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. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would also be appreciated!
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I presume if Ms Sulkeman of the BBC had seen one of these cheeky-cheerful-muslims planting a bomb, she would have gone to her superior rather than ringing 999. As, of course, would her superior. Until …. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGGGGGGGGGGGG.
Interesting reporting comparisons:
The BBC:
’He and Hamid had also worked the same preaching stall in central London in 2004, leading to their arrest after a row with a police officer.
Hamid told the arresting officer he was “Osama bin London” and armed with a bomb.’
The Telegraph
During Hamid’s trial, the court heard how he and Muktar Ibrahim set up a stall selling Islamic literature outside Debenhams department store in Oxford Street and how, in October 2004, both men were arrested following a disturbance at the stall.
Police called to reports of three men blocking the pavement with a trestle table stacked with religious books found they refused to move and started to abuse the black and Asian officers when they were threatened with arrest.
The officers had to call for assistance and as Hamid was handcuffed and dragged to the police van he told the officers: “I’ve got a bomb and I’m going to blow you all up.”
At the police station Hamid gave his name as Osama bin London’
In one paragraph the BBC even managed a bit of conflation.
Perhaps even a halfwit can see the difference. or perhaps it was just a ‘row’ as alleged by the BBC after all and the prosecution got it wrong.
In the same article, the Telegraph also reports the later attempted cover-up by the BBC.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7256859.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/26/nterror526.xml&page=2
Watch out BBC, David Cameron will be on your MULTICULTURAL case, I hope:
“‘ SHARIA LAW WILL UNDERMINE BRITISH SOCIETY’, WARNS CAMERON IN ATTACK ON MULTICULTURALISM ”
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23442287-details/%27Sharia+law+will+undermine+British+society%2C%27+warns+Cameron+in+attack+on+multiculturalism/article.do
Cameron could do no better than starting with those Muslim medics:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=519072&in_page_id=1770
For further reading on ‘Multiculturalism’:-
“The Absurdities of Multiculturalism”
http://www.multiculturalbunk.com/
Hilly
Thanks for all the dots.
Your generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed, but to me only the single one has the Nazi qualities. It’s the thought that counts though, eh?
Didn’t I always say you had a nice side?
Ignoring you already.X
Hillhunt | 26.02.08 – 4:14 pm |
It’s a long time – oooh, easily a month – since I was last in your country, but I failed to detect even the slightest glimmer of interest in what any Brits – BBC, ITV, The News of the World or even West Bromwich Albion – thought of the USA and its forthcoming election.
Great courtesy, as ever, and a proper interest in their guests’ lives. But any guidance on future voting? Er, no.
I can well believe that you detected no interest in British opinions in any Americans you spoke to. Because that’s what I have been saying all along. We don’t give a damn. Yet the BBC persists in creating broadcasts on the premise that we do, or that at least we ought to. The fact that we don’t care doesn’t stop them from trying.
Your own bias is on display here. What you really need to do is search the various Editors’ blogs to find what the official BBC position is on its goals in creating news broadcasts, specifically BBC World News America. For an extra laugh, look at Justin Webb’s own silly posts.
You seem to be unaware of what BBC voices have actually said. You seem to be unaware of the BBC’s stated intentions.
If it seems a silly notion to you, it’s because you aren’t paying attention. Why don’t you write to Matt Frei or Justin Webb or Mark Thomspon or Helen Boaden or John Simpson and ask them what they think they are accomplishing?
Do you deny that the BBC has “educational” goals in its Charter? Do you deny that the BBC makes programmes with the specific intent of nudging – to put it charitably – the thought processes of the British Public into a preferred direction? Do you deny the existence and purpose of programmes such as “Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic”, or all the Global Warming stuff, or the BBC using its own website to give directions to last year’s Heathrow protests?
Why wouldn’t they extend this same line of thinking to their international programming? They do, of course.
As I said, I’m not sure what influence the BBC could have, if any, on the US. Although, I think it was Nick Robinson who said that he encountered a few intrepid pioneers who watched Frei’s low-budget puppet show, a couple months back when he was meeting students at Harvard. Of course that’s exactly the kind of angry Leftoid that the BBC bias will inspire to more anger, rather than change their minds. I don’t like that idea either, obviously.
It’s hard to deny that the BBC created Matt Frei’s “Hour of Glower” with the specific intent of telling us their perspective on US news. After all, we’ve had the regular World News syndicated every night for years and years on PBS. Frei’s little show actually uses most of the exact same content in the first half hour (unless they’re doing some on-site election noise), and then the US focus comes in the second half. So there’s no question this was created as a specifically United Statesian broadcast.
But in the end it doesn’t matter what I think the BBC is or isn’t capable of influencing. What matters is the stated intentions of the BBC: to give us fool United Statesians a
“foreign perspective” on our own news. It also doesn’t matter whether you can conceive of that or not. They’ve said it, and it’s real. You can always ask them, though.
Still, as we do have this concealed power to effect dramatic change, we could go a long way….
1. Replace Basketball with real football.
Never happen. There’s an entire PhD dissertation’s worth of reasons why. And I prefer basketball anyway.
2. American Football with anything.
It will only be replaced by American Football with robots.
3. Gangsta rap with indie pop.
The Gangstas will end up killing each other and themselves enough, or so many of them will end up in jail, that this particular “genre” will fade away on its own. And anyways, indie pop is just bubblegum pop in different clothes.
4. The Disney Corporation with BBC Worldwide.
I’ve had dealings with both. Never in a million years.
5. Godawful country music with proper bluegrass, or anything influenced by Gram Parsons.
The former is fine by me, but no Parsons ever, thanks.
6. Religion with common sense.
See my answer to #4.
7. SUVs with anything driveable. (Clarkson can advise)
I hope Clarkson will give better advice than when he said that identity theft was nothing to worry about and gave out his own bank info.
In which case a good skewering requires evidence and not just name-calling. But good try…
.
Biased BBC: Half-witty
Hillhunt | 26.02.08 – 6:27 pm | #
DB provided the conclusive evidence you berk.
You were mistaken, or lying through your teeth, and you don’t have the grace to acknowledge it.
Hillhunt (AKA “sticky fingers”) – keeping the facts at bay with a smear and a spot of onanism.
http://nothingtodowithhunting.blogspot.com/2006/07/in-parallel-universe-belle-de-jour.html
This is a beauty – towards the end of todays 1pm news there was a piece about an American orchestra visiting North Korea.
I wasn’t taking much notice until I heard these words :-
American forces tried and failed to destroy Communism here 50 years ago
How’s that for a description of the Korean War ? Hilarious 🙂
hsld 9.03
i heard that too last night on 10 pm news.
i heard some appalling garbled sentence such as ” the last time americans were in north korea was when they were forced out”.
cannot resist it can they.
Have you seen this bizarre item on Barack Obama’s wardrobe malfunction on BBC Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7265115.stm
It bends over backwards to assure is that as far as the headdress is concerned “..There is no religious significance to it whatsoever. It is mainly the nomadic people who use it. Some of them are religious, some are not.”
The other guy is the picture is a town elder who is currently not available for comment.
His name is Mohammed Hassan.
What I find more bizarre (let’s face it, are you actually surprised by them backing Obama?) is the fact the story is filed under ‘technology’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/11_november/20/bbctwo_white.shtml
Another season of programmes that have slipped throught the liberal left mindset.
How does this keep happening?
A whole season of programming for white people as whites. We’ve lost our country, our snivelling elites simply refer to us by our lowest common denominator purely physical appearance. We’re now less than foreigners in our own country, we are just things.
Joel | Homepage | 26.02.08 – 10:07 pm |
Another season of programmes that have slipped throught the liberal left mindset.
How does this keep happening?
Don’t you mean “slipped out of” the liberal left mindset? Almost every single one of these shows appears to be the very thing people are complaining about. Getting all BNP out of fear of “the other”, and a “perception” that foreigners are getting more benefits? The daughter learns from her teacher to accept Asians, then comes home in a hijab and frightens racist mummy? Learning to get along with their multicultural neighbors? But his daughters are involved with the very people he’s railing against?
Looks like Auntie is trying to educate the white working-class in Britain today, rather than make them feel better.
These are actually joke programmes, right?
Another day another pile of beeb propaganda.
RADIO 4
9am ish….Gays in the Army.(Wouldn’t be too bad if they balanced it with ‘our brave boys in Afghanistan’just once ie.Ross Kemp.
10am ish….Polar bears missing in one village in Russia.Spokesman blamed climate change!
11am ish…Swallows arrive early in Britain.Climate change.
2pm ish….Afternoon play about those nasty Americans mis-selling mortgages.English girl goes out there to sort it.Gets killed by nasty Americans.Numerous quotes about USA in recession etc etc.
3pm ish….Is our carbon footprint damaging the oceans?
4pm ish….Company Trademarks.Managed to rubbish US companies KFC and Coca Cola.
4.15 ish…Coroners in Britain.Managed to rubbish those nasty Americans again when mentioning ‘So called friendly fire’in the Iraq conflict.
And so the Stalinist BBC marches on. Panorama last night.BBC= Traiterous scum.
C’mon Hillhunt,Reith.Your views.
David Cameron’s critique of Sharia Law, and of ‘multiculturalism, is having no effect on the traditional agenda of the BBC, so far.
Cameron’s speech:-
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=142585&speeches=1
For example, in tonight’s Radio 4’s ‘The World Tonight’, the multicultural mindset that is the somnolent Robin Lustig had a friendly chat about the conviction of Mohammed Hamid and others, with a representative of the Ramadan Foundation; that outfit is a friend of the likes of Yvonne Ridley, opposes the banning of Hizt-Ut-Tahrir, and supports of course, R.Williams’ Sharia law proposals. Lustig allowed that Foundation, not the Police, to to take credit for the arrest of Islamic jihadists in the UK.
Lustig’s performance was typically BBC ‘multiculturalist’, and in this particular case, I would say that it was somewhat appeasing and uncritical of the Ramadan Foundation. As a long-time citizen of the UK, I again was made to feel like an excluded outsider by the BBC, on a vital matter of national security.
Looks as if the wheelnuts are loosening on the AGW juggernaut:-
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/global-warming-to-take-a-cold-shower-in-new-york,293254.shtml
When the wheels finally come off – I’m going to enjoy watching the beeb’s handbrake turn.
What do you know;
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dave_hill/2008/02/above_the_usual_standard.html
When the wheels finally come off – I’m going to enjoy watching the beeb’s handbrake turn.
John Reith spins in his grave
I hope the stig takes that one `round top gears track.
Bloody hell, Clarkson`s going to accused of accuracy!
BBC reports the earthquake…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm
…of course they have to rely on the US Geological Survey, not the UK equivalent, to let them know about something that happened in Lincolnshire. Thanks Uncle Sam.
Anonymous | 27.02.08 – 2:19 am
Newssniffer versions 1 to 3 all had the US Geological Survey’s contribution before al-Beeb managed to rouse someone from the British Geological Survey.
Just caught a video report from Pakistan on some BBC propaganda show or other. As expected, there was a classic bit of unprofessional editorializing, with the intent to nudge the viewer’s thought processes in a certain direction.
The correspondent was Barbara Plett, discussing an area in northern Pakistan which the army has recently retaken from extremist rebels and Taleban-allied tribal types. We learn that these extremists were demanding shariah, which, Barbara tells us, “in this part of the world means social justice.”
Direct video link here.
The offending line starts at around 35 seconds in.
If that doesn’t work for anyone, you can find it linked at the top of this page.
Now, if she wasn’t trying to get a point across, why would Barbara define shariah in such a manner?
Bad use of punctuation alert (from the earthquake article):
‘Bev Finnegan, who lives in Market Rasen, said: “I was terrified to be honest. The noise was really, really terrifying… it was so deep and rumbling.” ‘
‘Terrified to be honest’? Why? Is being honest a punishable offence these days?
Beeboids: learn how to use commas.
I’m wondering how long it will be before the Beeb, in some convoluted and highly original way, link the quake with AGW. If it can be done, they’ll do it somehow…
David Preiser,
Barbara Al Plett is one of the most wretched specimens of alleged journalism that the BBC has. I’m just surprised she didn’t start weeping at the absence of Shar’ia!!
The BBC’s publicly subsidised ‘political correctness’ and its ethnic training:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=519808&in_page_id=1770
Don’t let the BBC forget it:-
“BBC knew of link to failed 21/7 bombers”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/27/nterror227.xml
The BBC has a long, sympathetic piece about one of the Muslim, BBC paintballers who was acquitted. His comment on Mohommad Hamid is very revealing:
“The person that I knew has never been a terrorist -he has a lot of love in his heart..”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7264768.stm
What was that again? He’s talking, courtesy of the BBC, about ‘Osama bin London here; let the ‘Daily Mail’ remind the BBC about him:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=518968&in_page_id=1770
Paintballing, anyone?
Watch out for the BBC’s coverage, or lack of it, of today’s lobby of Parliament for a referendum on the EU constitution.
“Muslim scholars decry terrorism”
Really? Oh the naive, dangerous, ‘multicultural’, paintballing BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7262283.stm
NOW, BEEBOIDS, SEE THIS NON-BBC ANALYSIS OF THE ABOVE:-
http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/blog/2008/02/could_have_fooled_me_almost.html#more
INDIAN “Muslim scholars decry terrorism”
George R | 27.02.08 – 11:23 am
Unlike the French or British the Hindus are likely to respond extremely violently to perceived Muslim provocation.
How hypocritical can the BBC get on ‘multiculturalism’?
It is suggested here by the BBC that because there is not a mass of blogs on the subject of Cameron’s new speech, that the subject is already of the past. Ludicrous. Ms.Kuenssberg wrote her piece within 1 or 2 hours of the speech being delivered!(Check time of article here.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7265386.stm
I blogged on it here yesterday, referring to the ‘Evening Standard’ report. In contrast, the BBC has NOT engaged in debate on multiculturalism since Cameron’s speech.
The blogger CRANMER has this pertinent comment on Ms. Kuenssberg:-
“The BBC all too hastily bemoans the ‘blogger silence’ surrounding David Cameron’s speech speech on ‘Extremism, Individual Rights and the Rule of Law’, and complains that ‘Conservative bloggers have not bitten at this story so far’ (just a few hours after he made it!). But this is not because, as they assert, the bloggers ‘feel it has all been said’, but quite simply because His Grace is not in receipt of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money with which he might employ sundry secretaries, researchers and copyrighters to produce a perpetual stream of his intelligent and erudite verbiage.
“Good grief, it is rich of the BBC to criticise the humble and impoverished blogger for failing to comment upon important speeches and events when their entire recent history has been one of strategic silence in areas with which there is institutional prejudice (like coverage of the EU Constitution, for example, or even EU matters in general, or maybe just matters in general).”
‘David Cameron: No to Sharia and No to Multiculturalism’
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/02/david-cameron-no-to-sharia-and-no-to.html
Andrew Cramb | 27.02.08 – 9:38 am | #
Today’s Daily Politics deliberately invited Ken Clarke onto the show so he could pour scorn on the referendum. Which he duly did throughout the programme with Margaret Hodge offering puppy dog agreement. What a fix.
Classic biased BBC on 5 lite 12:00 news (the jock bird that reads it)
In conversation with someone from the Government over the fact that Tony Singh (the hero that sent a piece of scum to his death) WON’T be facing murder charges.
The jock bird couldn’t believe it. “Many people will feel that this should have been tested in court…” she bleated. “The family of the dead man are very upset…”
Well I don’t know anyone who gives a s**t about the scum that ended up with a knife in his chest, perhaps if he’d still been locked up in jail for one of his numerous other crimes he’d still be alive.
ONLY the BBC can get upset when vile scum are dispatched.
Martin:
The jock bird couldn’t believe it. “Many people will feel that this should have been tested in court…” she bleated. “The family of the dead man are very upset…”
…
ONLY the BBC can get upset when vile scum are dispatched.
Indeed they do.
Two words are trying to force their way into my head, though.
Oh, yes: Devil’s …. and … Advocate.
Otherwise. Death to all scum. Yes indeed.
.
David Vance | 27.02.08 – 8:12 am |
I’m well aware of what Barbara Plett is. I was just adding to the catalog of biased statements in official BBC reports. There is no question that she made an editorial comment, with the specific intent of making a categorical statement about Shariah. Her words were intended to put happy thoughts about Shariah into the minds of her viewers. This is especially out of order because of the serious situation involving demands for Shariah in the UK. Of course, that’s exactly why she said what she did.
Even though we all know what Plett is about, these things can’t be overlooked or shrugged off. John Reith may dismiss any complaints about known offenders like this as “stock villains”, unworthy of comment because their names are ubiquitous around here, but that’s still no excuse not to document the bias. Otherwise the drip, drip, drip of groputhink continues to drill its way into peoples’ heads.
She is just one of many BBC personnel who make blatant attempts to promote a specific viewpoint through their reports. This was an obvious case, and ties in directly to my recent comments about what people like this really think they are doing and why.
It is hard to measure what effect the BBC has on the United States — though they are certainly trying to change our politics, just as our own leftist journalists do.
But I think it has some influence, mostly by reinforcing the ideas of our own leftist journalists, and by reinforcing the ideas common on the left wing of the Democratic party.
It has less than it might because the quality of the coverage isn’t very good. The BBC journalists covering American politics often don’t understand the basics — and are not humble enough to realize that. I often find factual errors in pieces by American journalists, but I find more mistakes in pieces by British journalists — when they are writing about American politics.
And the BBC has less influence here because too many of the people who work for it can’t get rid of the sneer in their voice when they cover the US. I think it obvious that Americans can learn something from Britons. Very few who work for the BBC seem to think that the reverse might be true.
Two words are trying to force their way into my head, though.
Oh, yes: Devil’s …. and … Advocate.
Hillhunt | 27.02.08 – 1:54 pm |
Only two words?
What a fool. A jester without a court. A Charlie without a Chaplin. A Hardy without his Laurel.
The BBC’s very own ventriloquist’s dummy.
Your very own Baron Munchausen, a weaver of tall tales, the one and only sillybunt.
Devil’s advocate had nothing to do with it.
Disinterred:
What a fool. A jester without a court. A Charlie without a Chaplin. A Hardy without his Laurel.
The BBC’s very own ventriloquist’s dummy.
Your very own Baron Munchausen, a weaver of tall tales, the one and only sillybunt.
Let it all out, mate. It’s good to share.
Take up an interest. Much better to be an interested bystander.
Pick a good football team, or, even better, a bad one, so that you can shout at them, too!
The healing takes time, but we’ll all help.
Biased BBC: Caring Costs Nothing.
Devil’s advocate had nothing to do with it.
How predictable in ducking the issue again.
I see you’re still wriggling on the ever increasing petards you hoist yourself on. What a silly bunt.
Hillhunt: You really are a plonker. Did I say ALL SCUM? No I did not. Can’t you read?
The BBC presenter was NOT trying to play devils advocate because at no time did she metnion that MOST people thought the guy (Singh)did nothing wrong.
Playing devils advocate is done when someone is on presenting ONE side of the argument and the presenter decides to take the opposing view as no one else is there to argue that side of the debate.. In this case the person present was from the legal side and did in no way stick up for Mr Singh but simply explained why no court action was taken.
She didn’t understand that the man had been stabbed in the chest only ONCE, that clearly did not show he (Mr Singh) had acted in any other way than one of self defence.
Any half decent balanced report would have mentioned that, but instead the leftie BBC automatically took the side of the scumbag.
Hillhunt, you’re trolling will have to get better than this. Your BBC IP adress is showing old chap.
Have a read of this article:
US Muslim women seek active faith role
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7265021.stm
So, the US can successfully integrate the majority of it’s muslims into decent, tolerant citizens, whilst Britain and the EU and our left wing liberal multi-culti policies leave us with several extreemist, intolerant, islamic bigots who plot to overthrow the values we hold dear, generally by killing us?
God bless America.
Martin:
In this case the person present was from the legal side and did in no way stick up for Mr Singh but simply explained why no court action was taken….
Any half decent balanced report would have mentioned that, but instead the leftie BBC automatically took the side of the scumbag.
Indeed. Kill scum (if not all).
Let us all condemn the, ahem, jock bird for daring to suggest that there might be the tiniest possibility that one man ending up dead with a knife in him at another man’s hand is the kind of case which might interest the courts.
Silly, er, jock bird.
.
Credit where credit is due. The BBC can be very responsive to viewer criticism:
BBC responds to rugby complaints
Al Beeb’s pro-Islamic propaganda is in torrent at present. In addition to its naive propaganda which I commented on at 11:23 am today, and the propaganda which Ritter refers to at 6:07 pm, there’s this anonymous piece from Al Beeb today:
“Most Muslims ‘desire democracy'”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7267100.stm
It is Saudi-financed propaganda, but does Al Beeb mention this? NO. Check out the name John Esposito, at this ‘Campuswatch’ article, which starts thus:
“Georgetown professor John Esposito, director of the Saudi-financed Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has a reputation as an apologist for radical Islam.”
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/4791
Police probe Boris Johnson over cigar ‘theft’
Scotland Yard was alerted in the past few days to Mr Johnson’s removal of the case, which he kept at home, and an investigation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police art and antiques unit.
The letter to Mr Johnson states: “Police attention has been drawn to reports suggesting that you have in your possession an item that may be Iraqi cultural property, namely a cigar case from the address of Tariq Aziz.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/27/nboris127.xml
Now I can’t seem to find this story anywhere on the BBC website. It may be there and I’m ready to be corrected if it is.
Is there a reason that the BBC are not reporting it, after all they are always crawling over any ‘Bad Boris’ stories? Perhaps there’s a clue in the Telegraph editorial on the subject.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/02/27/dl2703.xml
Oh yes, it’s so blatantly obvious just about everyone has worked it out. The odious Livingstone and his criminal, corrupt and incompetent crew are suspected of tipping of Ian Blair’s finest. So that’s why the BBC haven’t reported it.
As Pounce pointed out:
What do you know;
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dave_hill/2008/02/above_the_usual_standard.html
pounce | 26.02.08 – 11:32 pm |
BBC cheerleaders for Korrupt Ken.
The BBC, its hatred of Israel and inventing a story.
Gaza rocket strike kills Israeli
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7267285.stm
Reading the above headline who do you presume killed who?
The BBC, its hatred of Israel and inventing a story.
Martin | 27.02.08 – 5:09 pm |
I’m afraid silly bunt is still twisting on his own petards and now indulging in obfuscation to hide your original point.
Is it really worth pursuing debate with such a jejune an intellect.
Disinterested bystander:
”
I’m afraid silly bunt is still twisting on his own petards and now indulging in obfuscation to hide your original point.
Is it really worth pursuing debate with such a jejune an intellect.”
Are you John Reith?
How convenient that five silly people on the roof of Parliament managed to divert the BBC cameras from the two thousand people on the street lobbying their MPs about being denied a EU Referendum. The Beeboids didn’t even manage to turn their cameras 180 degrees to cover it. Who was it on this blog who said they don’t belive in coincidences? I don’t thing i do now.
The BBCs Abu Bowen , his hatred of Israel and half a story.
A special Mid-East anniversary looms
A famous Israeli writer once said that Jerusalem is the only place where the dead are more important than the living.
That means that history is more alive in the Holy Land than anywhere else I can think of in the world. Any discussion about the Palestinians and the Israelis can, without being especially argumentative, rewind very fast back past Israel’s independence 60 years ago, through the British, the Turks, the Muslim conquest, to the Romans and beyond. For the last few weeks I have been looking into what was happening in the Middle East in 1948, the year of Israeli independence and of what Palestinians call their Nakba, or “catastrophe”.
…..
The starting point for the border is, for the Palestinians at least, the line set in the 1949 armistice that ended the fighting. It is often called the 1967 boundary because it stood until then.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7266424.stm
Abu Bowen reports on the Birth of Israel and the Nakba. What is strange is his outpouring of grief for the Muslims of the Levant is this little snippet;
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The British mandate over Palestine was due to expire on 15 May, but Jewish Leadership led by future Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared independence on 14 May. The State of Israel declared itself as an independent nation, and was quickly recognized by the Soviet Union, the United States, and many other countries. Over the next few days, approximately 1,000 Lebanese, 5,000 Syrian, 5,000 Iraqi, 10,000 Egyptian troops invaded the newly-established state. Four thousand Transjordanian troops invaded the Corpus separatum region encompassing Jerusalem and its environs, as well as areas designated as part of the Arab state by the UN partition plan. They were aided by corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Libya and Yemen…
On 26 May 1948, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was officially established
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab-Israeli_War#Initial_line-up_of_forces
Yes, the Arabs invaded Israel when it declared independence and 12 days before it even had an official army. Now the invading Arab armies told their Muslims brothers to leave so as not to get in the way of their tanks (The Jews had none)
Now if you presume Abu Bowens stance on history as his own equate his version of History with the official BBC one.
Israel founded: Armistice
War broke out in 1948 when Britain withdrew, the Jews declared the state of Israel and troops from neighbouring Arab nations moved in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/israel_founded.stm
According to the BBC’s official Palestine history. Muslim armies don’t invade they move in. Pity the BBC don’t return that sentiment for the 6 day war. (They don’t even mention the Yom Kippur war) Now type in Nakba in Wiki’s own search engine and it brings you to this page.
Nakba Day
Nakba Day (Arabic: يوم النكبة yawm al-nakba — 15 May) is the annual day of commemoration by Palestinian Arabs of the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.[1][2] Palestinians “use it to commemorate the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of their people who were made homeless as Israel was born.” [3] Events in Palestine during the British mandate prior to Israel’s declaration of independence, as well as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that erupted following the invasion by neighbouring Arab states, resulted in the flight or expulsion of an estimated 700,000 Palestinian refugees, [4] and the destruction and abandonment of up to 418 Palestinian villages. [5] Palestinian Arabs call these events al-Nakba (“the catastrophe”).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_Day
So in a nutshell Nakba is due to the invasion of Israel by the arabs in 1948. Yet Abu Bowen leaves that fact out of his diatribe.
And people wonder why Anti-Semitic behaviour is on the increase in the UK.
The BBCs Abu Bowen , his hatred of Israel and half a story.