Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may be moderated.
‘So far as I can see, investigative journalism at the BBC is over,’
says David Mills in the link about the Panorama McCann film Maureen provided above.
Something I think many at BBBC have known for quite a while.
John Reith,
You have ‘forgotten’ that Hezbolah fighters were using the UN compound for shelter against attack from the IDF.
I could ask why you missed out this important information? But then again we both know why dont we?
The Hezbolah fighters used women and children as human shields, they also sited rocket launchers and anti tank weapons in schools and hospitals and retreated close to UN posts in the hope that the IDF would not attack! Further, Hezbolah fighters used ambulances to ferry troops and munitions around the combat area. Hezbolah used every dirty trick and showed total contempt for the Geneva convention and I am deeply saddened that the BBC felt the need to ignore ALL the above evidence just to portray Israel as criminal in its attempt to defend its people and borders.
Shame on the BBC.
Stephanie clague | 25.11.07 – 4:04 pm
You have ‘forgotten’ that Hezbollah fighters were using the UN compound for shelter
No I haven’t.
If you read my post more carefully, you’d have spotted the bit where I mention them.
My point was that the IDF had every opportunity to confirm that the Hezbollah presence was so serious that they would have to destroy the post. They did not do so. Instead they 10 times reassured the UN that the attacks would soon cease.
David | 25.11.07 – 1:03 pm | #
David | 25.11.07 – 12:06 pm | #
Totally agree David. Not only is Jack Straw’s sweetheart interview with Andrew Marr now the BBCs top story online, but they also usefully supply a video of it. Not one mention of David Davis – who gave a devastating interview nailing the government on Marr’s show. Even by their standards, the BBC isn’t even pretending to have a semblance of balance.
John Reith, you too are over-simplifying the story. As you are no doubt aware – but neglect to mention in YOUR fleshing-out of the story – the UN personnel at the post repeatedly complained to their superiors about the Hezbollah over-running the post and using it as a base from which to attack Israeli civilians. You may care to remind us exactly what the UN did about this situation. It seems their only response was to shove all responsibility onto Israel, leaving their own personnel unarmed and defenceless in the middle of a warzone, acheiving nothing, contributing nothing, and evidently deterring nothing. (Which seems to sum up the entire role of the UN).
The UN are responsible for the safety of UN personnel. If those personnel are used as human shields by Hezbollah, the responsibility lies with Hezbollah, and the responsibility to get them out of that dangerous situation lies with the UN. Hezbollah tried to kill civilians using the UN as a shield. Your attempt to somehow blame Israel for the results of this act, in a war situation, is risible and slick.
Your explanation of the attitudes behind one aspect of the correspondant’s comments is – as is usual – a detailed defence of small part of an offering which yet again tells less than half the story in order to demonise and condemn Israel.
“Balance” would mean acknowledging that Israeli military and political leaders have a similar contempt for the always-anti-Israel UN and its observers. Impartiality would mean telling Israel’s side of the story too – (with the same unimpeded, unquestioned presentation of the Israeli narrative) – the fact that the UN were being used as a cover for attempts to kill Israeli civilians and all the UN did in response was pressure Israel to stop firing back at the rocket launchers.
Perhaps you can supply us all with the link to this article telling the Israeli narrative on the BBC website? Please? If not, please tell us why not, or admit that the BBC has failed to cover this incident in an impartial and unbiased manner.
But well done Reith, you’ve explained why the UN feels contempt for Israel over this incident. However, if you feel that this sophistry in any way renders the entire piece any less biased and partial, you are fooling only yourself.
JR “My point was that the IDF had every opportunity to confirm that the Hezbollah presence was so serious that they would have to destroy the post. They did not do so. Instead they 10 times reassured the UN that the attacks would soon cease.”
The UN knew the situation. Their own personnel had told them. The responsibility lies with them.
If Israel on a Monday tells the UN that they will not attack the base, and on Tuesday they see missiles being readied to launch against Israeli men, women, and children, are they supposed to sacrifice their own citizens to protect UN ‘forces’?
Yeah, right.
JR
Difficult I know but could you give us an independent reference/link/report (or an official Israeli admission) concerning your claim – or the UN’s claim – that UN personnel spoke to the Israelis 10 times and that the Israelis broke their undertaking to cease fire on each occasion.
Actually, one of the soldiers (Canadian) killed sent an email indicating Hezbollah were literally crawling all over their position days before – and the UN did nothing. As Cnd General Lewis MacKenzie (a long time veteran of UN peace keeping missions including heading up the UN mission in Bosnia for a time) indicated at the time,
“We’ve received e-mails from him (the soldier killed) a few days ago and he described the fact that he was taking within – in one case – three
meters of his position “for tactical necessity – not being targeted”. Now
that’s veiled speech in the military and what he was telling us was Hezbollah fighters were all over his position and the IDF were (sic)
targeting them and that’s a favorite trick by people who don’t have
representation in the UN. They use the UN as shields knowing that they can’t be punished for it.”
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30314
And back to Khiam, in June of this year a roadside bomb killed five more UN soldiers – Khiam being a “Hezbollah stronghold”. They also fired a few more rockets into Israel at the same time for good measure.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/25/wleb125.xml
So according to those who were actually at the observation post at the time (note: not the BBC), Hez was deliberately using them for cover while they attacked the IDF and launched rocket attacks into Israel towns and cities. Their actions contributing very directly to their deaths. But despite this the UN soldiers have contempt for …Israel. Of course.
It is so routine of the BBC to behave thus that it is barely worth reporting it – but of course a chunk of 5 quote unquote Live this a.m. was dedicated to the Oxfam Report on ‘Disasters escalating four-fold as climate change hits poor hardest’.
Now, a climate change campaigner finding ‘evidence of climate change’ is not hugely newsworthy. And of course the usual ‘expert’ was wheeled on to agree profoundly with all the conclusions.
This fellow, a Professor (I think) of Earth Sciences – a geologist actually – was of course jollied along by the BBC patsy with sub-Paxman dolly-dimple questions along the lines of ‘that’s dreadful, so what should we all do?’.
Not only was it biased journalism it was dreadful journalism.
Written one week before the his death in S. Lebanon, July 25, 2006, Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedene (Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry) sent an email from Khiam to CTV (Toronto) detailing his observations.
(rtd)Maj. General Lewis MacKenzie, on reading the Major’s comments concludes,
“What I can tell you is this,” he wrote in an e-mail to CTV dated July 18. ”We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both (Israeli) artillery and aerial bombing.
”The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity.”
Those words, particularly the last sentence, are not-so-veiled language indicating Israeli strikes were aimed at Hezbollah targets near the post, said MacKenzie.
”What that means is, in plain English, ‘We’ve got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces),” he said.
It’s a tactic MacKenzie, who was the first UN commander in Sarajevo during the Bosnia civil war, said he’s seen in past international missions: aside from UN posts, fighters would set up near hospitals, mosques and orphanages.
It’s also one he would likely use if he was a ”belligerent” and not a Canadian soldier, he said.
”The most important thing in combat these days, funnily enough, is not to win the firefight but to win the information battle and the PR battle,” he said.
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=b4923801-9def-4606-af6a-bc5eea30b89b
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718/
The BBC never report on the criticisms of the failed ideology that has fuelled the STI crisis i.e. more contraception, more sexualisation of children.
All they ever do is allow the proponents airtime to voice their opinions that they need more money and power.
Nipping back to Brian Taylor (Scottish Politicla Editor) and his smear of Lord Boyce by implying the good Admiral has not in fact been speaking to troops lately…. actually he visits ships and naval bases regularly as an Honorary Commodore, he is also involved with the Officers’ Training at universities and attends functions at naval bases most months being invited BY THE SAILORS or MARINES….
Apology due Brian? Twit.
johnj | 25.11.07 – 9:56 am
“Muscular Christiany” What is that?
It’s something BBC presenters have stated in no uncertain terms that they and the world hope the next American president doesn’t have. Apparently it’s a key to making the world feel better.
And let’s just be honest: to the neo-Marxist po-mo relativist, “Muscular Islam” would be simply called “Moderate”, and considered acceptable for someone from that culture. After all, we already know that the BBC position is that the world is frightened by the framing of the War on Terror in Christian terms, and not with the use of Islamist language by, you know, Islamic terrorists and Islamist leaders.
John Reith | 25.11.07 – 3:29 pm,
Perhaps you will be big enough to admit that your poor attempt to defend the BBC in this instance has been thoroughly and ably demolished by the contributors above.
The BBC’s coverage of the war revealed its gross anti-Israel bias. And it’s high time the BBC faced up to that fact.
Saudi Arabia has condemned Western interference in the case of a rape victim who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison.
The Saudi Justice Ministry today confirmed that the flogging sentence would be carried out after the 19-year-old admitted to cheating on her husband in violation of Islamic laws.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/25/wsaudi125.xml
Where are you Bono?
Where are you Sting?
Where are you Sir Bob?
Where are you “Brave” Damien Hirst with your £100 million art collection?
Where are you Polly Toynbee?
Where are the fearless South Africa House picketeers?
Wheres the BBCs BushHitler mob?
Any Action John Humphries?, Kirsty Wark?
Jim Naughtie? Where are You?
Wheres Brad & Angelina?
Sean Penn?
Oh! I know. They`re busy bashing America.
Could this article be any more phoney?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7112814.stm
Is it a thinly veiled advert for BBCs ‘Spooks’? Is it some kind of recruiting campaign for MI6? No, it’s just another promotion of BBC fantasy multi-culturalism.
The fake pixelated photographs (obviously none of which are employees of MI6) are made up the typical “all flavours” multi-cultural utopia that the BBC are so good are cooking up for us.
Fiction knocked up as a news story. They’re not even trying.
Oh jeez – I think Reith’s internet connection is down again. It’s the only explanation I can think of for his sudden silence.
And where are Feargal “Weepie” Keane? Oh, also bashing America…