia but their work stays unknown).
e.g. was it US personnel? Who reported on that?
As ‘Bob’ says above, we do the same. I watch BBC, Sky or whatever for about 3 mins to get a picture of the agenda they are pushing and then usually have to switch to Al Jazeera to find out the ‘actual’ news and to escape the sickening hypocrisy of discussing what a terrible time Israelis are having while they bomb 2 million people into genocide. UK politics and UK media will never recover from this. They think we will forget, but there will be no forgetting and no recovery.
A Russian friend described a similar process just before the collapse of the USSR. People followed the news to find out what the news was NOT. Whatever was reported was immediately inverted. If a bumper crop of potatoes was reported it meant there were no potatoes that year.
One senses that something similar is happening here although I am sure adverse news will be given a Britnat spin.
While most of today’s papers carry the news of the release of just the Israeli hostages, following the BBC line, my paper the “Morning Star” headlines the actions of the buggy brigade, “Parents for Palestine” protesting against BAE and Palestine Action’s protest against Lockheed Martin. It describes the hostage exchange in the context of there being 7,200 Palestine hostages being held in Israeli jails, 2000 since October 7th – many of whom being women and children. As far as I can see there has been no outcry in the main papers about the huge numbers of children who have been held over the years in prison by Israel, which requires action in its own right. BBC of course does not include Morning Star headlines in its coverage.
Something’s got to give and that is soon because otherwhise palestinians will end up like like any other forgotten, ethnically cleansed, murdered native population you read about in history books.
Norman Finkelstein said the other day, very sadly, that for the past couple of years he had given up on Gaza, He said that he probably do not have many years left and pointed out that if he, who is the “chronicler” of palestinian question, if he give up, there is no future for Gaza.
Video, from 1:25 https://twitter.com/UthmanB/status/1727850681422544956
He touched upon the hopeless situation in his epilogue of his book “Gaza – an inquest into martyrdom” from 2020, some excerpt:
In all likelihood, the lethal trends prefiguring Gaza’s exhaustion as a viable habitat won’t be checked. The political muscle needed to reverse Israeli policy vis-à-vis Gaza is sorely lacking. In the newly emerging constellation of regional and global political alignments, Israel’s star is waxing, as it has made significant diplomatic inroads among key state actors. Meanwhile, Palestine’s star is on the wane. Whereas it benefited from a unique salience on the world stage this past half century, the cause of Palestine has now been eclipsed by the numberless humanitarian crises wracking the Middle East. Even if and when the dust settles, it’s improbable that Palestine will regain its former moral resonance. Inexorably, it will be reduced to the minuscule geo-political weight of its demography and territory, and come more closely to resemble the self-determination struggles in East Timor and Western Sahara. If it was an uphill battle before, the path henceforth will be immeasurably steeper.
A cascade of recent developments impinging on Gaza flesh out this forbidding picture. At worst, regional players, such as Egypt, turn the screws on Gaza tighter than even Israel would counsel. At best, regional players, such as Saudi Arabia, try to score points with Arab public opinion and purchase local patronage by earmarking aid packages—in the event, mostly unfulfilled—for Gaza. None of the regional powers, however, is about to expend political capital on Gaza’s behalf. On the contrary, both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are forging a long-term strategic alliance with Israel
In my view the last paragraph is the core problem, the arab leaders are the enablers.
The situation is more bleak than ever, new methods need to be used to break this impasse.
>”On the contrary, both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are forging a long-term strategic alliance with Israel”
In my view the last paragraph is the core problem, the arab leaders are the enablers.<
I suspect that Finkelstein knows little and cares less about the Arab states. His only focus is on Israel and its wrongdoing. If he knew anything about Saudi, he would have known that Saudi was not about to sign up with Israel, whatever it was that MbS wants. If it were going to, Saudi would have signed in the time of Trump, but it didn't. There was a secret visit of Netanyahu to Saudi, and he had to wait, but MbS never showed. MbS hasn't signed because the internal opposition is too strong, even after repeated attempts, and now post-Oct 7th, it's become impossible. All the 'normalisation' is finished. That's a positive aspect that you don't mention.
I don't expect Saudi troops to go to war though, as Hizbullah doesn't either. Remaining a threat to Israel is more useful. A big war would bring the Americans in.
The case of Egypt is different. Sisi is only in power because of an American-supported coup, and because he follows orders. Expect a revolution in Egypt before Sisi goes against Israel. That's a real possibility, if Israel continues the genocidal path it has announced.
Jack, Professor Finkelstein presented a pessimistic picture three years ago and he was right about the geopolitical consequences of the likes of Saudi and Egyptian machinations, however in an interview with Chis Hedges recently he said if Hezbollah entered the fray that would be an all new ball game, he chided Hezbollah and reminded them of their promises to side with the Palestinians, he acknowledged that they were in a difficult position. Here is the Professor on Lebanese TV in 2008 talking about the Honour of Hezbollah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAGVQF-Kys8
That “difficult spot” is seeing half of Lebanon razed to the ground win or lose. I hate it when moralistic Americans who’ll never commit their own sons & daughters to battle, are so free with the lives of others.
Hedges has done some good work, but like most US leftists he has an insufferable puritanical streak.
The BBC is still portraying anybody who questions the words of President Biden as an extremist, weeks after he was exposed telling vicious lies to justify mass murder of children. This is also how it portrayed anybody who questioned the guilt of Alec Salmond or the reality of their longrunning anti-Semitism Crisis. For the state broadcaster the range of respectable political opinion runs from the unelected billionaire Rishi Sunak to Sir Keir Starmer, who believes it appropriate to starve the children of Gaza of food and water then bomb them. I would be very happy to see the BBC disappeared forever regardless of who pulls the plug.
Pot calling the kettle black
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-hamas-set-to-release-23-thai-hostages-in-side-deal-brokered-by-iran/
Report: Hamas set to release 23 Thai hostages in side deal brokered by Iran
update: details not mentioned – who did what (Biden not involved, Iran is involved
https://www.reuters.com/world/thailand-talks-with-iran-other-govts-hamas-hostages-release-2023-11-03/
Thai Muslim politicians held talks with Hamas in Iran seeking hostage release
By Panu Wongcha-um
November 3, 2023
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those Thai guys expose the myth of Israel’s allegedly ‘socialist’ kibbutzim. the settlements are only sustained by non Jewish semi-indentured servants from the global South who sleep in sheds and work long hours for little pay.
the widely propagated notion that zionism has socialist roots is just one more lie. from the start it was a reactionary bourgeois imperialist project. during WWII zionists actually worked with the Nazis to destroy Jewish Resistance units because their priority was targeting communists and destroying leftwing ideology among European Jewry.
Hard not to conclude, that there is massive faith-based favouritism and nepotism among the TV and wider entertainment industry more generally. According to census data, Jews make up less than half of one percent of the UK population (250,000-300,000) yet they dominate all senior presenter roles at the BBC.
All of the following are of the same faith: Jo Coburn (Politics Live) Laura Kuenssberg (presenter of the BBC’s flagship Sunday morning politics show) Kuenssberg succeeded Nick Robinson as political editor of BBC News in July 2015, Nick Robinson, also Jewish, spent ten years as political editor for the BBC. He’s now Radio 4’s top Today programme presenter, Emma Barnett, presenter on Newsnight and Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, is also Jewish. Newsnight’s Mark Urban, Gabriel Gatehouse and Emily Maitlis, who left recently, are all Jewish. The BBC’s new Chief Political Correspondent, Henry Zeffman, is Jewish.
And this is the backdrop, to which former Director of BBC Television from 2013 to 2015, Danny Cohen, himself Jewish, steps in to complain that the BBC is biased against Israel.
Imagine were the people in these roles all Muslims. The howl of criticism from the right and certain newspapers would be deafening. Look at the flak Sadiq Khan has faced.
The racism, islamophobia past couple of weeks is so tragic and disturbing, I thought the whole counter-jihad movement had died out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-jihad
but apparently it is more vibrant in the west than ever.
I just read a book where the (brittish/israeli anti-zionist jew Gilad Atzmon) author touched upon just this issue you are bringing up::
The Jewish population in the UK is 280,000 or 0.46 per cent. There are 650 seats in the House of Commons so, as a proportion, Jewish entitlement is only three seats. With 24 seats Jews are eight times over-represented. Which means, of course, that other groups must be under-represented, including Muslims. If Muslims, for instance, were over-represented to the same extent as the Jews (i.e. eight times) they’d have 200 seats. All hell would break loose..
— Gilad Atzmon, “The Wandering Who: A Study of Jewish Identity Politics” (2011)
Of course this ethnic factor play a huge role in creating and upholding a pro-Israeli narrative in the west, just as much if there would be a parliament with a over-representation of people with Palestinians heritage.
If I believed they were truly impartial, I wouldn’t even raise the issue of their faith. But having watched them conduct interviews, I think they are all deeply biased in favour of Israel.
For the most part, the BBC’s approach to the Israel – Palestine struggle, can be characterised as disinterested. The suffering and discrimination; the armed settler land theft, it continues apace. But it simply goes deliberately unreported by western news media. One faith is vastly overrepresented, not just in newsrooms, but in the profession of journalism more generally. It’s only when some tragedy befalls Israel for instance, that the western media shows any interest at all.
The Establishment needs an external enemy they can hide from the British people behind. The Jews and the Irish are so last century, lets go back 800 years and use the Muslims instead.
As far as I can make out from Wiki, Laura Kuenssberg is only one-eighth Jewish on her paternal side, Goose. Her German paternal grandfather, Ekkehard von Kuenssberg, was actually asked to join the SS – so he can’t have been very culturally Jewish – but decided to move to Britain instead:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekkehard_von_Kuenssberg
Not only that, he was family doctor to my father in his childhood and his parents and dozen siblings. Dr von Keunssberg was a very good man.
I cannot resist mentioning the parallel relationship of Dr Sherwin B. Nuland to his better-known daughter, Victoria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwin_B._Nuland
As far as I know, Dr Nuland was a fine man and probably did a lot of good. His books are very interesting and well written (if occasionally shocking).
Thanks for your reply Boss. Small world. According to his obituary in the Herald, despite the aristocratic title, Dr von Kuenssberg’s father was Jewish as well as his mother (who survived the Holocaust in Germany), which would make Laura K one-quarter Jewish:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12158103.dr-ekkehard-kuenssberg/
Enjoy your après ski.
As far as the Jews are concerned, if your mother was a Jew, you’re Jewish. If only your father was a Jew, you are not. You thus can’t be half-Jewish.
Thanks for your reply Bayard. Yes I was aware of that – however, someone who has a Jewish father and a goyim mother can be Jewish if they’ve converted. If all of your grandparents were Jewish bar your maternal grandmother, you would have been classed as a Jew by the Nazis in western and central Europe, but not by the Jews themselves (unless you’d converted). Being a scientist, I tend to deal in genetics – which is rarely either/or.
These days, by all accounts, conversion to Judaism is a very hairy process – in israel anyway. It’s wholly in the hands of some bunch of religious extremists, whose requirements are very picky.
Tom Welsh, most things in Israel are in the hands of religious extremists. Consider that state policy is the destruction of the al-Asqa Mosque, to be replaced by a fever dream of the religious extremists, like Ben-Givr and his gang of homocidal zealots. How anyone, in good faith, can defend these racist terrorists is beyond me.
On a lighter, clownish note, I watched a clip of the bumptious Keir Starmer oozing cant, as he discussed his recent conversion to Judaism, with particular reference to some significant holy day or whatnot in his newly adopted belief system. For those who say this cypher can only do insincerity, you are wrong, he can also do unhinged rambling for suprisingly long periods, upto several minutes long in this case – he came over as a deeply confused loon who had devolved into a primitive atavism of superstition, ignorance and religious dogma. I would have been concerned, if I had thought his babbling referred to anything – it didn’t, so I wasn’t but nonetheless the separation between religion and politics seemed somewhat blurry to this highly experiencied lawyer and politician
“which would make Laura K one-quarter Jewish”
You talk as if being Jewish was a race, it is a religion. It’s like someone saying that they are a quarter Catholic.
LA, I think you are confusing Jewishness (a (pseudo?) ethnicity) with Judaism (a religion). The ethnicity descends through the maternal line and the religion is like any other religion, you have to be brought up in the faith, or convert into it. Regardless, you cannot be “half-Jewish” in either.
Thanks for your reply Deb. It’s not like saying someone is one-quarter Catholic. Jewish (ethnically and/or culturally) atheists and agnostics do exist, whereas, by your reasoning, there must be very few Jews in the media, as I suspect few people working in that industry believe the world was made in six days.
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Thanks for your reply Bayard. I’m not confusing Jewish ethnicity with the religion of Judaism. Ethnicity has little to do with the maternal line: in the absence of a large degree of cousin marriage (generally not recommended), someone’s Jewish matrilinear great, great (x15) grandmother would be only one of thousands of great, great (x15) grandparents, who could all have been of non-Jewish ethnicities. In Jewish tradition, that person would be a Jew, but it would be a stretch to say they were ethnically Jewish. But someone who has a one (ethnically) Jewish and one non-Jewish parent will be ethnically half-Jewish, whatever they believe in.
Okay. I understand this is a delicate topic and why. And could easily stray into antisemitism. But I genuinely hold no prejudice against Jews or Judaism.
My annoyance with these presenters stems from the litany of falsehoods about Corbyn, Williamson et al these presenters allowed to stand. Specifically, their alleged antisemitism, which the media exaggerated and propagated.
The way antisemitism was weaponised by sections of the Labour party, the Tories, BBC and newspapers (2017-2019) resulted in many non-practicing Jews defensively rediscovering their faith and becoming almost fanatical supporters of Israel. Kuenssberg, Coburn and Robinson along with Newsnight allowed any mischaracterisation of Corbyn’s views, to stand unchallenged, as I stated above. The same is true of Robert Peston, who’s also Jewish, on ITV. On X/twitter, a certain ‘Countdown’ presenter and two well known actresses, have become very active and aggressive in defence of Israel. It seems anyone in the public eye, with Jewish ancestry, has become radicalised.
Thanks for your reply Goose. I think it’s more a case of Jewish journalists and celebs rediscovering their ethnic/cultural affiliation, rather than any religious faith. If it’s any consolation, I’m still of the opinion that Boris would have got a majority (albeit smaller) even if the Tories and the media hadn’t weaponised allegations of anti-Semitism towards Corbyn and elements within Labour. Corbyn’s Brexit position was constantly undermined by Starmzy* and others on the Labour front bench – remember Thornberry’s “Labour-will-negotiate-a-far-better-Brexit-deal-than-the-Conservatives-and-then-tell-people-to-vote-against-it-in-a-second-referendum-and-instead-vote-to-stay-in-the-EU”? – which would have put off plenty of voters.
Politics on the UK’s mainstream news has been biased for a long time – it’s mainly a case of bias by omission against the minor parties. For example, during the 2010 General Election, UKIP can’t have received a tenth of the coverage of the three main parties despite fielding candidates in most constituencies – and its leader, Lord (Malcolm) Pearson, wasn’t invited to any of the three “I-agree-with-Nick” leaders’ debates. This might explain why it only got 3% of the vote. It was a similar situation for the Green Party and the BNP, who each fielded candidates in around half the total seats. Things improved somewhat in the 2015 election, with two seven-way debates featuring the leaders of UKIP, the Greens, the SNP & Plaid Cymru, in addition to those of the three main parties – but the left-wing TUSC wasn’t invited to either despite putting up more candidates than the SNP & Plaid combined.
* See Lord (Gavin) Barwell’s memoir ‘Chief of Staff: My Time as the Prime Minister’s Right-Hand Man’ for a funny story about that.
I have to agree with you there, LA. Corbyn was always doomed unless he espoused Brexit and the “anti-semitism” crap was just Westminster froth. Labour Leavers were always going to tend to vote for Leave rather then Labour and Tory Remainers were always going to tend to vote Tory rather than Remain. The only uncertainty is whether Sir Kid Starver sabotaged the campaign deliberately. Since he has never shown any signs of being anything other than a Tory, i think he did.
Thanks for your reply Bayard. It’s not every day that we’re in agreement, though I still think some of the fall in Labour’s vote share in 2019 was due to the anti-Semitism allegations. Unless Lord Barwell is prepared to libel a former top lawyer, Starmzy did deliberately attempt to sabotage a soft Brexit: for people who can’t be arsed buying/reading Barwell’s book* (so that’s everyone apart from me), Starmzy’s biographer Oliver Eagleton explains all to Aaron Bastani here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7gqvdJSOBw
(Relevant bit: 58:00 – 1:00:15)
* Thanks to the mods for inserting the hyperlink in my previous comment.
“Thanks to the mods for inserting the hyperlink in my previous comment.”
They’re good like that, my thanks, too, for subsequent instances.
—
[ Mod: You’re welcome. Thank you, in turn, for debating the issues in a cordial manner. ]
Interesting, Goose. For many years I’ve read that US film and media interests are predominately ran by Jewish folk. Recently the likes of Susan Sarandon has been dropped by a huge Hollywood company for speaking out about the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Closer to home, there have been calls for the sacking of the Rector of St Andrew’s University (the oldest in Scotland); the rector (a woman whose name I can’t recall) also spoke out about the slaughter of innocent women and children in Gaza.
On the BBC a young Egyptian actor at the Scottish BAFTAs, after winning one mentioned the slaughter in Gaza. The clip of him mentioning the slaughter was edited out by the BBC.
Meanwhile in Washington the Biden administration fears the four-day ceasefire will allow journalists broader access to Gaza to report on Israeli war crimes.
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/11/23/caitlin-johnstone-white-house-fears-gaza-pause-will-let-world-see-too-much/
RoS
Actress Melissa Barrera has been fired from the next Scream film sequel after its makers said her pro-Palestinian social media posts were antisemitic. Many have come to her defence, including Jenna Ortega, and she’s been warned her career may suffer as a result.
Pathetic state of affairs.
It’s happening across America, and not just in the entertainment industry. It’s safer to quote someone else, like for example, using ex PM David Cameron’s description of Gaza as a ‘prison camp’. Rather than giving your own original take, that someone will use as a basis to fire you.
There is no end in the purging of people that dare to publicly tell the truth:
” St Andrews University rector urged to apologise or quit after accusing Israel of ‘genocide’ ”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/24/st-andrews-university-rector-israel-genocide-palestine/
If she said that Russia commit genocide or any other state, no one would even care, but as soon as someone mention Israel in a negative albeit factual way, you must repent or face permanent ostracism.
In his fine book “The Wandering Jew”, Gilad Atzmon (born Israeli) has this cracker:
“At the time I came across an interesting insight into the subject of anti-Semitism. It goes like this: ‘While in the past an “anti-Semite” was someone who hated Jews, nowadays it is the other way around, an anti-Semite is someone the Jews hate’”.
Looks spot on to me.
Let’s be clear Palestinians are useful to Israel’s pathologists for their corneas, skin and other organs…
https://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/health/Article-2f068ab0353a521004.htm
(viewer discretion is advised)
Thanks Mark, it looks like the actions of Dr. Mengele have taken root in Israel’s scientific community.
Will they offer such ‘waste not want not’ policy to their zionist brethren?
Who would like fraudster Netanyahu’s skin? Who would like his brain of Armageddon?
Is this Zionist disease genetic and do they want hegemonic control ueber alles?
America and the Uk/Germany are not in control over their own affairs anymore.
I have just come back from Hamburg and have broken up with a friend of 40+ years over what is happening in Ukraine, sadly. I had to stop debating as he had half a bottle of finest Dalwhinnie and I did not want to be responsible of him having a heart attack.
I’m not taking this full-spectrum propaganda anymore; it divides friends and families.
Thank you, Craig, for your excellent research and caution. We need you and I will wing some cash to you tomorrow.
Take you good care and thanks for the link, Mark.
I have no lemming in this race for the cliff. Just saying.
This article has its own propaganda. Israelis are hostages. Palestinians are prisoners. Now, that’s propaganda to ponder.
The fact is, nobody has seen real war in over 80-years. Nobody even knows what true war is, or what real war looks like.
During the last World War 70-million people died. 67-percent of those deaths were civilians. The world population during the last World War time was 2.3 billion people. Today the world population is over 8-billion people. Imagine if 67-percent of the current human race just “went away.”
The Nazis, during World War 2, didn’t take the Jews down to the docks, put them on a ship, and said don’t come back. Israel, on the other hand, created the Gaza Strip as a concentration camp exclusively for holding Palestinians, who would eventually be squeezed out through the southern border of Israel’s a** into Egypt and told never to come back. By the last count, out of over 2-million Palestinians in Gaza, only 900,000 remain.
The single state solution was always “The Final Solution.” Always. On all sides. As far back as 1947, with the creation of the State of Israel, by the United States, the UK, and the vassal states, those containing the euphemistically referred to governments known as “European Allies.”
Goose, you missed out Joshua Rozenberg, legal editor BBC, nothing wrong with him being Jewish of course but he is married to that Harridan ‘Mad’ Melanie Phillips.
I thought he was their Moscow correspondent?
That’s Steve Rosenberg.
A man who cannot hide his hatred of Russia and all things Russian.
Just the lad for BBC Russia correspondent!
Ah yes that’s him. Agree he’s incredible. It will be interesting to see how he spins another defeat for Nato.
Thank you, @harry law for pointing out that Joshua Rozenberg is married to Melanie Phillips. Not that I believe in guilt by association but sheesh………that explains a lot!
Nearly every serious political interviewer in the UK, is Jewish.
Some will say, so what? And I understand that view. But it is rather odd, is it not, that in a country where Jews make up less than half of one percent of the population (census data). To have so many of one faith monopolise, acting as the gatekeepers of all political questioning?
The subject of Palestine, and Israel’s atrocious behaviour, never normally gets mentioned for a reason. And it’s hard not to conclude, that this is down to the composition of the media. and their bias. And there’s a deliberate underrepresentation, in newsrooms (editors, producers) and among presenter roles, of other faiths and those of no faith.
Doesn’t that imply that non-Jewish people are seriously under-represented? And isn’t that racist?
I only ask because I want to know.
The BBC news is so obviously trying to downplay or minimalise Palestinian suffering and death, possibly out some loyalty to Israel among the editors and producers in the BBC news Dept, who take these decisions? So much so, staff have anonymously signed and sent a letter to Al Jazeera : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/23/as-israel-pounds-gaza-bbc-journalists-accuse-broadcaster-of-bias
‘London, United Kingdom – The BBC has been accused by its journalists of failing to tell the story of the Israel-Palestine conflict accurately, investing greater effort in humanising Israeli victims compared with Palestinians, and omitting key historical context in coverage.’
Maintaining injustice is hard, as the apartheid regime in South Africa discovered. And as the sanctioned racist Rhodesian regime discovered too. Israel noted the lessons. They know it’s as much a PR war as a real war, and Israel has put lots of effort into winning it. Especially among the gullible US and UK populations and politicians. The manipulation may be far deeper than many here realise. It’s not just bribing ‘Friends of Israel’ parliamentarians with luxury family holidays to Eilat etc.
How many of these MPs know, that historically, Israel has backed and armed some of the most oppressive, brutal regimes and dictatorships on the face of the earth? They include: apartheid South Africa, the racist regime in Rhodesia. They armed the Samoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. supported military repression in El Salvador and Argentina, and they armed the Mexican state in its war against the indigenous Zapatista rebellion. They backed Pinochet’s murderous dictatorship in Chile; Zaire’s brutal Mobutu dictatorship. Indonesia’s Suharto, and the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. More recently, the military junta in Myanmar, itself accused of ethnic cleansing.
The only hope with the Gaza situation, is that Israel may have bitten off more than they can chew, if full annexation is the real aim? If the plan is to ethnically cleanse Gaza; steal the land and push out 2.3 million people – possibly sending waves of migrants to Europe. It’ll be be very difficult not to bring about a ‘critical mass of public opinion’ and the South African fate upon themselves. Even Western politicians will be forced to move against Israel should that scenario unfold. This is probably why, Israel’s leaders suddenly look a lot more concerned, more downcast? Netanyahu is gambling his country on an assumption the world won’t react to ethnic cleansing on a massive scale.
The thing is, to hard core Jewish fundamentalists and Zionists, the Palestinians – being Gentiles – are literally subhuman and their lives matter no more than those of so many ants or bacteria. I mean that literally.
It’s hard for them to adjust to the rather different sensibilities of Gentiles when they address them. Although they may perhaps feel that, as Gentiles, they aren’t entitled to sensibilities, ethics, or indeed anything else.
Instead of teachers in europe taking their pupils to Auschwitz to watch ghoulish desolated housings left by a nazi ideology that no longer pose a threat, the trip should instead go to where brutal crimes are being commited today like the occupied West Bank and Gaza, that would humanize the palestinians and would show the horror of apartheid, occupation, annexation and brutalisation, ethnic cleansing in the 21st century and would influence the west to finally act against Israel.
Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian-American historian:
I was there last in March, and it was obvious that the situation was on the point of exploding. One has to be there to see exactly how awful occupation and dispossession and decades of living as people have had to live, whether in refugee camps or in other parts of occupied Palestine, whether they’re Palestinian citizens living as fifth-class citizens in Israel, whether they’re in the Gaza Strip, whether they’re in the West Bank, whether they’re in Jerusalem. I should say that my wish is that every single one of you has a chance to go there. People who have been there have found it a transformative experience. You actually cannot believe what settler colonialism is like, you cannot believe that in the 21st century this is being done to an entire people, unless you see it. You can read about it, you can understand it theoretically, but you have to see it. And I urge those of you who have the opportunity to please try and go there.
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/24/ta_nehisi_coates_and_rashid_khalidi
Of course Israel would never allow the entry of such group of people.
Jack. A positive real step would be if there was real discussions in our schools of the actual situations in Gaza and Ukraine and elswhere in the world. I wonder what children are actually taught in our schools nowadays. Too many people and groups with sick agendas are able to brainwash the young, with the governments blessing.
Indeed, one positive sign is that a considerable part of Generation Z (born around year 2000) have taken to the streets to protest, which also shows up in the polls by declining support for Biden’s stance on Israel/Gaza.
But maintaining public consensus demands ignorance about historical context.
Especially with regards to Ukraine and continued public support. Most people in the US and UK think the events of Euromaidan, in late 2013, early 2014 were universally welcomed right across Ukraine. Most don’t realise that Kyiv, the site of the revolution, with its overwhelmingly pro-West voters, wasn’t representative of all Ukraine. The man who was deposed in those events – the elected President Viktor Yanukovych, didn’t win a single ward in pro-EU Kyiv on his way to winning the Presidency. He won over 90% of the vote in parts of the East. Ukraine was and is a deeply polarised country. More so than the deepest Red and Blue states in the US.
Pretty much the same thing in relation to Gaza and the events Oct 7. Many western politicians talk as if Gazans had life easy prior Oct 7. I find Ursula von der Leyen’s revisionism particularly obnoxious.
Just a thought.
Kiev not representative of Ukraine;
London not representative of the UK;
Washington not representative of the USA.
Can we assume that capital cities, in the west, are not representative of their country’s ?
Maybe the people need to wrest power away from the capitals.
Maybe the people need to wrest power away from Capital.
It was the 10th anniversary of the start of Euromaidan, 5 days ago.
Described by its other name: ‘The Revolution of Dignity’ by Ursula von der Leyen and the EU on X/ twitter.
Were Zelensky to be overthrown by a mob, in a popular uprising, I doubt the West would view it as another example of ‘dignified’ behaviour.
“But maintaining public consensus demands ignorance about historical context”.
Well, if it’s historical ignorance that’s wanted, the UK in 2023 is the right time and place. We have enough of it to build whole cities.
Not mentioned on the BBC is the reason why Hamas aren’t terribly impressed with the Palestinian hostages that Israel has seen fit to release.
One, Marah Bakeer, had been serving an 8.5 year sentence since October 2015. So she was let out 5 months early from serving the entire stretch.
Even the BBC admitted, on their website, that less than 1/4 of those relased had actually been convicted of anything. The teenagers, mostly boys, who are held captive by Israel are mostly standing accused of throwing stones.
But our MSM just can’t help humanising Israeli hostages far more than that allowed for Palestinian ‘prisoners’.
Not to mention that the israeli hostages have been treated far better than the thousands of palestinians that have to endure all kind of sadism and collective punishment in israeli prisons.
Amnesty: Israel/OPT: Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests/
The language in the media is also telling. The israelis taken by Hamas are “kidnapped” and “hostages”, the thousands of palestinians taken by Israel for decades are on the other hand “prisoners”, “terrorists” “criminals”. They also talk about israeli “children” being “hostage” while labeling the released palestinian children/teens: “males”, like they are adults and thus will not elicit the same emotion as labeling them “children”.
More Israeli Zionists lies (propaganda) exposed.
“Israeli October 7 posterchild was killed by Israeli tank, eyewitnesses reveal”.
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/11/25/israels-october-7-propaganda-tank-eyewitnesses/
What sort of people authorise and carry out orders to fire tank shells into a building that holds women and children? Particularly when the hostage takers were attempting to surrender. Even real Nazis would have a problem with this. Time for humanity to purge itself of Israel completely?
Threats by the government against Haaretz.
Now a first test by Secretary for Communication Schlomo Karhi:
“Since the beginning of the war, my office has received many complaints that Haaretz is taking a harmful direction that undermines the war aims and weakens the military effort and our social resilience (…) It is possible that some articles even exceed the legal limit in the sections of the Penal Code that apply only to times of war.”
A lot of the paper´s revenue stems from state ads and state subscriptions. Those could be stopped.
To quote German journalist Jens Berger from his latest piece on the German smearing campaign against Greta Thunberg: “Punish one, educate hundreds”.
+ re: Thousands of Palestinians arrested in the West Bank without a charge or conviction:
From German junge Welt, the last paper reporting properly:
“According to Palestinian reports, more than 3,000 people have been arrested in the West Bank since October 7. Many of them are in so-called security detention. They are not being brought before a judge, nor are they being charged, let alone tried. It is fair to say that they are Israel’s hostages. It is reasonable to suspect that the disproportionate wave of arrests in recent weeks has also served to build up sufficient bargaining chips for a prisoner exchange with Hamas.”
I am astonished that people take insults of the likes of reporter Murray from The Spectator as real fact when he states that the Arabs in Israeli prisons are petty criminals.
So 2 weeks ago we already had 8000-10000 in Israeli prisons. Without any justification. Hostages. Nothing else.
“when he states that the Arabs in Israeli prisons are petty criminals.”
Just another example of Israeli logic: if they are in prison, they are petty criminals. Goes with “If we’ve killed them, they are terrorists” and “if we’ve bombed it, it was a Hamas strongpoint”.
“It is possible that some articles even exceed the legal limit in the sections of the Penal Code that apply only to times of war.”
As I may have pointed out before, israel is not and cannot be at war against the Palestinians. They are either Israeli citizens, or stateless people under Israeli occupation. In neither case is there anything for Israel to wage war against.
Just a lot of civilians, some of whom have been driven by desperation to defend themselves.
Craig, I am hearing BBC reports about both Palestinian and Israeli releases and am concerned that you are just hearing what you want to hear. I agree that Israel has a stronger publicity machine, but they aren’t getting all the news here.
Oh come on. Every Israeli kidnapped is a genuine warm and cuddly human being with a real story to tell, and all Palestinians kidnapped were criminals, probably a terrorist to a child, ‘prisoners’ who were (doubtless rightfully) ‘jailed’ and are being let off because of this extortion.
You would have to be utterly tone deaf to fail to hear the complete disparity in reporting.
the BBC refusing to call Palestinian children “children” is just manufacturing consent for war crimes on behalf of Israel. It will not be forgotten.
The BBC always plays a devious role. They lay the foundations for future conflicts. They see themselves as being at the service of the govt. Regardless of what their Charter says about being independent and remaining impartial.
They can’t refer to the Yemeni Houthis without slipping in ‘Iranian-backed,’ as if Yemenis act solely on the orders of Iran.
“They see themselves as being at the service of the govt.”
No they don’t, they are the mouthpiece of the Establishment and always have been. Unless, of course, by the “government” you mean the people that actually control the country and not the clowns in Westminster.
Surely other than the USA, the UK government is one of the most complicit government in the genocide of the oppressed people of Gaza. Could it be because both parties the Tories and Labour have donors with significant interests in Israeli or with Israeli/Jewish firms that support Israel, or is it because any UK government is fearful of upsetting Washington – it (USA) being a long-term strategic ally (I say “ally”; I actually mean “overlord”, as UK governments mostly follow or back US interests).
Whichever one it is (or both perhaps) – or even more interests that we are unaware of at present – it is undoubtable now that this UK government is complicit in aiding (and, who knows, even in abetting – the SAS could be and more than likely are in Gaza assisting the IDF), Israel’s government and its military forces, which we know for sure have committed war crimes against humanity.
I think I’ll find it difficult in the future to listen to Washington or Westminster or the EU parliament in Brussels talk about a humanitarian crisis in any particular country, after watching and listening to them do their utmost to not call for a ceasefire or call out Israeli war crimes.
” UK official said US spy flights from Britain’s Cyprus base “have become routine” and included sorties over Turkey and Lebanon.
The “intelligence product” is often “passed to third party governments”, he added.
The Cyprus base has become hub for international military support to Israel as it bombs Gaza.
“Other agencies” – believed to be the CIA – are using RAF Akrotiri for spying missions.
“There are sensitivities” with Cypriot government about using the British base for US spy missions, official wrote.
UK Ministry of Defence refuses to clarify if US intelligence collected via Britain’s base on Cyprus is being shared with Israel. “
https://www.declassifieduk.org/u-s-flies-routine-spy-flights-from-uks-cyprus-base-near-gaza-for-third-party-governments/
When a country commits such terrible acts as Israel has against Palestine it is not appropriate to break it down to only Zionists being guilty , all people in Israel are to blame , the governments they have voted into power over many many years have all been capable of what we are seeing right now , i believe Biden has thrown the weight of USA military behind Israel in exchange for Israeli business cooperating in USA battle against Russia China and India in that other war , the trade war.
In the Gaza war, India’s Modi government has been supporting Israel.
Indeed.
Hindu Nationalist, Narendra Modi, is no friend of Muslims. And India has a Muslim population of around 250 million, out of their 1.4 billion total population.
That could explain Sunak’s complete lack of empathy, and disinterest in a ceasefire. Sunak is a proud Hindu. I’d wager were he and his wife Muslim, his current position would be untenable due to community and family pressure.
Take the examples of Sadiq Khan, Anas Sarwar and Humza Yousaf – all three support a ceasefire. Two, Sarwar and Khan, are doing so in opposition to their own party leader’s position. None of these three men are typically known for radicalism or being particularly brave politically; all three are seen as submissive establishment centrists. People who never rock the boat. Their commendable stance on a ceasefire surely only stems from their own faith, their understandably angry communities, and in Humza’s case, personal family experience?
What one hopes for is a person not driven by personal associations but by a deep-rooted moral integrity which cannot stomach such abject hypocrisy, bigotry and hatred of others. Yet when such a person appears they are attacked from all sides, as we have seen. Democracy supports the appeasers and bigots.
Interesting article from UK Column on racism and how policies enacted by second generation immigrants are affecting the UK political scene. With regard to Gaza, the policies pushed by the likes of Sunak, Braverman and Patel are, IMO, supporting mass genocide of Palestinans.
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/woke-racism-and-the-great-reset-of-the-uk
Sunak, Braverman and Patel, none of whom are Muslim.
Sunak is a self-proclaimed proud Hindu.
Braverman, formerly Fernandes, is a mitra – Sanskrit for “friend” – within the Triratna order, once one of Buddhism’s largest sects in the UK. Buddhism and Hinduism agree on karma, dharma, moksha and reincarnation. They are different in that Buddhism rejects the priests of Hinduism, the formal rituals, and the caste system.
Priti Patel was raised in a Hindu household. Her father Sushil was a UKIP candidate for Hertfordshire in 2013.
In one of his excellent talks on Youtube, Alan Watts begins by defining Buddhism as “Hinduism stripped down for export”.
The media narrative is essential to the strategy of keeping the public ignorant about the relentless march towards a military conflict between US/China.
The slaughter in Gaza is being done quite openly in order to incite a response from Iranian-aligned forces in the region to justify a US attack on Iran’s oil exporting ability. The Palestinians in Gaza are just more cannon fodder, like the Ukrainians, to further the global ambitions of the US-led West.
It is here we remember the Israeli massacre and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian inhabitants of Lydda and Dahmash and the “death march” to Ramallah.
Then old men, women and children, inhabitants of Palestine, fell by the wayside, dying of exhaustion, dehydration and disease.
Today in Gaza about a thousand children a week killed by Israel (UNICEF) has become a growing stain on our collective conscience. Horrific; no mind should go there.
More than a million children in Gaza face daily attack from Israeli bombs and missiles. More than three thousand youngsters have been killed in three weeks, in a campaign backed by the West.
Screw you BBC – Screw you UK Parliament
@craig
Mr Murray, good morning. I hope you are safe and well.
If I can bring to your attention one interesting opinion from the Russian-speaking sphere. Imo, this piece provides a plausible analysis. It focuses on a giant gas field in the coastal waters near Gaza.
“On October 30, 2023, having secured military advantage and control over the sector, Israel issues 12 licenses for gas production in the very place that, according to Oslo 2, belongs to Palestine. Once again: Israel issues work permits to international companies. Not Palestine. Here is the news in the specialized industrial portal Offshore Technology.
https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/israel-awards-gas-exploration-licences/
Among the companies that received a license, the largest is the British Petroleum. The Israeli Times writes about this event as an achievement for Israel.
On October 30, 2023 (yes, the same day), British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacks cabinet minister Paul Bristow for calling for a truce in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The British Prime Minister is generally behaving strangely. In the sense that he is essentially openly stalling for time and is not talking about any truce in the region. De facto, Sunak encourages Israeli actions – complete military control over the territory of Gaza and, of course, the continental shelf. The question arises, why?
That’s why:
This summer, Infosys, which is owned by Rashi Sunak’s wife, billionaire Akshata Murty, entered into a $1.5 billion deal with BP:
And at the same time, Sunak approves the issuance of more than 100 licenses for the development of oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The biggest beneficiary is, again, BP.”
Would be great to know what you think about it, could it actually be real?
The article also mentions the Nord Stream and the US involvement into this whole energy supplies story, and more plausible I find it in the context that the US is currently aiming at Russian Arctic LNG.
sources:
I met the article today on social media (shorter version)
https://pikabu.ru/story/prichinyi_voynyi_mezhdu_izrailem_i_palestinoy_osenyu_2023_prostyimi_slovami_10862363 – [ English translation from Russian ]
the original (bigger) article by Eugeny Chereshnev
https://blog.cheresh.me/2023/11/24/palestina-israel-autumn2023-truth/ – [ English translation from Russian ]
Also, to add to the context, our today’s news
https://ria.ru/20231126/gaz-1911717566.html
feature this article in the Telegraph (unacessible for me)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
The Russian source speaks about Russian gas supplies to Europe:
“According to the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in 2022 deliveries reached a historical maximum of 16.7 billion cubic meters. In 2021 it was 12.3.
Spain and Belgium are Russia’s largest clients in the European Union. According to calculations by the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), purchases there jumped by 50% compared to last year. From January to October, Madrid purchased 5.21 billion cubic meters, Brussels – 3.14. France is also in the top.
The share of Russian LNG imports in Spain is 26.5%, in Belgium – 37.2.
“According to the French company Kpler (specializing in collecting information on commodity markets), Russian LNG accounts for 16% of total EU imports. Moscow is second only to Washington.”
I put it together with this
https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/new-us-sanctions-target-russias-arctic-lng-2-our-objective-kill-project
“Just last week, for instance, we leveled new sanctions against a project in the Arctic, Arctic LNG 2, which is Novatek’s flagship LNG project, which Novatek set in motion with the aspiration of developing Russia as the largest LNG exporter in the world. Our objective is to kill that project. And we are doing that through our sanctions working with our partners in the G7 and beyond,” explained Pyatt in front of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
—
I see the US want to be #1 supplier of gas, perhaps it’s connected with that gas field in Palestine. I believe that most wars are wars for money and profit, so no ceasefire until they get it.
Thanks Tatyana, very informative, both on the Israeli licences and the Arctic project, the Americans will not stop harming Russia, it was not enough for them to blow up N-2, what do you reckon the response from Novatek or Russia will be?
Hi, Baron. Sorry, I’ve no idea. Too busy to follow all of those news, I only pick out of the daily flow the most important ones. Sorry again, as it may look like egoistic and non-humanistic towards Palestine. Still, I must confess, as a Russian in Russia I mostly follow the news on the war we ourselves are in. Also we currently watch some development on Navalny’s case. I shared here
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/ukraine-date-nov-2023/#post-92986
Hi Tatanya, I have just read a summary of the ‘Rules-based order’ and apparently it does say all the gas under the Arctic does belong to the US; and the gas off the coast of Gaza does belong to the Israelis. I did not read the document myself but like Putin and Lavrov I was also refused a copy. so I have to take the word of my friend, he must be right. [ /s ]
I don’t know about the gas (and oil) off Gaza, but I would love to be a drone in the sky when the Americans try to assert their claim to the resources in the Arctic. Popcorn time! (Or tea and gingerbread, as the Russians seem to prefer).
Tom Welsh
Gingerbread (though nice to have with tea) is not as common as ‘bublik’ or ‘plushka’, If you ever get interested in bakery, I suggest you first try to imagine how to shape the dough like this, and only then learn how it is actually made. I suppose you’d find some brilliant tricks, teaching us a bit of geometry and topological transformations 🙂
I even think that Perelman was able to prove the Poincaré conjecture, because he was brought up here, in Russia 🙂
Harry law 🙂
May I translate the ending of your comment into human language for those guests of the blog who are not spending that much time on the Internet to understand ‘local jokes’?
Guys and gals, the [/s] stands for ‘end of sarcasm’
“And at the same time, Sunak approves the issuance of more than 100 licenses for the development of oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The biggest beneficiary is, again, BP.”
Tatyana, you may not know it, but the origin of the name “Tory” (the original name for Rishi Sunak’s party and still used by non-Tories) is the Irish word for “looter”. That’s what they have always done. The only thing that has changed is that they are no longer bothering to hide the fact. We’ve gone back 200 years to when no-one would have batted an eyelid at such goings-on. Progress indeed.
Oh? I imagined it was smth connected with Latin ‘tauras’.
Really, would be nice to set a ‘Mr. Murray’s fun facts’ section somewhere in the discussion forum maybe.
Hamas political wing spokesperson saying that Israel has reneged on the ceasefire deal, firstly by not allowing the two-hundred aid trucks into Gaza that are required daily just to keep the people alive, secondly by not releasing the required prisoners held in Israeli prisons, and thirdly by continuing to fly military drone over Gaza during the ceasefire.
I think that was only to be expected.
The definition of an Israeli ceasefire is that they continue as ‘normal’ but murder a smaller number of woman and children. However, numbers will be made up when the ceasefire ends and the brutality is increased. Work to be done, those Palestinians are not going to kill themselves, are they ?
Reading Gilad Atzmon’s excellent book, “The Wandering Who?”, I came across this passage which is extremely relevant. (Atzmon wrote the book in 2011, but some things never change). He was born in Israel, but had an epiphany when as a young conscript he was given a tour of a “refugee camp” in Lebanon. “[I] arrived at an unbearable truth… The place was a concentration camp. The inmates were the ‘Jews’, and I was nothing but a ‘Nazi'”.
In a brave and imaginative effort to understand Israeli callousness and cruelty towards Palestinians, he writes:
“As no-one is actually voicing a call to throw the Israelis into the sea or nuke them, Israel’s inclination to blame Muslims and Arabs for holding such murderous tendencies themselves must then be understood in terms of projection. The people who rained Lebanon in 2006 with more than a million cluster bombs and showered Gaza with white phosphorus (2008-9) are projecting their homicidal zeal onto their victims, and even onto their future victims. This dynamic can be easily explained. The more pain we inflict on others the more we become familiar with evil, aggression and brutality. The more cruel we are towards others, the more horrified we are by the possibility that the subjects of our brutality may also be as nasty as we are…
“Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is a devastating example of the above. The more hopeless and defenseless the Palestinians are, the more vicious the Israeli becomes. And yet, the more vicious the Israeli is, the more he or she is horrified by ‘terror’. In reality, the Israelis are actually horrified by their own cruelty. It is the terror within that horrifies the most”.
Funny, I just finished reading this book the other day and the mid quote you have there I remember quite well (you should pick up Shlomo Sand – “How i stopped being a jew” next).
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/24-how-i-stopped-being-a-jew
It is quite interesting that so many jewish groups that often fight for progressive ideas in the western world become such ultra nationalists as soon as it comes to Israel, which for some reason can be as racist and right-wing as much as they want. How come progressive jews in the DNC party for example, became so infuriated by Trump’s crude, nasty comments about muslims but they themselves support far more institutional and lethal racism in Israel?
I think Mearsheimer summed it up best:
“Atzmon’s basic point is that Jews often talk in universalistic terms, but many of them think and act in particularistic terms. One might say they talk like liberals but act like nationalists
And as Atzmon said, there is no conspiracy, it is all in the open.
Although you are probably just pretending not to catch on, it’s simply that the Jews like their enemies to drink the poison but tend to avoid it themselves.
Also, there is the fact that Atzmon, Sand, and many others including Israel Shahak have stressed: that traditional Jewish teaching denies that Gentiles have proper souls, maintaining that they are all creations of the Devil. It follows that a Jew cannot really commit a crime against a Gentile, even if he cheats, robs, or kills him. After all, it’s God’s will – the Jewish Holy Book that some Jews went to the trouble to write says so.
However, it’s considered really, really bad form to let any Gentiles know about this. For some reason.
BBC News is now promoting a “March against Antisemitism” in London being attended by renowned anti-racists like Tommy Robinson, Douglas Murray, Boris Johnson. It is being portrayed as a noble occasion, definitely not a celebration of genocide.
What a nasty bunch.. And Downright Evil in the case of Boris Johnson.. He has Tens of Thousands of Ukrainian Dead on his hands after Racing over to Ukraine to Sabotage Peace talks in April of last year. When there was a possibility the war could have been avoided or halted in the very early stages.
The March you refer to sounds very much like a hate March. Using that weaponised word. I wonder Why the Palestinians don’t have Such a word. At least the people of the world Care. The so-called leaders don’t at all.
And all this destroying of international Laws. or is that only for in-favour Nations that the West Like.
Very much a hate march. The damage done to this country by allowing obvious bigots to cosplay as anti-racist has been incalculable. The BBC has been key in enabling it for almost a decade.
The BBC is definitely trying to shield Israel from criticism. It’s so obvious. These reports from the last few days.
AJ EXCLUSIVE: BBC journalists write letter to Al Jazeera accusing the BBC of failing to humanise Palestinians, in the latest newsroom fallout over the Israel-Gaza war http://aje.io/jmqelp
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1727615952152375460
Then is…
The BBC has been accused of editing out multiple calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in its coverage of an entertainment awards ceremony in Scotland.
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1727726200703824255
They are desperate to justify continued genocide and have stopped caring how obvious it looks. Their latest tactic is to deliberately mistranslate Palestinian prisoners, pretending to the viewer that Hamas is being lauded when the word is not even mentioned.
https://twitter.com/RespondCrisis/status/1728855237019234469
Robinson was told by the organisers not to turn up. He’s now been arrested.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/march-against-antisemitism-london-route-live-b2453676.html
To be fair I mislike the notion that organisers of a mass policical-public event think they can psudo-ban people from a public area or business. Then sic the police on them, if they get (rightly) disregarded, whatever the motive of the person involved.
Those creepy, authoritarian terrorism & public order powers. Are wide open to abuse and mostly by design.
We get gaslight when public (indeed publicised) boogymen fall foul of them. However anyone can fall-afoul on any pretext the authorities care to name.
After all what can you do? Go to court? That’s a hideously expensive, time-consuming enterprise. With everything stacked against you.
That’s a fair point. It’s a public place and he was within his rights to be there despite how obnoxious his politics might be. He doesn’t appear to have been charged with anything yet either.
He was there because zionists share his politics and he theirs. It is they who sustain him financially and legally. Robinson is bankrolled to the tune of 10k a month by Robert Shillman, a board member of Friends of the IDF. His legal advisor is Robert Festenstein, a key figure on the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
All the misguided UK celebrity twitter defenders of Israel were there. I doubt any of them have attended a pro-Palestine/ceasefire march. Others commenting on (X)Twitter noted just how white the gathering was.
I wonder how these people are going to react if the Israeli govt plan really is to ethnically cleanse and empty Gaza? In the process displacing millions into Egypt and beyond, then permanently annex the territory. To exploit the prospective gas fields?
I still don’t think Israel can get away with such a blatantly evil, sick act. Even their western apologists (incl. the corrupt MSM) won’t be able to defend such a brazen land grab.
I’d say its a fair bet they will react exactly how they are reacting now.
Would agree Reza – historical blindness, willful ignorance, misdirection etc. Just like their behaviour in the First,Second and Cold Wars. Looks to me like the top people in America, Britain, France etc are planning to repeat the 20th century, with the hugely profitable wars that took place during that shameful epoch and make a whole lot of money.
We saw the cycle begin again in Ukraine – all the arms companies posting fat profits and western governments insisting no diplomacy – these people are incorrigible – no matter how many die
“BBC News is now promoting a “March against Antisemitism” in London being attended by renowned anti-racists like Tommy Robinson, Douglas Murray, Boris Johnson.”
Does the route include Cable Street?
Some are making a virtue of how peaceful the march against antisemitism was. If pro-Palestine marchers had 99% of the media and 90% of the political class on their side, maybe those protest marches could be quieter too?
I really don’t think the pro-Israel crowd have anything to protest against. Reported antisemitism incidents are up, slightly. But it’s hardly surprising, when a University Challenge octopus mascot is what passes for an ‘anti-Semitic’ incident these days.
They aren’t all that virtuous either. Every report on the Palestine/ceasefire marches is accompanied by hundreds of vile comments with calls to ‘deport them all’. Plus claims all those marching support Hamas, or want to carry out violent acts etc. The far right has attached to Zionism, as seen with Tommy Robinson’s presence. Those who support Israel should ask why the likes of Robinson, Hopkins and others associated with racism and hateful conduct are suddenly such staunch defenders of Israel?
I think we’re confusing anti-semitism with support for Israel and Zionism again.
Anti-semitic, and Islamophobic, incidents are up more than slightly.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/oct/20/antisemitic-hate-crimes-in-london-rise-1350-since-israel-hamas-war-met-says
I would agree though that many so-called ‘hate crimes/incidents’ these days are utterly trivial but that was the case before this war.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-hate-incident-autistic-boy-quran-school/
“I think we’re confusing anti-semitism with support for Israel and Zionism again.”
If you mean opposition to Israel and Zionism, is that not now part of the official definition of anti-semitism? Technically, since the Palestinians are also Semites, the “march against anti-Semitism” also had its anti-Semitiic elements.
Or did you mean “…confusing opposition to anti-Semitism….”
Goose
Robinson is bankrolled and legally advised by zionists. The main reason he is so attached to them is because they are very committed to advancing his agenda and sustaining him financially.
Reza
On Armistice Day, Sat, 11 Nov 2023, when the disorder/fight broke out at the Cenotaph, someone wearing a balaclava started unfurling an Israeli flag. He quickly put it away though.
On that day, Robinson marched his supporters to a confrontation with the main pro-Palestine group’s marching route. Then apparently, word came through, that the police were on their way, and Robinson hopped in a Taxi and left. Leaving behind a large group of supporters, many of whom ended up arrested. Large sections of the far-right were accusing him of setting them up and cowardice, online.
Whether he is some sort of agent provocateur, playing all sides, as some allege, idk?
Does being “against anti-semitism” imply being in favour of semitism? It would be a worthy cause; Arabs, Jews, and other semites have had very poor press lately. (In the West at least).
The ceasefire continues as expected. Meanwhile, elsewhere:
“Five Palestinians were shot dead in Jenin, while three others were killed elsewhere in the occupied West Bank on Sunday.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/26/israeli-forces-carry-out-deadly-raids-in-the-west-bank-amid-gaza-truce
Good infographic here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
But this is all okay, just another example of the West’s war on terror, or is that a war on freedom ?
You’re right, Stevie. There will never be an end to the Killings and Kidnapping of Children for throwing stones at Big Brave Soldiers. Until the day Israel is held accountable for its Racist Crimes.
I was at a Genocide protest Yesterday…. The few wee tots wandering around are heartbreaking. Because I see the images of dead Palestinian babies every day.
It might enhance your credibility if you were at least consistent with your usage of the words “prisoner” and “hostage”, and even better if you were able to use them in the correct context. As an ex-diplomat you should be aware that they mean fundamentally different things.
Israel’s administrative detention using security justifications, amounts to hostage taking. As most have done nothing wrong.
Have you seen how many have been detained in the West Bank in recent days and weeks? Hard to escape the feeling they are detaining Palestinians, simply because they can.
To some extent. I should think that a hostage is a particular kind of prisoner.
Did the “prisoners” have a trial?
It’s one of those irregular verbs: I take prisoners, you take hostages, he commits an atrocity.
Coverage on Chinese television is very different. Lunchtime today on Shenzhen news there has been extensive footage of pro-Palestinian marches over the weekend from various countries including the U.K. with subtitled interviews with individuals, and substantial video from within Gaza showing the wreckage. The Spanish and Belgian presidents giving their statements. After about fifteen minutes it concluded with some official speaking in English, I didn’t catch who he was, saying “The killing of civilians has to stop”.
The Zionist war cabinet is meeting and are planning their next steps in their onslaught of Gaza. The greedy money that is already jostling for gas extraction contracts and Akshata Murty seems to be right there in the front line. It is no wonder that these high profile Hindu’s do not want a cease fire. It would reduce the need for UK frigates protecting their loot which could keep Gaza in power for more than 50 years.
what a dirty and horrendous game they are playing in front of our eyes, it is enough to send minds into depression.