We all know that BBC journalists are the very model of professional impartiality, right? So, have a look at the attached image. Dozens of Palestinian journalists demonstrated on Wednesday morning at Bethlehem’s Church of Nativity in protest of the Israeli arrest of journalist Hassan Abdel Jawad. They called not only for the release of the journalist, but for “political prisoners”. (Terrorists to you and me!) Head of the Palestinian Journalists Union, Naim Toubassi, said that the arrest of Abdel Jawad is the latest proof of the Israeli “policy of repression and harassment, not only against political activists, but also against journalists who transmit the truth and exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression.” Can you guess which State broadcaster was part of the fun? Mmmm..maybe they just provided the taxi service, what do you think? The bias is endemic folks, and only the voluntarily blind can’t see it.
NOT EVEN A HINT OF BIAS
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So much to fisk, so little time.
Heres a thought: Maybe they were there to cover the event?
On another note, you can watch DV in action here:
I have a question about the cartoons David? Do you supply the script and they draw the cartoons? or do you give them an idea of what you want?
Palestinian Authority arrested Hassan Abdel Jawad in 1999:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4DD133FF93AA15752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
He is a member of PFLP (George Habash’s organization) which is against the Oslo Peace Acords. Are we sure Israel arrested him this time, and not the PA?
The link to a PFLP blog “organized rage” is not really a reliable source of news?
Joel,
No, I write the script and a cartoonist called Ian Knox, a talented guy, does the rest.
Last year the BBC appointed Tamer Al Mishal (who also spells his name Almisshal) as its Gaza correspondent for the new BBC Arabic channel:
http://www.wmin.ac.uk/mad/page-1714
Here’s Tamer chairing an anti-Israel meeting in early 2007 (with a sleeping Tony Benn nearby):
http://i30.tinypic.com/2qbd454.jpg
Tamer’s website:
http://tameralmisshal.com/pages/Opinion.html
Those are fab cartoons. The cartoonist is b….. brilliant. I’d love to see more of his work.
Tamer’s website:
http://tameralmisshal.com/pages/…es/ Opinion.html
DB | 14.03.08 – 6:44 pm | #
I thought the Beeb fired Rod Liddle and stopped Marr, Humphries and Maitliss from writing columns because BBC journalists weren’t supposed to express political opinions.
How come a BBC journalist in the most sensitive middle eastern political arena is allowed to have a partisan website and address rallies?
JR ??? Sticky????
Come to think of it – where have they all gone recently?
I think I might have a clue.
JR spins:
How come a BBC journalist in the most sensitive middle eastern political arena is allowed to have a partisan website and address rallies?
Who knows?
One small detail: He was not addressing a rally – or whatever’s going on in that photo – with his own views. He was delivering a speech on behalf of a friend, a Palestinian cameraman who had not been able to attend an awards ceremony in the UK. The cameraman’s speech dealt with controversy over footage he shot on Gaza beach, which is a legitimate journalistic subject.
Oh, another: It’s only partisan if you think writing about yourself as a Palestinian is partisan. Most of it is about his academic and journalistic career. I couldn’t find any opinions of his about the rights and wrongs of the Middle East situation.
Glad to help.
You know David, you really don’t look like I imagined you.
Anyway, what, exactly has this demonstration got to do with the BBC? You neglected to mention.
Feeble effort, even for you Hillhunt.
He was chairing a meeting (not “addressing a rally”) behind a banner which read:
ENOUGH
END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION
JUSTICE FOR THE PALESTINIANS
Who has the BBC got lined up as the next Jerusalem correspondent, Moshe Feiglin? I think not.
Hillhunt: “One small detail: He was not addressing a rally – or whatever’s going on in that photo – with his own views. He was delivering a speech on behalf of a friend…”
You’re right, that is a small detail: He’s a BBC who has been happy to be pictured on a stage seated behind a large banner reading “Enough, end the Israeli Occupation. Justice for the Palestinians.” That’s not a problem?
http://tameralmisshal.com/pages/Opinion.html
Or rather “BBC journalist”.
Sorry, DB got there first.
But you both hit the nail on the head.
“Tamer, as young as he may be, has already proven himself in the global media world. Having begun his career in mainstream Palestinian media centres he soon graduated onto becoming a well respected BBC producer in the Gaza Strip. ”
How on earth can this guy be unbiased in his reporting?! He’s a Palestinian for a start, and the fact he’s sat behind that banner just about sums up the propoganda spewing from the BBC whenever it reports on an Israel Palistine issue.
I couldn’t find any opinions of his about the rights and wrongs of the Middle East situation.
Glad to help.
Hillhunt | 14.03.08 – 7:45 pm | #
Let me help you out Sticky.
Tamer’s other job (you know the one beeboids aren’t allowed) is with a local news agency:_
Ramattan News Agency • Gaza Headquarters . Current from October 2004
Position: Desk Producer and Editor- Part Time
An Egyptian article describes Ramattan thus:-
Courtesy of Ramattan
The groundbreaking work of Ramattan News Agency has shown the plight of Palestinians from a unique perspective: the Palestinians’ own
By Viviana Mazza
I think we can probably divine his opinion now – and it certainly can’t be described as impartial.
Your BBC – the world as we’d like you to see it.
Ah, yes, Ramattan News – the same people who brought us Pallywood on the beach:
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000123.html
Actually this article is a really good debunking of the myth that an Israeli shell killed the family on the beach. The BBC, naturally, paid the minimum possible attention to the Israeli version of events. Alan Johnston was in full propaganda mode for the BBC at the time in cohoots with Mark Galasco of “Human Rights” Watch.
Will having a Palestinian propagandist working as BBC Gaza correspondent be any different than having a non-Palestinian BBC Gaza correspondent making Palestinian propaganda?
Looking at his website we see
An interview with Robert Fisk; an op-ed piece Palestinian Bombers: Martyrs or Terrorists? and a large graphic link to Al Jazeera.
The BBC only merits a text link. While that may be a debatable point, it is significant coming from someone employed by the BBC.
He spoke reading from the speech of Zakaria Abu Harbid the cameraman who produced the heart rending footage of the 7~12 yr old Huda Ghaliyas on the beach in Gaza. As Almisshal didn’t write the words I won’t take issue with them here other than to say he didn’t dissociate himself from claims that Israel controls the main and only border crossing linking the Gaza strip with the outside world. Egypt (?) or under Israeli apartheid and genocide operations. Can we count on him not to use the ‘T’ word?
Most importantly his unsceptical supporting of a cameraman accused of orchestrating footage must cast doubt on his judgment if nothing else.
The BBC office in Gaza has been infiltrated by Hammas, they call the shots and all reports have to be cleared with a Hammas official(terrorist) The BBC can only report on what the Hammas terrorists want the world to see and hear,in effect the BBC has sold its soul to terrorism. No price too high for the BBC it seems?
I wonder if the intrepid BBC hacks have seen how Hammas has perverted their childrens TV shows and how they seek to turn very young children into hate filled, evil and racist bigots? Can we look forward to a report on the perversion of Gazan children? Dont hold your breath!
Yes, you can Stephanie, in fact I have seen such reports on the BBC.
However, your ludicrous statement that “The BBC office in Gaza has been infiltrated by Hammas, they call the shots and all reports have to be cleared with a Hammas official” is completely unsubstantiated nonsense.
Pallywood photo op goes badly.
DB | 15.03.08 – 11:09 am,
I wonder if they have any “Humans for animal rights” in Gaza. I recall they strapped exlosives to a donkey once and sent it towards Israeli troops.
Bryan | 15.03.08 – 12:00 pm
“I recall they strapped exlosives to a donkey once and sent it towards Israeli troops.”
And when that’s too much hassle they just chuck them off the nearest roof:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7287179.stm
FWIW, many American news organizations require their reporters not to participate in political demonstrations.
John Reith spins in his grave 14.03.08 – 7:25 pm
How come a BBC journalist in the most sensitive middle eastern political arena is allowed to have a partisan website and address rallies? JR ???
From the date given in this thread, it appears that Mr Almishal chaired that meeting when he was a student at the University of Westminster and some time before he was hired to be the Gaza Correspondent of BBC Arabic TV. Not even the BBC is quite so arrogant as to presume it can tell students who are not on its payroll what platforms they can sit on.
As for the website • that seems to be ‘partisan’ chiefly in the sense of consisting largely of advertisements for himself.
Come to think of it – where have they all gone recently? I think I might have a clue.
Engadin.
Reith: “Not even the BBC is quite so arrogant as to presume it can tell students who are not on its payroll what platforms they can sit on.”
No but presumably they’re not so incompetent as to fail to check the guy’s website before hiring him. I’d be interested to know how, having seen this, they concluded he was the best qualified candidate to provide balanced and unbiased reporting on the issues he would be covering.
it appears that Mr Almishal chaired that meeting when he was a student at the University of Westminster and some time before he was hired to be the Gaza Correspondent of BBC Arabic TV.
John Reith | 15.03.08 – 1:27 pm
Surely the issue is as much that the article and the picture remain on his web now as it is that he holds opinions that scream out he will not report neutrally but will use the BBC to propagandize? Had he been appointed as the BBC Morocco correspondent we would probably not be having this discussion.
Hugh | 15.03.08 – 4:07 pm
deegee | 15.03.08 – 4:23 pm |
There’s plenty of evidence on his website that he is very well qualified to report impartially.
You do not need to be bereft of opinions to report impartially, merely able to leave your own views out of reports and do justice to the views of others.
Next you’ll be saying that no-one who was a member of their university Jewish society could report impartially in the middle east. Nonsense.
“There’s plenty of evidence on his website that he is very well qualified to report impartially.”
such as?
DB | 15.03.08 – 12:36 pm,
Incredible. Well, I suppose since they use humans as human bombs……
“Next you’ll be saying that no-one who was a member of their university Jewish society could report impartially in the middle east. Nonsense.
John Reith | 15.03.08 – 4:34 pm” |
No, that’s what YOU’LL be saying. and it will be nonsense.
It’s a tough decision for the impartial BBC – do they employ a Gaza correspondent who is sympathetic to the Palestinian side, or do they employ a Gaza correspondent who is very sympathetic to the Palestinian side?
Next you’ll be saying that no-one who was a member of their university Jewish society could report impartially in the middle east. Nonsense.
John Reith | 15.03.08 – 4:34 pm
Regrettably the BBC would probably search out a ‘Jewish’ member of the ISM and then defend his lies with, “he can’t possibly be a propagandist for the Palestinians he was a member of a university Jewish society”.
There are Palestinian journalists who do a professional job. Nothing suggests Almisshal will be one of them.
Given the constant criticism of BBC coverage of this area appointing Almisshal is only pouring oil on that fire.
John Reith: “Next you’ll be saying that no-one who was a member of their university Jewish society could report impartially in the middle east. Nonsense.”
I doubt that anyone who had been a member of their university Jewish society would be employed by the BBC as a Middle East correspondent. Presumably though you are expecting someone to say that and have the one exception (that proves the rule) ready and waiting…
Have a look at the latest From Our Own Correspondent on Gaza. It’s crying out for a good fisking.
John Reith:
John Reith spins in his grave 14.03.08 – 7:25 pm
How come a BBC journalist in the most sensitive middle eastern political arena is allowed to have a partisan website and address rallies? JR ???
From the date given in this thread, it appears that Mr Almishal chaired that meeting when he was a student at the University of Westminster and some time before he was hired to be the Gaza Correspondent of BBC Arabic TV.
You carefully didn’t mention his current “day job” JR
Tamer’s other job (you know the one beeboids aren’t allowed) is with a local news agency:_
Ramattan News Agency • Gaza Headquarters . Current from October 2004
Position: Desk Producer and Editor- Part Time
An Egyptian article describes Ramattan thus:-
“Courtesy of Ramattan
The groundbreaking work of Ramattan News Agency has shown the plight of Palestinians from a unique perspective: the Palestinians’ own.”
Your BBC News – it’s the bits we leave out that make all the difference
I don’t remember ever seeing a guest on HARDtalk being treated in such an agressive manner as this:
Sarah Montague talks to the Mayor of the Israeli town Sderot which has been hardest hit from the rocket attacks out of Gaza.
The BBC’s view of Israel couldn’t be more clearly demonstrated.