Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts.

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289 Responses to Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

  1. Rick says:

    Al-Zawahiri has announced terror until Islam reigns from “Spain to Iraq.”

    I hope those holidaymakers will wrap up properly on the beaches and wear the jilbab or chadoor……….those Spanish women and tourists will see how life was in olden times

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  2. pounce says:

    How free speech is denied in the UK by a very peaceful religion;

    Brick Lane makers cancel filming

    The makers of the film Brick Lane have cancelled filming in the London area where it is set owing to opposition from the Bangladeshi community there. Ruby Films said it had been advised by police and Tower Hamlets council not to film in Brick Lane area, Shoreditch. Brick Lane Business Association chairman Mahmoud Roug told BBC News it was a “victory for the community”. Some members of the Bangladeshi community claim that the original novel, by Monica Ali, is “insulting”.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5220498.stm

    A victory for the community AL Beeb over an insulting book Al Beeb.

    Here let me show the world what was deemed insulting to that local community.

    “A passage where the character Chanu derides the Bangladeshis of Brick Lane was cited in the complaints. In it, he describes them as “uneducated. Illiterate. Close-minded. Without ambition”.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3287413.stm

    So it appears the Bangladeshi community took offence to how a work of fiction describes them. To that let me use a few snippets of Information from the Holy Muslim council of Britain site which states;
    37% of the population of London’s poorest borough, Tower Hamlets, is Bengali

    Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are twice as likely not to have a bank or building society account than the rest of the population.

    Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are the poorest groups in the country. Just two in 10 of these women are active in the job market, compared with seven in 10 black Caribbean and white women.

    Muslim men of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are disproportionately unemployed compared to other Asians.

    Over 40% of young Bangladeshi men are unemployed. The comparable unemployment rate for young White men was 12%

    Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are most likely to be unqualified. Nearly half of Bangladeshi men and women had no qualifications. Among Pakistanis, 27% of men and 40% of women had no qualifications.

    http://www.mcb.org.uk/library/statistics.php#6

    Yet again AL Beeb promotes how a certain religious community in the Uk uses the victim card in which to stifle free speech. Free speech I should add which if the truth be told is a lot less condemning than the actual facts I have highlighted which I am surprised the BBC hasn’t used in which to show that maybe, just maybe the author knew what she was on about.

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  3. Pete_London says:

    Paul Reynolds, we know you come in here so feel free to pop by and explain yourself. We’re back to the BBC covering the crimes of a genuine beast in Samir Qantar. From Stephen Pollard:

    ————————————-
    “According to Paul Reynolds, the BBC’s world affairs correspondent:”

    Israel will not exchange them [the ‘missing’, as Reynolds puts it, Israeli soldiers] for the prisoner Hezbollah wants most, Samir Qantar, who attacked a block of flats in Nahariha in 1979, killing a father and his daughter.

    “That’s one way of describing what he did, as if he was going about his normal business of blowing up Israeli flats and the father and his daughter just got in way. Another would be to point out that Qantar murdered the ‘Zionist’ baby girl by smashing her head against the wall.”
    ————————————-

    http://www.stephenpollard.net/002740.html

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  4. Pete_London says:

    By the way, Payl Reynold’s email address is Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

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  5. archduke says:

    pete -> it was a lot worse. he shot the father dead in front of the child FIRST.

    and the “daughter” mr Reynolds refers to was 4 years old.

    if you ask me , that terrorist should have been strung up using piano wire.

    but then the Israelis are obviously far more civilised than I am. they just imprisoned him for life.

    john reith -> it was hezbollah.
    whether it was called “peoples front of judea” or the “front for the liberation of judea” is a moot point. it *was* hezbollah.

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  6. pounce says:

    A number of posters seem to have this viewpoint that BBBC is a waste of time. That there are better things to do and that the BBC is in fact impartial.
    Well I get the impression that the Empire is fighting back, that they realize that they have image problem and that this site needs to be character assassinated.

    So we have tweedle dee, tweedle dum and tweedle dummer posting now and again telling what a waste this site is. (if so why are you posting)
    AL Beeb has started using its Editors Blogg is which to surreptitiously berate this and other similar bloggs.
    And behold;
    It’s now on the front page;

    Q: In your view, reporting from the hothouse of the Middle East – where every comment, choice of visual coverage, reporting nuance and even on-screen gesture is analysed – in the digital age (with bloggers and instant comment etc) has become easier? Or more difficult?
    Eamonn O’Neill, Innerleithen, Scotland

    Good question. It’s easier to report the news fast nowadays, but the danger of that is that you lack the time to prepare everything you say with the old degree of care and attention.

    The bloggers, who have no restraints themselves, do indeed interpret everything you say and do from the perspective of their own views and prejudices, so there is far more criticism and complaint than ever before. The only thing to do is keep on trying to get it as right and as honest and as objective as possible, and hope that the large number of people who are honest and objective themselves will appreciate it.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/5216708.stm

    and the same question answered by another reporter;

    Q: In your view, reporting from the hothouse of the Middle East – where every comment, choice of visual coverage, reporting nuance and even on-screen gesture is analysed – in the digital age (with bloggers and instant comment etc) has become easier? Or more difficult?
    Eamonn O’Neill, Innerleithen, Scotland

    It is no more easy or difficult now than it was 15 years ago when I first reported from the Middle East. There is a great deal more background noise, but I tune it out.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/5217118.stm

    My point. If the great BBC has to start defending itself from a wee web site such as this. Then I know it is concerned that people are questioning it and when that happens it has to report the truth and not half truths.

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  7. Pete_London says:

    archduke

    Oh I wouldn’t say the Israelis are more ‘civilised’ than you. I think ‘restrained’ is the word. They certainly are far more restrained than me. I stand in awe of it.

    It’s funny, the usual suspects have been telling us (often correctly) of the vastly overwhelming military superiority of the Israelis. Usually this is done to evoke sympathy for ‘a people whose only weapons are their own bodies’ yada yada yada. Given this vastly superior firepower, that (say) 400 Lebabese have been killed against 40 or so Israelis (yes, even allowing for the 400 to be civilians and not to include terrorists) this suggests that the Israelis are doing their best to minimise innocents killed and Hezbollah is trying to kill as many as possible.

    The figures reported and accepted don’t correspond with an overwhelming military force which is bombing with impunity. If that vastly stronger force actually was ‘destroying’ Beirut and Lebanon whilst taking no care to minimise civilan casualties, that figure would be much much greater than 400.

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  8. archduke says:

    “The bloggers, who have no restraints themselves, do indeed interpret everything you say and do from the perspective of their own views and prejudices, so there is far more criticism and complaint than ever before”

    indeed.

    and about time too.

    in the modern information age, the sleight-of-hand omissions and LIES by the BBC can be taken apart bit by bit daily on blogs like B-BBC and elsewhere.

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  9. Eustoned says:

    Some off-topic fun.

    MPACUK’s thoughts on the work of BBC journalist, John Ware (abridged):

    http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/2059/#read-comments?mosmsg=Comment+Saved

    “…the notoriously pro-Israeli Islamophobe, ‘journalist’ John Ware…Islamaphobic, Pro-Israeli…John Ware’s…anti-Muslim propaganda…notorious Zionist Islamophobes…John Ware is so notorious for his Islamophobia and pro-Israel bias…Ware’s pro-Israel bias…clearly Islamophobic and biased towards Israel…a renowned Zionist and Islamophobe…a notorious Islamophobe…a blatantly biased presenter”.

    I wonder if the writer’s head exploded as he wrote this?

    See if you can spot any similarities between these two articles. Bet you can’t:

    MPACUK on Somalia:

    http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/2392/34/

    The BBC on Somalia:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5168008.stm

    Hmm…BBC News articles being used as Islamist propaganda? Shocking!

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  10. John Stone says:

    Some of the websites you people use to justify your words are a joke!

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  11. archduke says:

    john stone. back your statements up with urls please.

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  12. archduke says:

    Eustoned -> look at the name of the BBC reporter…

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5168008.stm

    sure BBC – why not just go the whole hog and hire a few Taliban “reporters” while your at it?

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  13. archduke says:

    “Some of the websites you people use to justify your words are a joke!”

    yeah i know. the BBC websites are a bit of a joke alright.

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  14. John Stone says:

    More than 405 Lebanese and 51 Israelis have died in violence since Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on 12 July

    Its quite easy really..

    Hezbollah killing 51 Israelis is disgusting (and I agree) but Israelis killing 405 I take it is fine?

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  15. pete says:

    From the BBC’s main Israel/Lebanon page at the moment –

    ‘In my opinion Israel is not destroying Hezbollah – they are making it stronger’

    Fiene, London

    Who is this Fiene? How doe he know he truth of what he says? If he or she is, for example, Professor of Middle East History at a posh university then tell us about such a qualification. If this person is just someone commenting at the BBC website, what place does their comment have on a main BBC news page?

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  16. Eustoned says:

    Yes, apologies to John Stone for linking to the MPACUK website. This is a family blog, after all.

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  17. John Stone says:

    Its called a democracy Pete, where people can comment how they see fit. A little like this site (I hope). However if they do not seem to agree with you thoughts then their comments are obviously worthless.

    What Fiene was suggesting I would imagine is that if you keep bombing the crap out of people who have nothing to do with the conflict you’ll no doubt be able to recruit these people to fight against the attacks..

    mmm?

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  18. boy blue says:

    The only thing preventing Israel from being turned into another southern or western Sudan, is the superiority of Israel’s fire power.

    Far better for Israel the endless criticisms from the likes of the UN, the EU, and the BBC, than the crocodile tears and empty, worthless gestures belatedly poured over the dead of Sudan.

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  19. Pete_London says:

    John Stone –

    Of that ‘more than 405’ (eh? is that 406? 10,000?) Lebanese who have been killed, some will have been Hezbollah terrorists. Even if the total consists of just civilians, that so few have been killed in what is a major military operation is truly a testament to the restraint and control of the IDF.

    Liberals have a favourite war in the one which Bill Clinton ordered to be fought from 30,000 feet against the Serbs. A couple of thousand civilians were killed in that campaign with hardly a squeak from the left.

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  20. archduke says:

    “Hezbollah killing 51 Israelis is disgusting (and I agree) but Israelis killing 405 I take it is fine?
    John Stone | 27.07.06”

    its a bit tricky to avoid civilian casualties when Hezbollah is embedded in civilian areas.

    quite frankly, i’m surprised that the casualty rate isnt way higher.

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  21. John Stone says:

    All innocent deaths are to be mourned. The problem I see here is that most people here only morn their own and justify the ones that die ‘on the other side’ as a brilliant military decision. The same no doubt will be true of both sides.

    You have the right to defend yourself against the shocking targetting of innocent life but Israel (like it or not) have overstepped the mark here.

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  22. John Stone says:

    And I must say I am impressed with the well thought out arguments that do not seem to turn into slagging off matches.

    If my thoughts are wrong, convince me otherwise 🙂

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  23. archduke says:

    john stone -> overstepped what mark exactly? that created by the BBC? or the limp wristed whiney European Union?

    or would you rather that the Israelis just didnt do anything while Islamists lob rockets at them?

    after all, the Jews were just herded off to the gas chambers with a barely a murmur in WW2?

    is *that* the type of Jew you prefer?
    the one that goes off, quietly, to be shot in the head by the Einsatzgruppen?

    i suppose it is, isnt it?

    you just cant stand the fact that the Jews nowadays have rather large guns, and are killing the Islamist Hezbollah scum in rather large numbers.

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  24. John Stone says:

    Hmm, ironic after what I just posted but i’ll try again in a min 🙂

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  25. boy blue says:

    John Stone

    “What Fiene was suggesting I would imagine is that if you keep bombing the crap out of people who have nothing to do with the conflict you’ll no doubt be able to recruit these people to fight against the attacks..”

    Yes, and islamic terrorism only creates more “islamophobia” and hostility to islam. I suspect the 7/7 attacks in London were a big recrcuitment drive for the BNP, and no doubt the BJP gains support when 180 people are blown to pieces on a train in Bombay.

    Not everyone is going to do the liberal-PC thing and blame themselves for being bombed by muslems. It can work both ways you see.

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  26. archduke says:

    “Hmm, ironic after what I just posted but i’ll try again in a min
    John Stone |”

    ooops – i just saw your post. sorry mate. nothing personal.

    but i *am* trying to get to the crux of the matter – in that, theres the smell of anti-semitism swishing around Europe right now, as the likes of the BBC give a free pass to the Islamists.

    maybe you have been taken in by the BBC coverage. thats fine – my ire is NOT directed at you. its at Al Beeb.

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  27. John Stone says:

    Thanks AD,

    All I ask is people to morn the loss of innocent life on both sides.

    I also hope this is finished quickly and everyone can return to a peaceful life

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  28. Neil says:

    Why is this story not given more prominence?

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  29. Tom says:

    I think the point is that Israel does not target civilians deliberately; hezbolla does.

    The latter also fight from civilian areas thus ensuring that almost any retaliation from the Israelis will result in civilian casualties. The blood is on hizbolla’s hands.

    By simply totting up the casualties on either side and saying that the side which has killed the most civilians is wrong you ignore the most important aspect of their deaths: intent. Hizbollah intends to kill Israeli citizens, Israel does not. There is a distinct and important difference here.

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  30. pete says:

    John Stone, it is not democracy. Fiene, whoever he or she is, is entirely entitled to their opinion whether it is informed or not. I am entitled to news and informed opinion about that news on a BBC news page. A BBC news page is no place for uninformed opinion, especially about highly political events. Is Feine informed or not?

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  31. Allan@Aberdeen says:

    In this link (from Rick) is a map showing where in Beirut has been attacked:

    http://israelibunker.blogspot.com/

    and in this link, courtesy of dave t:

    http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/

    can be heard General Lewis MacKenzie retd. of the Canadian Army describing what a bombardment really is, amongst other things omitted by the BBC and which run counter to the ‘thoughts’ of John Stone. If John Stone were to check these links, he would find, as I have, that the contributors to this site provide a better news service than the BBC.

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  32. Anonymous says:

    John Stone

    All I ask is people to morn the loss of innocent life on both sides. I also hope this is finished quickly and everyone can return to a peaceful life

    We can each decide who we mourn. And what’s this ‘return’ to a peaceful life? When has Israel’s enemies given Israel one single month of peace?

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  33. John Stone says:

    I knew that was going to be taken that way.

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  34. archduke says:

    feargal keane is warbling on the six o clock news now. he’s right in the middle of Hezbollah-run Tyre.

    surrounded by rubble.
    and a shot of a dead songbird.
    the women and children…. women and children… women and children…

    no goosestepping black uniformed Hezbollah in Mr Keane’s reports – in fact, there are absolutely NO hezbollah anywhere in his report!

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  35. John Stone says:

    Allan@Aberdeen:

    What exactly are my thoughts then? 🙂

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  36. will says:

    feargal keane is warbling on the six o clock news now.

    He tells us that Tyre looks like it has been hit by a giant fist.

    He is surely a theguardian reader

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/martinrowson/0,,1823933,00.html

    In addition to archduke’s songbird, Keane just manages to stand in smoking ruins where a nice arrangement of toys & photographs have been brought together by the blast.

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  37. towcestarian says:

    I actually heard a balanced and unbiased report on the Middle East on the BBC a couple of days ago (no seriously, I’m not joking). It was on Radio 1 Newsbeat so was presented in a rather infantile stylee favoured of yoof programs, but was completely unbiased. I was gobsmacked and can only assume Radio 1 is too insignificant in the eyes of the al-beeb current-affairs thought police for them to be bothered turning the article into Hezbollah propaganda.

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  38. archduke says:

    “where a nice arrangement of toys & photographs have been brought together by the blast.”

    how thoughtful of you Mr Keane to remind us about how bad and evil the Zionist Jews are.

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  39. archduke says:

    towcestarian -> somebody else mentioned that a few weeks ago. i’ve heard “newsbeat” a few times myself, and i quite liked it. must be the rapid-fire “yoof” delivery that prevents any agenda setting.

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  40. Allan@Aberdeen says:

    To John Stone: have you visited the sites linked in my recent post which requested that you do so?
    If you have done so, would you give us your thoughts on what you read and heard, especially the opinions of General MacKenzie?
    Thanks

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  41. pounce says:

    John wrote;
    “You have the right to defend yourself against the shocking targetting of innocent life but Israel (like it or not) have overstepped the mark here.”

    and

    “If my thoughts are wrong, convince me otherwise ”

    Here is just a little of what Israel had to face during 2005/6.
    http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/terrisrael-9.html

    I think if we look at the region in a little more detail. Israel has sat down and asked for peace time and time again.
    I think you will find those people who are in the news crying victim are the ones who want war.

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  42. John Stone says:

    pounce – very interesting page, thanks for that.

    As for the other links I am reading and will play the audio file.. 🙂

    Obviously I need to take it in before I can comment

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  43. will says:

    The Landis drug test has been major news this pm. The BBC have devoted more time to it than their whole coverage of the 3 week Tour de France.

    Has the fact that he is an american got anything to do with the sudden great interest from the BBC?

    (News24 did have ITV cycling man Phil Liggett saying that as a stage winner is automatically tested, it would be odd for Landis to have doped himself before his epic stage. But Phil’s caution is lost in the rush.)

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  44. John Stone says:

    Just curious as to what people think of the UK newspaper The Independent?

    If this is the wrong comment box for that I apologise.

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  45. John Reith says:

    Some people here seem to be painting John Stone as some sort of moonbat.

    How rude. Welcome JS.

    In any case, Mr Stone may be a distinguished officer from the US military. They certainly appear to share much of his analysis:

    “This is a classic strategic bombing campaign,” said Stephen Biddle, a former head of military studies at the U.S. Army War College now at the Council on Foreign Relations. “What the Israelis are trying to do is pressure others into solving their problem for them, hence the targeting of civilian infrastructure.”
    But the growing list of civilian casualties — despite Israel’s use of U.S.-designed precision-guided bombs — could turn Arabs and others against the Jewish state and its key ally, the U.S., and still not fatally wound Hezbollah, said military analysts.

    http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1966337.php

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  46. CH says:

    One of the reasons the Israeli civilian casualty figures are lower than the Lebanese (and, of course, we can’t distinguish too easily when it comes to the latter between civilians, part-time and full-time terrorists) is that Israelis in the north are spending most of their time confined to sweltering bomb shelters.
    Q: Why do they have so many bomb shelters?
    A: Because of years of constant attack from Hezbollah.

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  47. Allan@Aberdeen says:

    John Reith quoted:

    “But the growing list of civilian casualties — despite Israel’s use of U.S.-designed precision-guided bombs — could turn Arabs and others against the Jewish state and its key ally, the U.S., and still not fatally wound Hezbollah, said military analysts.”

    Does JR believe that Arabs are not already against the jewish state? Any pro-Israeli demos in Cairo?

    But maybe Israel is seeking a win, and the BBC can’t have that, can it?

    http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/hezs_iranian_cache_stash_worldnews_uri_dan__with_post_wire_services.htm

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