I notice BBC reporters are now swarming all over Gaza, like flies around you know what. The sympathy for the Hamas supporters is intense (Check this out) and one could be forgiven for thinking that Israeli forces just lobbed missiles randomly into Gaza, just as Hamas launch rockets randomly into Israel. Naturally nothing could be further from the truth with the precision of IDF/IAF strikes a matter of record but none of that concerns the BBC, who have now joined forces with the UNWRA jew haters to shill for the “fighters” from Hamas. I notice all BBC reports tallk about the Israeli assault on Gaza, rather than Hamas. I guess that also helps stoke up the hatred against Israel, the same hatred manifest in this video of BBC favourite Lauren Booth. Doesn’t what about the facts, Palestinians are always right and Israel is always wrong. That is the only narrative that matters in BBC worldview.
HUDNA HOLDING.
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Degee,
Digging way back in to my third form science lessons, White Phosphorous has to be stored in water as it becomes quite active when exposed to Oxygen. So taking that to its logical conclusion, using water would actually extinguish any Phosphorous chemical reaction.
In fact, one of the methods used to find phosphorous on wonded soldiers is to bath them in water in a dark room so the glowing phosphor bits can be found.
From memory, I dont believe much is left behind after Phosphorous has “gone up in smoke”, but yeah…its probably getting close to 30 years since I last played with the stuff 🙂
Mailman
“Mr Garlasco also examined a press photograph which showed a burning lump of matter in the UN compound. He said it “definitely appeared” to be WP, but that the photo was not detailed enough to say with complete certainty. ”
Last paragraph from your first link Degee.
You know, my English might be a little rough but how can you go from something definate to something that couldnt be stated with complete certainty?
Al Beeb…could you tell me as the guardian of the English language? 🙂
Mailman
deegee | 19.01.09 – 10:45 pm |
Even if it is phosphorous, it didn’t harm anyone:
‘IDF white phosphorous use not illegal’
According to the BBC’s beloved ICRC:
“In some of the strikes in Gaza it’s pretty clear that phosphorus was used,” Herby told The Associated Press. “But it’s not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it’s being used in any other way.”
If this burning cinder is phosphorous, that doesn’t mean it’s a war crime or anything. It’s sitting on the ground burning. Hamas has phosphorous as well. They’ve already used it illegally, in the warhead of a rocket. Of course, it landed in the Negev, nowhere near anyone, so it doesn’t count, and I won’t bother linking to the report. At some point, they will hit someone with it. And I bet the BBC will forget all about how nasty phosphorous is when it hits the skin.
There’s already plenty of evidence that Hamas harms their own people, and that their own rockets and bombs kill plenty of their own. So on it’s own that photo isn’t proof of anything.
But it’s a nice photo op for the BBC’s blood libel.
deegee | 19.01.09 – 10:45 pm |
“WP is a colorless to yellow translucent wax-like substance with a pungent, garlic-like smell. The form used by the military is highly energetic (active) and ignites once it is exposed to oxygen. White phosphorus is a pyrophoric material, that is, it is spontaneously flammable).
When exposed to air, it spontaneously ignites and is oxidized rapidly to phosphorus pentoxide. Such heat is produced by this reaction that the element bursts into a yellow flame and produces a dense white smoke. Phosphorus also becomes luminous in the dark, and this property is conveyed to “tracer bullets.” This chemical reaction continues until either all the material is consumed or the element is deprived of oxygen. Up to 15 percent of the WP remains within the charred wedge and can reignite if the felt is crushed and the unburned WP is exposed to the atmosphere. ”
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/wp.htm
“Water will put out white phosphorus temporarily, but as soon as the phosphorus has access to air, it will start burning again.”
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/phosphor.htm
Not the BBC News:
‘Hamas torturing Fatah members in Gaza’
Hamas militiamen have rounded up hundreds of Fatah activists on suspicion of “collaboration” with Israel during Operation Cast Lead, Fatah members in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
They said the Hamas crackdown on Fatah intensified after the cease-fire went into effect early Sunday morning.
The Fatah members and eyewitnesses said the detainees were being held in school buildings and hospitals that Hamas had turned into make-shift interrogation centers.
…
A Fatah official in Ramallah told the Post that at least 100 of his men had been killed or wounded as a result of the massive Hamas crackdown. Some had been brutally tortured, he added.
The official said that the perpetrators belonged to Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, and to the movement’s Internal Security Force.
According to the official, at least three of the detainees had their eyes put out by their interrogators, who accused them of providing Israel with wartime information about the location of Hamas militiamen and officials.
…
Two Hamas officials, Salah Bardaweel and Fawzi Barhoum, accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his “spies” in the Gaza Strip of tipping off the Israelis about the movements of slain Hamas interior minister Said Siam, who was killed in an IAF strike on his brother’s home in Gaza City last week.
The Fatah official in Ramallah said that, apart from being baseless, the allegations were aimed at paving the way for a ruthless Hamas attack on Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip.
“They were afraid to confront the Israeli army and many Hamas militiamen even ran away during the fighting,” he said. “Hamas is now venting its anger and frustration against our Fatah members there.”
Eyewitnesses said that Hamas militiamen had turned a number of hospitals and schools into temporary detention centers where dozens of Fatah members and supporters were being held on suspicion of helping Israel during the war.
The eyewitnesses said that a children’s hospital and a mental health center in Gaza City, as well as a number of school buildings in Khan Yunis and Rafah, were among the places that Hamas had turned into “torture centers.”
A Fatah activist in Gaza City claimed that as many as 80 members of his faction were either shot in the legs or had their hands broken for allegedly defying Hamas’s house-arrest orders.
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip is a new massacre that is being carried out by Hamas against Fatah,” he said. “Where were these [Hamas] cowards when the Israeli army was here?”
…
Relatives of Abed al-Gharabli, a former Fatah security officer who spent 12 years in Israeli prisons, said he was kidnapped by a group of Hamas militiamen who shot him in both legs after severely torturing him.
Ziad Abu Hayeh, one of the commanders of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, is reported to have lost his sight after Hamas gunmen put out his eyes. According to Fatah activists, Abu Hayeh was kidnapped from his home in Khan Yunis by Hamas militiamen.
The Fatah men said that in a number of incidents, Hamas militiamen had kidnapped Fatah activists while they were attending the funerals of people killed during the war. In other cases, activists were detained and shot in the legs after they were spotted smiling in public – an act interpreted by Hamas as an expression of joy over Israel’s military offensive.
On Saturday night, three brothers from the Subuh family were abducted by Hamas militiamen and taken to the Abdel Aziz Rantisi Mosque in Khan Yunis, where they were shot in the legs, a local journalist told the Post.
In a more recent incident, Hamas gunmen shot and killed 80-year-old Hisham Tawfik Najjar after storming his home and beating his four sons – all Fatah activists.
Fahmi Za’areer, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, revealed that at least 16 Fatah activists had been executed by Hamas in the past few days. He strongly condemned the Hamas clampdown on Fatah and warned against a bloodbath in the Gaza Strip.
A leaflet distributed by the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in various parts of the Gaza Strip called on Hamas to “respect the blood of the Palestinian martyrs” and stop pursuing Fatah members. The leaflet said that Hamas had placed hundreds of Fatah men under house arrest in the past 48 hours and was warning that anyone who failed to comply with these orders would be shot.
Melanie has more on the story above:
Gaza returns to rule by thug
Selecting the “average Joe” from Gaza to bring their views closer to to Al-Beeb’s audience:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7837356.stm
We have 3 guys here, the first is only named ‘Ahmed’, and we do not have a photo of him. He claims that his family do not dare to speak openly about Hamas.
Then we have MUHAMMAD ABUSHABAN, with a nice studio-portrait. He is pro-Hamas. So far so good. But who is he? Well we have him on Mere Rhetoric reporting on a BBC story:
http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275327.html
Here we have him again:
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090115/FOREIGN/125325314/1080
But you can check on Google.
And we have Amjad Shawa. He is a trained “average Joe” at BBC, but he also has other duties:
He happened to be a friend of this guy reporting in 2002 from Gaza:
http://www.counterpunch.org/schurr0501.html
Summer 2008 he appeared in Haarec claiming insider infos about an activist boat from Quatar!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1044043.html
Here is the same ‘he’ about the Free Gaza show and other things:
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=16780
You can google him for more unique experiences.
Selling Hamas to you. This is what we do. BBC
Good work ukridge!
ukridge | 20.01.09 – 3:06 am | #
Unbelievable! End the Beeb.
Well spotted ukridge.
Jeremy Bowen’s latest diary entry implies that it’s just Israeli propaganda about weapons smuggling:
Some goods are going in. Not far from here are the tunnels which Israel says are used for arms smuggling, and which they bombed very severely.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7836616.stm
Bowen goes on to state that the tunnels aren’t secret and they have been used for essentials and “a few luxuries”. By his account there are no secret tunnels, just prominent marquee covered ones, and he suggests strongly that arms aren’t smuggled in underground (unless I’m misinterpreting Bowen’s use of the word “luxuries”). I guess Allah must magic Hamas’s weapons out of thin air. Either that or Jeremy smuggles them in himself, which these days wouldn’t surprise me greatly to learn.
This morning on the “World” service a woman ‘reporter’ from Lebanon said Israel would START another war if more rockets were fired from the unknown perpetrators. Then there was a ‘news’ report from Gaza speaking about the “appalling” situation there. Al beeb loves to use adjectives in reports. When I was a journalist, using adjectives was a sacking offense.
BY THE WAY, JUST WHAT IS THIS SITE FOR?
The bias continues and bloggers are merely pontificating and massaging their egos. Pretty useless stuff!
taxpayer-to-the-queen
What would you suggest? A demo? bombing campaign? This is a blog , hence we use it for conversation.
If you and your stupid pseudo militant mates don’t like it sod off elsewhere.
Jeremy Bowen’s latest diary entry implies that it’s just Israeli propaganda about weapons smuggling:
DB | 20.01.09 – 7:44 am | #
A wee while ago I saw a programme, I think called ‘Reporters’, hosted by a tall, elegant Asian lady, which seemed to cover guys making and taking arms through tunnels.
Maybe the BBC doesn’t cover the BBC if it does fit the narrative?
Some goods are going in. Not far from here are the tunnels which Israel says are used for arms smuggling, and which they bombed very severely.
Sometimes the BBC says it too. Here, here and here.
Any number of videos from the war where secondary explosions show that something other than Viagra and unwilling goats were smuggled. Here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Tc-B563ww )
Simple logic would dictate that to stockpile and replenish the arms necessary to lob back out what has been, would require some mechanism to get them in.
What alternatives does the author suggest were used if not tunnels? Carrier pigeon?
It is not to their credit that the default setting seems to be to bolt ‘so and so says‘ at the expense of going and finding out.
David,
I think you have the phosphorous thing wrong.
Al Beeb wont forget about it. Instead what they will do is play the equivalence card. Ie. Israel used it in Gaza so its ok for Hamas to use it against Israeli civilians.
Mailman
Nice, ukridge!
The 2nd guy, MUHAMMAD ABUSHABAN, is a complete tool:
“Of course I don’t blame Hamas, because what was happening to all of us was also happening to them. They were among us, they did not hide”
It’s heartwarming to know that Hamas showed such solidarity with the civilians under attack. After all, they didn’t have to be there to suffer alongside you did they?! Such gentlemen those Hamas! Always ready to hold a child against themselves to share warmth. Never afraid to step behind a lady and yield the limelight – how proud you must be!
Well, seeing as you revel in the deaths of children…
He didn’t say he revelled in the deaths of children, though Hamas supporters do have some extreme beliefs of course.
They “love death as you (ie, us) love life” for example. They were also the ones just now who were “revelling” in their “great victory” – as well as in all the “martyrs” they had in their ranks!
I stand corrected, thanks Robert.
Well then I agree with you Jo; Hamas and it’s supporters do indeed revel in the deaths of children. Just goes to show it is a mistake to ascribe humanity to those monsters.
ukridge,
I’ve taken the liberty of posting your comment here, on a BBC blog:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2009/01/gaza_points_of_view.html?page=2#comment507
DB | 20.01.09 – 7:44 am |
I just sent in a calm complaint about Bowen. I mentioned that BBC News has evidence that it’s more than just “which Israel says”. We’ll see what happens.
since there is no recent offtopic thread, i thought i’d bring you this nugget .. .seems like the eco-loonies are hell bent on breeding themselves to extinction.
http://gpso.wordpress.com/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5627484.ece
“DR PIPPA HAYES, a Devon GP, has a conscientious objection. She believes couples should restrict their families to two children – and says she would not help to provide fertility treatment for women who want to have exceptionally large families.
Hayes is a member of the Optimum Population Trust, a campaign group that tells couples to “stop at two”. Membership of the group has doubled in the past 12 months to about 1,000 and it aims to double its membership to 2,000 this year.”
how wonderful. my grandchildren will be free of eco-madness hopefully. we will have outbreeded the ecoloons…