Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


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

  1. dave t says:

    The Toronto Sun article:

    What really gets me is that the BBC ruins the reputation of Britain abroad. Many of my American/Aussie and Canuck friends firmly believe we are all raving pinkos with wishy washy liberal tendencies and are not to be trusted or counted on. Despite our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and elswehere the BBC strives to undermine and betray all the sacrifices of our soldiers sailors and airmen (and women) because many in the US etc think we are useless or not trying our best then the sacrifices and the lives are wasted. THAT is the biggest treason of all.

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  2. pounce says:

    The BBC and half a story

    Another heart rendering diatribe from the BBC about how bad the Jews are to non Jews living in Israel. So much so that in this article they actually allocate the blame for Arabs who have died at the hands of Hezbollah attacks on The Jews

    Arab-Israelis caught in middle
    By Martin Patience
    BBC News, Jerusalem
    About 700,000 Israeli Arabs live in the north of Israel, putting them in the firing line of rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah.
    Awatef Sheikh, 30, a consultant, lives in the Galilee village of Ibillin.
    When the sirens go off, she grabs her nieces and nephews and ushers them into her parents’ home. But while Ms Sheikh says that the children are traumatised by the Hezbollah rocket attacks, she insists that Israel – and not Hezbollah – is responsible for the current conflict.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4778163.stm

    How nice of the BBC to garner the words of somebody who lives in a village in Galilee. Lets look a little closer on who Miss Awatef Sheikh really is;
    Awatef Sheikh, MSc Political Sociology, LSE
    The youngest of 13 and from a rural background, Awatef is currently working as a Press Officer and a Parliamentary Assistant to Dr. Jamal Zahalka. Awatef graduated Cum Laude from the Hebrew University with a BSW in Social Work.

    http://www.britishcouncil.org/israel-education-scholarships-success-stories.htm

    I did enjoy this little snippet:
    Even while suffering a disproportionately high number of casualties in Hezbollah rocket attacks, Dr Azmi Bishara, an Israeli Arab Knesset member and leader of the Balad political party, says that most Arab-Israelis empathise with the Lebanese.

    Who does Awatef Sheikh works for?

    Dr. Jamal Zahalka

    And he is?

    Dr. Jamal Zahalka (born January 11, 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician and member of the Knesset. He was elected to the 16th Knesset on the Balad party list,
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Zahalka

    Back to the interview from the leader of the Balad party.

    “The Arabs in Israel are excluded from politics right now,” says Dr Bishara.

    Right BBC the Israeli Arabs are excluded from politics in are they?

    CAIR to explain how Dr Bishara is leader of a political party in the Knesset.?

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  3. Grimer says:

    I’ve just seen the video of Green Helmet Man directing the filming. There is a link at EU Referendum.

    I have to say, I wasn’t really sure what to believe until I saw that. The evidence of a stage managed media stunt looked pretty strong. Now it is undeniable.

    Are the BBC going to show the public the truth? They dismissed it as ‘Internet Conspiracies’ before:

    The Telegraph claimed that even if it was staged, then that’s OK.

    Unless the British press begin to acknowledge that they are being (willfully?) maniplulated, how can anybody trust them again?

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  4. dave t says:

    I also notice how strange it is that Nasralla et al whilst spewing their hate on the TV etc never seem to visit their civilian-clothed troops in the frontline… nor do the children of the top mafiosi in the Palestinian Authority . Fatah, Hezbollah or Hamas seem to figure in the suicide bombers’ ranks….

    how brave they all are, leading from the rear…no wonder Galloway loves them so!

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  5. Bryan says:

    Yes, Simpson stands around sans protective gear and the big shots in the Arab world descend on Beirut in the form of the Arab League. And none of them are worried about being hit by an indiscriminate Israeli bomb?

    Hmmmm.

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  6. zene says:

    You think a flak jacket will protect you against a 500 kg bomb?
    What planet do you live on?
    The planet of consumerist, deluded, first-world privilege.
    You should be shipped off to South Lebanon, all of you.
    Then come and tell me that Israel is being “precise” or “surgical” in its targetting.

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  7. dave t says:

    Coming with us are you zene?

    I wore a flak jacket in NI and trusted that the Kelvar plates would at least lessen the damage and give me a chance to get to a hopsital for treatment if hit (as I was). I knew it wouldn’t stop a bomb – they stop shrapnel and bullets though!

    The point was that the IDF are trying very hard to bomb Hezbollah accurately and because the media know this they trust the IDF rather more than their Hezbollah friends….hence they felt they wouldn’t NEED flak jackets since they were no where near the targets at the time! Perhaps they’d read the ‘targets for today’ leaflets the IDF dropped….

    So, tell me what part of the war zone you live in and I’ll nip in next time I’m in the ME…

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  8. zene says:

    Already in Beirut, thank you. Am not a war tourist but a war native. Do drop by for some smoke inhalation and chemical weapons. You can have shrunken corpses, blackened limbs, other unusual causes of death and cancer for dessert, courtesy of the IDF.

    [The Biased BBC technical department is rather sceptical about Zene’s claim to be posting from Beirut. See below.]

    Edited By Siteowner

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  9. Eustoned says:

    Ah, it’s another BBC ‘full disclosure’ thing. Good spot, pounce.

    It’s a miracle how the BBC manages to find random Palestinians and it just forgets to disclose the full facts about these individuals.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Zene wrote:
    Already in Beirut, thank you.

    So much for the powercuts then eh? I mean it is 1 in the morning there?

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  11. dave t says:

    Zene

    I will also have to nip south as well to see similar sights in Israel of course…. just to be fair you understand. And yes, the losses down south aren’t as bad as yours but then they ARE divided into military and civilian (including the fact that majority of civilian deaths are Israeli ARABs). I very much doubt that the hundreds dead in Beirut are all civilians despite Hezbollah’s PR and media efforts.

    At least the Israelis CARE about their citizens and shelter them which is why their losses are lower despite thousands of unaimed rockets filled with ball bearings coming down on strictly civilian targets…

    And of course, despite you being in Beirut you are still able to get onto the Internet… how do you manage that ? You should be criticising your so called government and telling them to get Hezbollah sorted. The Cedar revolution has faltered because your politicans allowed Hezbollah to get into government.

    You (Christian/Druze/Muslim/non religious) are in a war which HEZBOLLAH started thinking they would win with the backing of Syria and Iran.

    But we are in a war also – against a minority of fanatics that worships death, hates freedom and has nothing to offer the world but misery and pain until they have a Reformation and adjust to today’s world and the people in it rather than want to continue to live in the 14th Century…Islam is much more than that and could be such a force for good in many places.

    Stay safe.

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  12. Bryan says:

    zene,

    I notice you are not averse to using the consumerist, deluded, first-world, privileged internet.

    Have you come here to debate, or just vent your spleen? After the assassination of Hariri, you guys rose up and booted the Syrian troops out of Lebanon. Great stuff. But you left the Hizbullah terrorists untouched and allowed Syria to reassert control by means of the weepy pro-Syrian Prime Minister.

    Now I suppose you would like Israel to simply ignore the growing threat of bloodthirsty Islamic barbarians on its doorstep. You should be rooting for Israel to excise this cancer from your midst, since you guys can’t do it yourselves.

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  13. Biodegradable says:

    Graet post on the Arab Israelis pounce!

    Regarding the BBC’s “self-congratulatory internal emails” here’s one sent to an actual BBC producer as early as July 19th.
    http://stuarthughes.blogspot.com/2006/07/herogram-to-end-all-herograms-from-my.html

    You may wonder who added the Churchill quotes in the comments … well, I own up ;-/

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  14. Biodegradable says:

    Of course that should be great post…

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  15. dave t says:

    A lot of zene’s fellow citizens ARE rooting for Israel apparently….wonder how many are passing on target info ?

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  16. Brian of London says:

    Orla Guerin is back in action. They’ve stuck her in Lebannon. She of the weeping for Arafat. Just great BBC…..

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  17. dave t says:

    Babs Plett was the weeper, Orla was the ”This is Orla for Al Jaz…oops I meant the BBC’ one with a sour face (or was that Hawley?) Bloody hell they’re all as bad as one another – is there a cloning factory in Bush Green or something?

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  18. dumbcisco says:

    for fans of Green Helmet Man :

    http://greenhelmetguy.blogspot.com/

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  19. pounce says:

    Dave wrote;
    I wore a flak jacket in NI

    Should have said NIBA jacket and really confused them all

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  20. Jon says:

    Bidegradable – reading your second link it now comes as no suprise why the BBC cannot see staged events for the media when it really happens

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  21. will says:

    Bidegradable – reading your second link it now comes as no suprise why the BBC cannot see staged events for the media when it really happens
    Jon

    Or rather that the BBC are too quick to decide that Israel exploits a child for propaganda purposes, but choose to be complicit in the macabre theatre at Qana.

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  22. Eustoned says:

    Orla, she of the “Israelis stole 38 years” infamy.

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  23. dave t says:

    pounce

    I knew NIBA wouldn’t mean anything to the civilians…roger so far over? Or I could have said:

    “I think we need to hit the ground running, keep our eye on the ball, and make sure that we are singing off the same song-sheet. At the end of the day it is not a level playing field and the goalposts may move; if they do, someone may have to pick it up and run with it. We therefore must have options hot-to-trot from the word “go”. It is your train set but we cannot afford to leave it on the back-burner; we’ve got a lot of irons in the fire right now.

    We will need to un-stick a few potential poo traps but it all depends on the flash-to bang time and fudge factor allowed. Things may end up slipping to the left and, if they do, we will need to run a tight ship. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel but we must get right into the weeds on this one. If push comes to shove, we may have to up-stumps and then we’ll be in a whole new ball game.

    I suggest we test the water with a few warmers in the bank. If we can produce the goods then we are cooking with gas. If not, then we are in a world of hurt. I don’t want to die in a ditch over it but we could easily end up in a flat spin if people start getting twitchy.”

    Anyway, before you bomb-burst and throw smoke it is imperative we nail our colours to the mast and look at the big picture. We’ve got to march to the beat of the drum. We are on a sticky wicket, we’ll need to play with a straight bat and watch out for fast balls.

    I’ve been on permanent send for long enough and I’ve had my ten pence worth!

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  24. Natalie Solent says:

    Regarding Zene’s claim to be in Beirut, I am told that he is on a dynamically assigned Tiscali UK address on a DSL service (i.e. ADSL broadband), so the machine from which the message was posted is definitely in the UK.

    Since Zene says he has a working net connection from Beirut perhaps he could post directly from that connection to prove it, and to explain why he seems to have opted for the slow and expensive option of remote control?

    We have many technically-minded correspondents who would, I am sure, be interested to discuss the matter.

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  25. Ryan says:

    With all of these complaints … can’t they be lodged with Ofcom?

    Or are standards upheld by another body or not at all?

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  26. dave t says:

    I AM SHOCKED -shocked I tell you- that someone would pretend to be in Beirut where people are dying.

    I am however not surprised that someone would do such a thing – after all the trolls/Kossacks or other assorted loonies never really debate the issues or engage in a sensible argument do they?

    Yet another example of the moral bankruptcy of some.

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