I see that in his latest Gaza sob-fest on today’s BBC News website, Jeremy Bowen says that:
“Israel, like most of its Western allies, regards Hamas as an unreconstructed terrorist organisation bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.”
That’s absolutely right Jeremy. Just as we regard a large, grey, four-legged mammal with a long trunk and big ears as an elephant.
Ouch! Spot on.
“Israel, like most of its Western allies, regards Hamas as an unreconstructed terrorist organisation bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.”
Well, others may think that Hamas is a legitimate resistance movement and bona fide political party, but it still wants to destroy Israel.
Bowen’s use of “Israel…regards” is pointless and merely succeeds in casting doubt on Hamas’ self-professed political objective.
Or maybe Jez thinks that Hamas doesn’t really mean the bit about Israel’s destruction?
Jeremy Bowen says that:
“Israel, like most of its Western allies, regards Hamas as an unreconstructed terrorist organisation bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.”
Finish this sentence:
Jeremy Bowen regards Hamas as…
Finish this sentence:
Jeremy Bowen regards Hamas as…
…soulmates?
I can hear the Hamas chants now:
“One of us! One of us! One of us!”
Jeremy Bowen regards Hamas as… the heroic liberators of BBC hostages.
Didn’t he admit he was bitter after one of his mates got shot or blown up by the Israelis?
Gosh, whatever can have given them that idea?
It is not just Bowen who is confused. The BBC News website under the heading “Who are Hamas?” says;
“It has two main functions:
* It is involved in building schools and hospitals in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in helping the community in social and religious ways.
* The military wing of Hamas – known as the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades – has carried out a series of bloody attacks against Israeli targets.”
Interesting batting order! It somewhat understates Hamas’ overall intentions.
Am I being too pedantic if I mention that NuLab constantly refers to “Schools and Hospitals” when they are trying to push through dodgy legislation?
news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/hi/english/newsid_1361000/1361515.stm
politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1579926,00.html
http://www.jimknightmp.com/working_hard_for_you?PageId=29a4c049-17c2-7b54-f5bb-8ff34881b595
and on and on… I wonder if Hamas gets the inspiration from Labour or whether it’s the other way around?
David Gagie:
Note–it doesn’t say “bloody” anymore about those Hamas attacks–here’s how it reads now:
“militant operations carried out by Hamas’ underground Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.”
In fact, nowhere in the entire article “Who Are Hamas?” does the BBC make specific reference to the dozens of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians from 2000 to 2005. How that qualifies as a balanced description of this organization defies belief.
David Gagie:
It is not just Bowen who is confused. The BBC News website under the heading “Who are Hamas?” says;
“It has two main functions:
* It is involved in building schools and hospitals in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in helping the community in social and religious ways.
They didn’t mention either that “Helping the community in social and religous ways” included chucking non-Hamas civil servants off the top of their office buildings.
I’m sure they’d mention it if it happened in Whitehall.
On the other hand if Gordon’s boys were doing the chucking……?
Any chance I can pass a list of MoD civil servants to Gordon’s Sith Refuse Disposal (Rooftops) Team?
‘Israeli targets’ of course being a euphemism for civilians.
The Hamas Charter still – unless they’ve changed it, secretly – still calls for the destruction of the Israeli state and an imposition of an Islamic Palestinian state on top of what is now Israel, the only functioning democracy in the Middle East.
So, yeah, that would be why we regard Hamas as what it is basically.
“‘Israeli targets’ of course being a euphemism for civilians.”
Not necessarily. They recently injured 69 Israeli soldiers. I’m not condoning the attack but military targets don’t count as civilian by anyone’s reckoning.
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