“Thanks to Israel, I Can Have a Merry Christmas,” by Father Gabriel Nadaf (translated by Avi Woolf), Mida.org, December 24, 2014:

A safe haven in Israel
Within this chaos, only one island of sanity can be found where the Christians are not persecuted, where they enjoy freedom of religion and ritual, freedom of expression, and where they can live in peace without fear of genocide. That island is the State of Israel. The state in which I and my Christian brothers were born allows Christians complete freedom.  Jews and Christians live in Israel in peace and as good neighbors.  This is not just because Jesus was born in Jewish Bethlehem and was born a Jew, but because Christians and Jews share a common heritage and a shared hope for a peaceful coexistence.

From the Telegraph:

‘Islamic mafia’ accused of persecuting Holy Land Christians

Christians in the Holy Land have handed a dossier detailing incidents of violence and intimidation by Muslim extremists to Church leaders in Jerusalem, one of whom said it was time for Christians to “raise our voices” against the sectarian violence.

Remember that as you consider the BBC’s Yolande Knell’s impartial, accurate and unbiased reporting…….

Yolande Knell has a habit of spouting rubbish….to the detriment of Israel naturally.  You might think her boss would have reined her in by now…but her boss being the equally unreliable Jeremy Bowen you might understand how she has  been allowed to keep her job….having said that, the example of Jon Donnison, shipped out to Australia and yet still publishing poisonous anti-Israeli material on the BBC payroll, shows being removed from the scene of the crime doesn’t mean you have to stop peddling your prejudices.

Knell was reporting from Bethlehem (11:36) and declared that the Christians there were quickly disappearing…due solely to the Israeli occupation, no other cause is suggested:

Their dwindling numbers in the Holyland add a sense of urgency to their celebrations….nowadays many young people in the West Bank choose to emigrate complaining of difficult social and economic conditions created by Israel’s occupation.

This is the same Knell who told us that:

However, Israel’s security concerns mean that most tourists must enter the Palestinian city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem, crossing an Israeli checkpoint and passing the eight-metre high West Bank barrier which surrounds the town.

Trouble is the Israeli security barrier does not ‘surround the town’ as demonstrated by this map….the thick red line being the path of the wall:

Is Bethlehem under Israeli occupation?

It has been under Palestinian Authority rule since 1995 as the Guardian reports...note the warning of what might be the result of that takeover:

There will be no star over Bethlehem this Christmas. The Israeli flag, which has flown over Manger Square for 28 years, was lowered yesterday for the last time, as the town was handed over to the Palestinian self-rule authority.
As the last small contingent of paramilitary forces moved out, Manger Square was filled with wildly celebrating crowds
On the outside a thick crust of spectators responded gleefully to every [sign of Israeli withdrawal]
There has been speculation that the coming of the PLO to Bethlehem will speed the exodus of Christians from the West Bank. But there was little sign of rivalry yesterday. Samir Sharer, one local Christian, said he was convinced that this year’s Christmas would be joyful. “Everything will be OK – no problem, no fights,” he said, before rather spoiling the effect by saying he would spend the holiday in Israel.

So what of her claim that Palestinian Christians are leaving the West Bank solely because of the Israeli occupation?

It’s, as much of her reporting,  just not true.

Certainly the conditions don’t help…but what created the economic difficulties?  The Palestinian war against Israel…

The outbreak of the Second Intifada and the resultant decrease in tourism also affected the Christian minority, as they are the owners of many Bethlehem hotels and services that cater to foreign tourists.

 

 

Where might Knell be getting her information?  Could it possibly be the Palestinian propaganda groups ‘ The Palestinian Centre for Research and Cultural Dialogue’  and ‘Open Bethlehem’ which come up with this…..

In 2006, the Palestinian Centre for Research and Cultural Dialogue conducted a poll among the city’s Christians according to which 90% said they had had Muslim friends, 73.3% agreed that the PNA treated Christian heritage in the city with respect and 78% attributed the exodus of Christians to the Israeli blockade.

So to be clear…Israel causes the exodus of Christians whilst the Palestinian Authority treats the Christians with dignity and respect….yeah…right!

Why might Palestinian Christians toe the PA line?….

“Under Islam, the targeted dhimmi community and each individual in it are made to live in a state of perpetual humiliation in the eyes of the ruling community.” As described by a Christian Lebanese president, Bashir Gemayil: “a Christian…is not a full citizen and cannot exercise political rights in any of the countries which were once conquered by Islam.”

As Sir John Chancellor, British High Commissioner in Palestine, put it in 1931:“Christian Arab leaders, moreover, have admitted to me that in establishing close relations with the [Palestinian] Moslems the Christians have not been uninfluenced by fears of the treatment they might suffer at the hands of the Moslem majority in certain eventualities.”

 

Here is what a spokeswoman for ‘Open Bethlehem’ concludes:

Leila Sansour, Open Bethlehem’s Chief Executive, said: “Our survey of Bethlehem’s own citizens shows the city cannot retain this heritage and its Christian community while the wall remains.

She continued: “The choice is stark. Either the wall stays and Bethlehem ceases to be a Christian town. Or Bethlehem retains its Christian population ? in which case the wall has to come down.”

 

Pretty clear where she is coming from….so you might think it odd that the impartial BBC’s Yolande Knell works so closely with ‘Open Bethlehem’:

From BBCWatch:

BBC’s Yolande Knell ditches any semblance of impartiality

‘Open Bethlehem’ is a political campaign which describes its aim as being “to address the state of emergency in Bethlehem”.

“Palestinian director Leila Sansour has made a fierce, poignant film about her family and her hometown of Bethlehem, now in Palestinian territory but progressively stifled by the Israeli government’s anti-terrorist barrier…”

Now, what would the BBC’s editorial guidelines on impartiality have to say about the self conscription of a BBC correspondent to a political campaign directly connected to the field she covers?

Whether or not Yolande Knell got the required permission from her Head of Department before agreeing to allow her name and BBC brand-linked title to be used for promotion of the ‘Open Bethlehem’ film we do not know. What is clear, however, is that her position as an ‘impartial’ BBC correspondent based in its Jerusalem bureau is compromised and indeed untenable after such political activity.

 

Here are some reports from Bethlehem which explore the issues more truthfully and attribute the blame more evenly:

Joseph Canawati is not looking forward to Christmas.
The expansive lobby of his 77-room Hotel Alexander is empty and he says: “There is no hope for the future of the Christian community.
“We don’t think things are going to get better. For us, it is finished.”
Life for Palestinian Christians such as 50-year-old Joseph has become increasingly difficult in Bethlehem – and many of them are leaving.
The town’s Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006.
There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.
Meanwhile, the breakdown in security is putting off tourists, leading to economic hardship for Christians, who own most of the town’s hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.
The situation has become so desperate that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, are to lead a joint delegation to Bethlehem this week to express their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian populace.
The town, according to the Cardinal, is being “steadily strangled”.
The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.
George Rabie, a 22-year-old taxi driver from the Bethlehem suburb of Beit Jala, is proud of his Christianity, even though it puts him in daily danger.
Two months ago, he was beaten up by a gang of Muslims who were visiting Bethlehem from nearby Hebron and who had spotted the crucifix hanging on his windscreen.
“Every day, I experience discrimination,” he says. “
“It is a type of racism. We are a minority so we are an easier target. Many extremists from the villages are coming into Bethlehem.”
Jeriez Moussa Amaro, a 27-year-old aluminium craftsman from Beit Jala is another with first-hand experience of the appalling violence that Christians face.
Five years ago, his two sisters, Rada, 24, and Dunya, 18, were shot dead by Muslim gunmen in their own home.
The fear of attack has prompted many Christian families to emigrate, including Mr Canawati’s sister, her husband and their three children who now live in New Jersey in America.

Majed El Shafie, president of One Free World International, says some Christians are forced to cooperate with the terrorist group Hamas that rules Gaza in order to protect their families.

“The Christians in the Palestinian Authority areas [are] facing persecutions. Their homes, their churches they get attacked almost every day,” El Shafie explained.

According to El Shafie, the situation of Christians in the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority is in control is better. The PA wants support from the West so the leaders try to portray themselves as a “democratic country,” he said.

But El Shafie pointed to Bethlehem, the city of Jesus birth, where there has been a steady exodus of the Christian community for decades.

Bethlehem has become a “tourist zone” for the PA, he said. “Basically they don’t want the Christians there but they want the Christian tourists to come and to take their money.”

Persecuted Christians

Anti-Christian violence has increased, mostly caused by Islamic extremists, although Muslim-background believers face pressure from family, too. The authorities fail to uphold the rights of individual Christians, causing some to flee to safer areas. In Gaza, Christians are enticed into becoming Muslims, especially during Ramadan, with the offers of jobs, houses, wives and diplomas. Sometimes the approach is more violent. A Greek Orthodox monastery in Bethany, West Bank, was the repeated target of attacks, forcing the nuns to ask President Abbas to intervene.

Knell has a history of biased and inaccurate reporting that is far from what is expected of the BBC…her most recent reports do nothing to change that impression and indeed merely reinforce the thought that she is just a mouthpiece for the Palestinians.

In summary…Israel is not in charge of Bethlehem, the Palestinian Authority is.  The security barrier does not ‘surround’ Bethlehem.  The main reason for Christians fleeing the West Bank is due to Palestinian persecution of them.

All in all not a good day for Knell or the BBC.

The BBC has been repeatedly broadcasting an incendiary audio interview with relatives of the Palestinian teenager killed in Jerusalem as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are ‘dangerously high’....a soundtrack that is almost certainly already on a Jihadi website added to video and pictures of Israeli or Western ‘atrocities’ against Muslims as a tool to both recruit new Jihadis and to incite more terrorism against Western or Jewish targets.

It must be a serious editorial misjudgement to broadcast what is nothing more than a highly emotive, provocative incitement against Israelis and any who support them.

The interview is one long ‘blood libel’ against all Israelis making provocative and inflammatory claims designed to whip up anti-Jewish sentiment as the Palestinians compare the Jews to Nazis and imply that the murdered Palestinian teen is just the start of a Palestinian ‘Holocaust’, a Jewish ‘Final Solution’ to deal with the Palestinians…. ‘one down, another 5 million Palestinians to go‘,  that the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, plans to kill them all, that the Jews have stolen their land and now are stealing their kids and killing them.

They claim the teenager was just a child, a ‘kid’…but at age 17 he is the same age as the British ISIS member boasting about his Iraq adventure.…’a person claiming to be Nasser’s brother Aseel told BBC Wales he was willing to die for the cause.

The 17-year-old, who is also believed to be in Syria, told the Week in Week Out programme: “Jihad is obligatory.”‘

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for broadcasting this so called interview which is little more than the usual ugly, racist Palestinian anti-Israeli propaganda.  It was first broadcast on ‘Today’ (08:10), then Derbyshire played it on her show but  made no comment…which begs the question played to what purpose, what was the intended reaction that the BBC wanted to get from the listener?  It was clearly intended to provoke some sort of reaction.  Undoubtedly it has been broadcast on other shows throughout the day and is available on the website as a stand-alone.

Perhaps The BBC’s Director General might like to get in touch with his lawyers to check if the BBC is guilty of promoting terrorism:

Terrorism Act 2006

(2) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he publishes a statement to which this section applies or causes another
to publish such a statement;

and (b) at the time he publishes it or causes it to be published, he…..(ii) is reckless as to whether members of the public will be directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate such acts or offences.

Should the interview be found on a Jihadi website to recruit jihadis and promote terrorism would there be grounds for a prosecution against the BBC who so recklessly broadcast something that directly or indirectly could encourage Muslims to join the Jihad against Israel and the West?

The BBC were slow to report the kidnapping of the three Israelis, but fast off the mark to report the death of the Palestinian and to ascribe his death as the probable result of an Israeli lynch mob.

The BBC is now painting a picture of aggressive, violent Israelis out to attack Palestinians in revenge for the deaths and continually make reference to claims like these:

Scores of Israelis had angrily protested in Jerusalem late on Tuesday, after the funerals of the three Israeli teenagers.

Ghonit Sela, director of the Human Rights in East Jerusalem Project, told the BBC further attacks were feared.

“We saw dozens of people walking in broad daylight in the streets, yelling ‘death to Arabs’, trying to attack Arabs.

or this

“The Israeli police are just here to protect the settlements,” said his friend, Saif. “The settlers come to attack us all the time. They try to push us over the edge. Especially in Jerusalem.”

The BBC’s Kevin Connolly has been reporting that Israelis have been inciting violence against Palestinians but fails to mention anything about Palestinian threats and incitement.

The BBC consistently fails to report the celebrations when an Israeli is killed such as these celebrations of the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers:

PA, Fatah cartoons gloat over teens’ kidnappings

Drawings in official PA newspaper and on Fatah facebook page appear to celebrate abduction of Israelis

This was photographed on the Temple Mount. These ‘Palestinian’ children and their teachers are celebrating the abduction of three Jewish teenagers by holding up their three fingers in what has become the viral sign of joy at the kidnapping.

The BBC fails to report what the Palestinians teach their kids…the first video is interesting as it ends with the thought that once they have finished with Israel they will move on to Iraq and to the creation of a Muslim State without borders…someone has beaten them to it………

The BBC’s reaction to complaints seems to be to blame the person complaining rather than admit fault in its reporting….here’s Kevin Connolly’s weasel words (ht  Craig at Is the BBC biased?)…

Roger Bolton: Kevin Connolly has been a BBC Middle East correspondent for five years. I asked Kevin if the job of reporting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is getting even more difficult.

Kevin Connolly: I don’t think so. The pressure comes and goes according to the pressure of the newes. The higher the profile the story has in our news bulletins the more we will hear from people who have very strong views on the conflict themselves about how our coverage measures up against their own feelings.

So the complaints aren’t based upon facts or reason but strong views and feelings so can be dismissed…..however that doesn’t apply to Connolly and his own colleagues where ‘feelings’ and local narratives are the key ingredient in any report it seems…

You know, before I write something for From Our Own Correspondent I will circulate it among my colleagues. I’ve got colleagues who are Israeli Jews. I’ve got colleagues who are Palestinians from Gaza. We have colleagues who live in Bethlehem and in Ramallah and in Jerusalem. So we take as collegial approach as we can because, you know, that brings in feelings that they are coming across in their own communities and the stories that they are hearing reported by their own local media.

He goes on….

We absolutely accept that, you know, we are accountable to the British public and that they are entitled to express what are often very, very strong opinions and a very strong sense of disappointment where they feel that our narrative is not close enough to the narrative of one side or the other. 

Ah yes, our narrative, their narrative…..what about the facts, what about not reporting a narrative but what really happened?

Interesting to note that Bolton raises a criticism of BBC reporting but it is one that says the BBC is pro-Israeli.

BBC Watch also investigates the same Connolly piece and asks about the lack of context….

BBC explains why it can’t always report history accurately

There are lots of newsworthy events happening the world over that deserve just as much time spent on them as that dedicated to the Middle East. We’ve to make difficult decisions based on the evidence and independent verification our news teams can gather in order to report on the news we do. This does lead to subjective decisions being taken on what news we report on and as is often the case the lack of reporting on any issue lays the BBC open to criticism from interested groups/supporters who accuse the BBC of deliberately failing to tell the whole story. This is never our intention.

We’re subject to ensuring our news coverage is of national interest to our domestic audience and there isn’t the time or resources available to cover every current or historical aspect of a conflict that some sections of our audience would like.

As a public service broadcaster and ingrained in our Royal Charter all journalists and news teams have a firm commitment to impartiality and we cannot be seen to be taking the word of interested groups and we always aim to verify all stories we receive before we give airtime to them. The situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is fraught with difficulties, two sides with opposing views, each seeking to undermine the other. It is a difficult path our journalists take, they’ve to bury their emotions as much as possible to remain impartial when reporting on the attacks that take place in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and any other conflict. They come under intense pressure to report on what one side is saying but they’ve to keep a clear head and remain committed to reporting events as they happen to avoid emotional language.

I can tell you feel very strongly that the BBC has failed to properly convey the impossible situation that Israelis are in. Our only goal is to report truthfully and honestly the situation faced by both Israelis and Palestinians without bias. “

Unfortunately most of that is self-serving rubbish.  The BBC seems to be saying that it concentrates on Israel/Palestine because it has good access to information there whereas in other parts of the world it doesn’t….which is why we get relatively little from say Kashmir where Pakistan is running a terror campaign as well as a proxy army, the Taliban, in Afghanistan.  Israeli ‘settlers’ may or may not be a problem but are in no way comparable to the extremists of the Taliban…and yet it is the Israelis who get the bulk of the BBC’s evil eye.

As for lack of time for ‘context’, the BBC always finds time to claim Israeli ‘settlements’ are illegal under internationasl law and to always add on the casualties from the last conflict in Gaza to most of its reports.  The BBC always likes to play the numbers game…more Palestinians have died, the Israelis have better weapons and bunkers for their kids,  so therefore the Palestinians are the victims here….funny how the BBC always finds time and space for such ‘context’.

Yolande Knell displays total ignorance or cynical manipulation of the conflict…..

Knell closed this report by telling BBC audiences that the story of the current wave of terrorism in Hebron is all about ‘narratives’.

“Basically on the ground here you get two starkly contrasting narratives. Speaking to the Israelis over there, they see all of this as hateful, senseless violence. But Palestinians here say that their anger stems from the political situation and their feelings of despair. This is really a nationalistic struggle but increasingly, it’s also taking on a religious dimension.”

So a decades long conflict based upon Muslim hatred of Jews is only now ‘taking on a religious dimension’?  Curious how the BBC  finds time for a bit of context there….context that just happens to be painting the Palestinians as the victims, I’m sure that’s completely unintended by Knell.

Why do Muslims not object to the creation of Jordan from ‘Palestinian’ land?  Because Jordan is a Muslim country. If it wasn’t you can be sure it would be under attack from ‘interested parties’ as Israel has been for 70 years.

The Palestinian’s are in the position they are in now because their leadership and the Muslim countries around them have set a course that seeks the destruction of Israel and of continuous conflict until that is achieved.  Nowt to do with the Israelis.  Shame Knell & Co can’t find time for that little fact.

Contrast the BBC’s entirely different take on ‘illegal’ Israeli settlers to the one they  take on Muslim settlers in Burma where they have been fighting a ‘Jihad’ to annex and establish a Muslim state…the BBC blatantly supports the Muslim insurgents and denounces the native, Buddhist, counter reaction…the BBC goes so far as to tell us that Buddhism is a religion of violence….how different to their narrative on Islam, that well known religion of peace,  and Muslim terrorism and extremism.

Yolande Knell is up to her usual tricks…demonising the Israelis with this story of their apparent wickedness…Susiya: Palestinian West Bank village faces bleak end

What she presents us with is a narrative designed to paint the Israelis in the worst possible light….she gives us the facts for sure…houses are being built without permits, but the whole spirit of the piece is to suggest it is all so unfair and just one more example of the Israelis persecuting Palestinians.

Contrast that with how the BBC reports illegally built homes in Egypt…Egypt’s illegal construction time bomb.  

In this report we hear that the illegal homes are death traps and the authorities are neglecting their duties by not demolishing these homes…despite the huge rate of homelessness in Egypt…..‘Nasser Darwish, a professor at the Structural Engineering Department of Alexandria University.  He estimates that in Alexandria, right now, there are hundreds of buildings with major structural flaws, about 170 of which are in danger of imminent collapse and need to be evacuated immediately and demolished.’

The BBC concentrates on the dangerous aspect of many buildings but many of the homes are not death traps but just built illegally, many, just as the Palestinian ones are, on farm land…

Farmers struggle to uphold property rights in land dispute with government

The morning of 20 November began with a rude awakening for Mahmoud Fathy, a resident of the Houd al-Musullas area, in the rural inland of the Montazah district of Alexandria.

Some neighbours came to the house and told him two bulldozers had begun demolishing a building down the street and that his home would be next.

The bulldozers and security forces were dispatched by the Endowments Authority, to demolish what it said was illegal construction.

“The residents showed security forces their ownership papers, but the police said they are not responsible and ‘you can appeal it in court’”, Fathy said.

A differently nuanced narrative about Egypt comes from Reuteurs which concentrates more on the reason why there are so many illegal buildings in Egypt and their illegality not just the dangerous nature of the buildings..

‘When an explosion in one of Cairo’s calmer residential areas reduced a five-story building to rubble, residents feared it was the work of suicide bombers.

Actually, authorities were dynamiting unlicensed buildings, even though millions of Egyptians are desperate for housing – a sensitive issue that the country’s new president will face….Officials say at least 450,000 of these buildings were constructed without permits in the past three years….

“After the revolution many people started to build on land that is not theirs … The housing crisis has made people desperate to buy property as soon as it is available,” said Ahmad, an agent who helps people find homes in Cairo.

“This is a real problem. People put their life savings in these housing units and then overnight they will find out that these apartments do not belong to them.”

‘

Whilst Knell’s story about Israel gets frontpage billing on the BBC and is also on the world page this story from the Mail is nowhere to be seen…

Amazing pictures show police destroying an entire TOWN including grocery stores and a nightclub that had sprung up to support illegal miners in the Peruvian rainforest

It’s in the Mirror, and the Telegraph as well.

How about in Azerbaijan?

Azerbaijan: Stop Forced Evictions, Illegal Demolitions

Or Spain?…

Retired Britons’ ‘illegal’ homes knocked down in Spain

Or how about Saudi Arabia in 2012?….

Saudi Grand Mufti calls for churches to be destroyed

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has called for all churches in the Arabian peninsula to be destroyed.

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is not some marginal figure, rather he is the chief religious authority of the Saudi Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia is one of the leading countries in the Sunni Muslim world. The Mufti’s words will surely be taken seriously by many. We ought to take them seriously too.

Or how about Saudi Arabia in 2015?….

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti wants churches destroyed

This is the Grand Mufti talking. It is not some bearded loon, or some fringe extremist, but rather the chief religious authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, home to the two holy mosques and so on. So this man speaks with authority. It is as if the Archbishop of Canterbury had spoken.

The Grand Mufti is appointed by the Saudi government. The Saudis are allies of us Brits and the Americans.

Why the BBC fascination with a small, illegal village?  Is it coz it’s the wicked old Israelis beating up on the defenceless Palestinians again as the BBC would like us to believe?

Toby Young was on 5Live  (13:20) the other day talking about Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and telling us of his very far left credentials, he rattled off the identifiers….support for Hamas and Hezbollah, a Stop The War fanatic, someone who wants to hand the Falklands to the Argies….and let’s not forget an end to austerity.

I thought hang on….that’s pretty much a run down of much of what the BBC supports.

John Humphrys has said we should surrender the Falklands, or is that the Islas Malvinas?, to the Junta…

‘So the time has come for Britain to negotiate. A deal should be struck which establishes Argentinian sovereignty over the islands while allowing the islanders to remain British and which perhaps shares the spoils of oil exploration.’

….as did Peter Allen…

Peter Allen relates to Nicky Campbell how when as a young journalist he asked Mrs Thatcher this about the Falklands War:

‘Why are you bothering to fight this war when you  know perfectly well that you will have  to give them back to the Argentinians eventually.‘

 

and today we have a reminder of what Maggie thought of the BBC’s deadly coverage of the Falklands War…

The BBC has long been a propagandist for the terrorist group Hamas, making strenuous efforts to turn Israel, not the terrorists, into a pariah state.  Here Yolande Knell gives us a good example of how the BBC tries to rework Hamas’ reputation and that of the Muslim Brotherhood….Can Hamas hold back Islamic State in Gaza?

What is a squabble between two fanatical Islamist groups is portrayed as ‘moderate’ Hamas defending itself from extremist ISIS elements in Gaza…..we are still  fed the old lie about a moderate Muslim Brotherhood…So far, Hamas, which has its ideological roots in the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood, has been largely able to contain them.

Here’s news for you Yolande…the Muslim Brotherhood is the intellectual and spiritual home of Al Qaeda and therefore of ISIS, as well as Hamas.  AQ and ISIS are putting Muslim Brotherhood beliefs into action.

The Muslim Brotherhood is not ‘moderate’.

As always with BBC reports about Gaza there is the obligatory mention of this...Last year’s 50-day conflict killed some 2,200 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the UN, and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers. The BBC shoehorns in the casualty figures whatever the story is.   Israel is of course to blame for the rise of ISIS in Gaza…Some observers see Israel’s approach as potentially playing into the Salafists’ hands.

As for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…well it’s back to John Humphrys again I suppose…as a starting point.

The BBC plays a dangerous game.   It’s all too often British troops who pay the price for that.

An interesting Tweet from the BBC’s Danahar…apparently the extreme Islamist radicals of Hamas are nothing like Al Qaeda or ISIS…..I imagine this Tweet can be placed alongside Bowen’s ‘moderate’ Muslim Brotherhood assertion….Hamas being part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The BBC’s Danahar having a double whammy here…defending Hamas, as seems to be an urgent priority for BBC correspondents just now ( ‘It’s very important to note that Hamas didn’t fire the first rockets on Friday’ Yolande Knell told us….just many of the rest)

Donnison is on the case as well….

…and Danahar is having a go at Netanyahu as well….seemingly another favourite target that BBC journos like to try and ‘Fisk’.

Douglas Murray in the Spectator thinks different….and the radicals are on our streets right now:

The black flag of ISIS is flying in London

When historians look back on Europe in this era, they will rub their eyes in disbelief. ISIS is carrying out actual genocide, ethnic and religious cleansing on the people of Syria and Iraq. Their exact ideological soul-mates in Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda are doing everything they can to set light to the same region. Right now the western states are finally talking of intervening in Iraq to stop ISIS wiping out the ancient Yazidi and Christians communities of Iraq. Yet we do nothing to stop the same murderous ideology thriving here.

Instead another pattern is set. When we see this disgusting ideology at work, as we have done for the last month, much of Europe turns its hatred onto the Saturday people for defending themselves. Israel continues to defend itself. And we may do something to hold back ISIS in Iraq. But what will we do in our societies when we finally realise that behind the flag of Hamas is the black flag of jihad, and that after failing to stand up for the Saturday people there will be fewer people left to stand up for the Sunday people?

Most importantly, what will we do when we wake up to the fact that, far from being in some neighbouring or far-flung country, we have allowed the enemy to plant itself deep inside our own countries?

Note this rather terrifying revelation….that senior Tories are ready to pander to Islamist extremists and tailor our foreign policy to suit them:

Tory minister: Govt ‘failure’ on Gaza is sowing seeds of General Election defeat

I’ve just spoken to another Tory minister who is unhappy, and worried particularly about the effects that this will have on the Conservatives’ chances next year. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the minister tells me:

‘Warsi knows that our failure in Gaza will damage any change of our Northern marginals and South East Lutons and Watfords. The Lib Dems will probably now keep Muslim voters who might have switched over to Labour and got us a gain. I fear Dave might have sown the seeds of our defeat at the General Election.’

 

The BBC of course has itself long pandered to those same Muslim activists and pushed the narrative they favour, that foreign policy drives the radicalisation of Muslims.

Jon Donnison helps that along with his views on the Gaza conflict and who is ‘guilty’ of helping Israel:

Happily Donnison is being shipped out…but only to be replaced by Connolly:

The saddest thing about Donnison’s emotive manipulation and exploitation of injured or homeless Gazan children used to undermine Israel is that he has no intention of examining the real roots of their problems….that these childrens’ lives are a long misery with blighted futures, interspersed with enormous violence and danger, because of the policies of the terrorist groups he and his fellow travellers of the BBC turn a blind eye to….indeed sometimes even shed a tear for….One expert on ‘conflict resolution’ on 5Live today (12:50) stated that 92% of Gazans wanted a truce and were being failed by their leadership…Dominic Laurie, standing in for Fogarty, ignored that rather important point.

These children, and generations of children before them, could have been living completely different lives had the Palestinian leadership decided to spend their time, energy and money on building a Palestinian state, an economy, a society.

Instead they fund terror and tunnels and the BBC quietly applauds them and their ‘resistance’.

Bright futures destroyed by pandering to a dream which turned into a nightmare.

Hamas advised its supporters:

‘You must always cast doubts on this [Israeli version], disprove it, and treat it as false.’

Who could doubt there are many who have taken that advice to heart.

In this post we look at the numerous occasions BBC reporters mislead its audience with claims that the Israelis deliberately target civilians and that Hamas does not have a policy of using ‘human shields’.

This is what the BBC’s coverage of Gaza feeds into:

 
We know that ISIS are sending even blind Jihadis to fight the good fight.  That being so can there be any surprise to know that the BBC has also sent several journalists to cover the Middle East whose eyesight seem similarly limited….Jeremy Bowen in particular needing not just a white stick but perhaps a white flag as well.

It is all too easy to stand there and express outrage and horror at the casualties of war and dodge the abuse you might receive for reporting the truth about the Palestinians…it is a lot harder to take a stand and do what is right…Bowen takes the easy option and cheerleads for Hamas having very selective eyesight…always able to spot an Israeli war crime whilst never able to spot Hamas up to no good.

For example Craig at Is the BBC biased? has noted this from Bowen in the New Statesman:

I was back in London for my son’s 11th birthday party by the time all those people were killed in Shejaiya. But my impression of Hamas is different from Netanyahu’s. I saw no evidence during my week in Gaza of Israel’s accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields. I saw men from Hamas on street corners, keeping an eye on what was happening.

Remember :

‘You must always cast doubts on this [Israeli version], disprove it, and treat it as false.’

Who can doubt that Bowen’s book, War Stories,  was not a ‘Work of remarkable honesty’ as described by the Independent..Robert Fisk perhaps?

Clearly Bowen has not seen this well known video:

Nor has he read his own colleague’s assessment of Hamas’ motivations:

Here Kevin Connolly admits Hamas uses civilian casualties for political advantage….

Hamas’s military leaders might be calculating that the sight of Palestinian civilians suffering under terrifying aerial bombardment will force the Palestinian Authority to show much greater solidarity and prompt Arab governments to show more support.
Hamas might reason that there were few advantages in keeping the peace whereas once hostilities have started it can demand concessions for agreeing to end them.

Connolly then highlights the advantages of the dramatic exploitation of dead children to a cause….

Israel might argue that it’s trying to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas is trying to cause them. But television pictures of civilian dead in Gaza – especially children – will help shape perceptions of Israel round the world.

 
Bowen, and his colleagues, conveniently ignored this report where Hamas are shown to be urging Gazans to stay in their homes and  to ignore the Israeli warnings:

“Urgent call to the residents of the Gaza Strip” in which locals were told to ignore the calls and warnings made by Israel and the IDF. “To all of our people who have evacuated their homes – return to them immediately and do not leave the house.”
 “You must follow the directives of the Interior Ministry. This is psychological warfare, random messages to instill panic in people.””

 
But it isn’t just Bowen whose lack of knowledge or innate prejudices compromise his reporting…here BBC Watch  relates what John Simpson said to Israeli Minister Tsipi Livni:

“I have to say it to you in these terms: are you going to carry on killing civilians – including women and children in quite large numbers – until you get what you want?”

No problem there condemning Israel, in fact almost blatantly accusing Israel of targeting civilians deliberately….despite the accusation being completely false.

How different when it comes to Hamas….then saying such things is ‘controversial’ even when based on the truth…..here yet more expert comment on Hamas’ use of human shields, denied above by Bowen,  the BBC presenter also unwilling to accept this claim……..

Among the subjects still missing from the BBC’s coverage is some in-depth coverage of the topic of Hamas’ use of human shields and the way in which that deliberate policy contributes to the high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. Without that essential knowledge, BBC audiences will still be unable to reach informed conclusions regarding this particular international issue. One attempt to shed some light on that issue was made by Barak Seener of the Royal United Services Institute in an interview with BBC World News on July 21st – with a remarkable reaction from the presenter when presented with an expert opinion (which is presumably what the BBC sought when it invited the specific interviewee) on the realities underpinning Hamas strategy.

Presenter:
“That is obviously a very…ah…controversial thing to say and many people will refute that the leadership of Hamas want to see their own people, supporters, women and children killed…ah…unnecessarily…”

The BBC though isn’t so censorious when Hamas makes claims that are obviously wrong, such as Israel targets civilians… as above Simpson seems to agree with them…but here are a couple of examples where the BBC reports Hamas’ claims as if they are fact:

Here Yolande Knell not only doesn’t challenge a claim that Israelis deliberately target civilians but accepts it as true (via BBC Watch):

“This is a third consecutive war against Gaza since 2008 and Israel always, I mean, do target the civilians and they are in the eye of the storm.”

Possibly no coincidence that earlier a Hamas spokesman said this:

“There is no safe haven in this place and Palestinian civilians are once again in the eye of the storm and are paying heavily. Israelis.. are trying to pressure militant groups through targeting civilians.” ”

Bowen himself in his New Statesman article continues to peddle the myth and reports such things as fact:

Raji Sourani, the director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, told me that Hamas, whatever you think of it, is part of the Palestinian DNA.

I met Sourani first when he was condemning abuses by Yasser Arafat’s men. He has taken an equally tough stance on Hamas. Now he says Israel is violating the laws of war by ignoring its legal duty to treat Palestinian civilians as protected non-combatants.

Which senior BBC journalist said this?:
‘We cannot get across the view that Palestinians are a displaced people who are fighting to overthrow, as they see it, a brutal military rule.’
 
Who are ‘the many’  senior BBC journalists who say that:

‘They simply cannot get the Palestinian viewpoint acoss, the perspective they cannot say is that Israel is a brutal apartheid state.’

I’d say they are doing their utmost to get the Palestinian narrative across…shame they don’t bother with  the truth.

Here is Charles Moore in the Spectator:

Large parts of the Arab world — Egypt, the Arab League and so on — are fiercely critical of what Hamas is doing. This is hardly mentioned on the BBC, which can cope only with a simple story of Palestinians versus Israelis.

And here’s one we did earlier on Fatah’s opinion of Hamas:

Not All Palestinians Support Hamas…’Merchants of War’

In 2006 Hamas was busy murdering its rivals for power in the Palestinian territories, dragging Fatah men from their hospital beds before shooting them or throwing other Fatah members from the roofs of buildings.

The BBC told us that Hamas were ‘merely flushing out the corrupt and violent Fatah’.

How different the BBC reaction when Israeli bombs accidentally kill civilians and hit a home for the disabled.  Whilst Hamas deliberately set about killing patients the Israelis did not.  But it is Hamas that receives the BBC’s stamp of approval….despite deliberatley storing weapons in hospitals and mosques.

Whenever you read, hear or watch BBC, and indeed other organisation’s, news broadcasts about Israel and the Palestinians you have to remember the context…that Muslims have been attempting to wipe out Israel for over 60 years and that attempt is ongoing.  Israel has endured repeated invasion attempts and endlessly relentless terror attacks on its civilian population.

And yet it is Israel defending itself that comes under the most concerted attacks by its self- appointed critics.

The only reason Palestinian civilians are caught up in the war is because their leaders, Hamas, in this case, continue to prosecute a war against Israel with the intent of wiping it out.

Stop that war and the killing will stop, stop the war and life will begin for Palestinians.

The Israelis cannot proclaim a unilateral peace treaty.  It takes both sides.  Those like Rory Stewart who declare that there is only one solution, a one state solution, have no idea of what the outcome would be….but the BBC don’t tackle him on his idiocy…for an ex-diplomat he is surprisingly naive…or maybe not….perhaps he realises that Israel would be finished and so would the Jews…once again destined to roam the world at the mercy of every anti-Semite in the countries they seek refuge in. Perhaps like many in the FCO he doesn’t care….remember ‘Fucking Israelis, fucking Jews’?

Israel is doing the job all civilised nations should be doing…attempting to neutralise one of the most dangerous proponents of an ideology that has sprung up across the Globe since Nazism or Communism.

Here is what a senior Hamas member said in 2007:

“We believe that this is the era of change, that the coming decades will see Islamic rule in Arab countries,” he said. “I am not speaking about hopes here. I am just reading the reality. Today, even the thief, before he commits his crime, asks god to help him.”
“In a few years [Islam] can gather supreme power in the form of money, power, armies, human beings… from Morocco to Indonesia.”
“How are we going to manage the relationship between the West and Islam? If we are going to see each other as enemies we will see world war IV.”

In 2007 he predicted the Islamists would be taking charge across much of the world…..they’re certainly giving it a good go and having a great deal of success.

Hamas of course is a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot….the same Muslim Brotherhood championed by the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen.

The same Jeremy Bowen who now tells us that in this complex world ‘…you have to be careful of your reporting and the words you use.’

The BBC has indeed been very careful recently, selecting words and images that present a very particular view of Gaza to the world….concentrating on Palestinian civilian casualties, oh, Bowen mentions Israelis are being rocketed…but he says the Palestinian attempts are far less potent.  I guess an Israeli injured or killed by one would only conclude that Bowen thought their life was worth less than a Palestinian one.

The BBC’s concentration on civilian casualties can only be a calculated attempt to sway public opinion against the Israelis.  Its reporters acknowledge the power of images of dead and injured women and children.

And yet it uses them to full effect.

Here Kevin Connolly admits Hamas uses civilian casualties for political advantage….

Hamas’s military leaders might be calculating that the sight of Palestinian civilians suffering under terrifying aerial bombardment will force the Palestinian Authority to show much greater solidarity and prompt Arab governments to show more support.
Hamas might reason that there were few advantages in keeping the peace whereas once hostilities have started it can demand concessions for agreeing to end them.

Connolly then highlights the advantages of the dramatic exploitation of dead children to a cause….

Israel might argue that it’s trying to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas is trying to cause them. But television pictures of civilian dead in Gaza – especially children – will help shape perceptions of Israel round the world.

Why then does the BBC not only ‘ambulance chase’ dead and injured children but allow Palestinian propaganda to go unchecked in its news?

Here Yolande Knell not only doesn’t challenge a claim that Israelis deliberately target civilians but accepts it as true (via BBC Watch):

BBC News website under the title “Gaza death toll rises as air strikes continue” – which amplified and promoted the same inaccurate claim from the head of a political NGO – the PCHR.
In that report, the BBC aired footage of Raji Sourani saying:

“This is a third consecutive war against Gaza since 2008 and Israel always, I mean, do target the civilians and they are in the eye of the storm.”

Bowen yesterday (08:49) decided that his main role was not to report the conflict and the politics behind it but to influence listener’s perceptions by using emotive language and exploiting the traumatic injuries of a child.

Bowen told us that there was ‘Terrible death and destruction, terrible human pain’ in Gaza just now…of course Israel was suffering…but as said above…its suffering was far less potent.

He made a beeline for a hospital in Gaza where in the intensive care unit he honed in on an 8 year old  with the ‘fragments of an Israeli bomb punched into her brain.’

Bowen asked the Palestinian doctor….‘As a Palestinian what do you think when you see this?’

A curiously loaded question as we know exactly what the doctor would say.  Bowen clearly wanted a particualr response and got it…easy money.

The doctor said the girl had been injured at home where she should feel safe…and asks Bowen where his children would feel safest…Bowen pointedly replies ‘At home’.

Not saying Bowen is manipulating us emotionally…but he is.

Possibly no coincidence that earlier a Hamas spokesman said this:

“There is no safe haven in this place and Palestinian civilians are once again in the eye of the storm and are paying heavily. Israelis.. are trying to pressure militant groups through targeting civilians.” ”

Note that ‘Targeting civilians’ claim once again…which the BBC prints without challenge.

Bowen moves on to another patient and once again goes for the emotional asking….‘How would describe what has happened?‘….only to be told that she isn’t a ‘patient’ she is a ‘victim’ of Israeli aggression.

Bowen tells us that this is an example of how you have to be careful of your reporting…
A sign of the complexity of issues in the Middel East.

To me that sounded like an excuse to treat Palestinian claims as fact even when the facts prove otherwise…all is relative to the BBC….and once again adopting the Palestinian narrative in preferrence to the truth….as with the word ‘Terrorism’ and the BBC’s reluctance to use it.

Kevin Connolly was also out ambulance chasing (2 mins 30 secs) visiting the home where disabled residents were killed by an Israeli bomb which hit their home.

At the home for disabled people where two women were killed he tells us that it is ‘a daily routine in Gaza searching ruined buildings’…and that it is ‘particularly heartbreaking today.’

Locals, he tells us, were angry and bewildered and that the UN has said that the Israeli targeting homes of militant commanders could be a war crime.

Strangely Connolly doesn’t dwell on the inconvenient revelation by the local who complained that the Israelis were normally very careful to target only military locations and rocket launch sites.

As said the context of this latest round of fighting has to be considered…it is a 65 year war so far and the BBC’s attempt to isolate this recent fighting and tote up the casualties, the body count, as if that gives some sort of moral superiority to one side, the Palestinians in this case, is hugely dishonest.

The Israelis have suffered thousands of casualties in dead and injured over the decades as they are forced to defend their country…casualties that the BBC doesn’t bother to detail….casualties that would nevr have occurred had the Israelis been left in peace.

Remember the Fogels?  Well you wouldn’t if you’d had to rely on the BBC for news…the Fogel family that was slaughtered one night in their own home by a Palestinian with a knife…practically cutting off the head of the baby of the family.

Fogel family butchered while sleeping

And just as the BBC didn’t report the Palestinians holding up three fingers celebrating the kidnapping of three Israeli teens they didn’t bother with this either:

Palestinian TV airs show praising Fogel family murderer

In weekly show dedicated to Palestinian prisoners in Israel, Hakim Awad’s mother and aunt describe convicted perpetrator of Itamar attack as a ‘hero and legend.’

Or what about this family in 2009?:

Three people — two men and a woman — were killed and an 8-month-old baby was critically injured Thursday morning after a rocket blasted into a four-story building in Kiryat Malachi in southern Israel. Six people suffered from shock.
The names of the victims were cleared for publication late Thursday afternoon. Aharon Smadga, 49, Itzik Amsalem, 24, and Mira Sharf, 26 will all be buried Thursday evening. Sharf was reportedly pregnant.

Or how about civilians forced to flee their homes?

Yolande Knell tells us that:

Israel has warned Palestinians in the north of Gaza to evacuate their homes ahead of further airstrikes.

“This isn’t a family outing; it’s an exodus. Palestinians head away from their homes in northern Gaza and take their most prized belongings with them. Israel’s warning there’ll be a heavy bombardment of the border area where they live….We find hundreds of Gazans coming inside a school for shelter. They’re exhausted and distressed.”

Knell doesn’t mention that Hamas has tried to keep the people in their homes, to ignore the Israeli warnings:

“Urgent call to the residents of the Gaza Strip” in which locals were told to ignore the calls and warnings made by Israel and the IDF. “To all of our people who have evacuated their homes – return to them immediately and do not leave the house.”

 “You must follow the directives of the Interior Ministry. This is psychological warfare, random messages to instill panic in people.””

Nor does the BBC tell of the thousands of Israelis who have been forced in the past to evacuate their homes under the threat of constant Hamas rockets.

It is curious how the BBC seems to follow the narrative of the Palestinians and their supporters.  Concentrating on Palestinian civilian casualties, how the Israelis are supposedly perpetrating war crimes and that this is a battle of the Palestinian David versus the Israeli Goliath…the impoverished, under-equipped Palestinians up against the might and power of the Israel war machine.

Here is Owen Jones last week…….

‘Israel under renewed Hamas attack’, says the BBC. More balance is needed
The media coverage hardly reflects the reality: a military superpower armed with F-15 fighter jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, Delilah missiles, IAI Heron-1 drones and Jericho II missiles (and nuclear bombs, for that matter), versus what David Cameron describes as a “prison camp” firing almost entirely ineffective missiles.

And here is Kevin Connolly a few hours later (51 mins 35 secs) :

Connolly tells us that Hamas’ only weapon against Israel (and her aggressive, violent attacks on Gaza?) is these rockets…the subtext to that is that Israel is the aggressor and Hamas is almost defenceless against that aggression.
He says that the only tool Hamas had at its disposal to respond to the round-up was rocket fire from Gaza – and those arrests were reason enough for that bombardment to intensify.

Though the BBC pays lip service to Israeli’s being bombarded, targeted, by Palestinian rockets, the thrust of the narrative is all about the suffering of the Palestinians whilst dodging around inconvenient truths that the Israelis work hard to target military sites and that Hamas is using civilians as human shields.