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 also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.
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BBC going overboard about Chavez again as per usual. Is this really the second most important news story on the planet right now?
Online, they have the astonishing headline “Venezuelan leader wins key reform”!!
Can we imagine the reaction had George Bush attempted such a “reform”?
More eco crap from the BBC. Some beeboid on BBC breakfast flying to America to tell us how to cut back CO2.
Beeboid didn’t think there was ANYTHING wrong with HIM flying to America to inform us ‘prolls’ that we need to cut back flying.
They really don’t see the irony do they?
Online, they have the astonishing headline “Venezuelan leader wins key reform”!!
Can we imagine the reaction had George Bush attempted such a “reform”?
Chavez = Nero or Caligula for the 21st century.
John Redwood over at http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/ has caught the BBC distorting a CBI press release so they can report that the CBI had called for £100 billion extra public spending in order to prevent a deeper recession. Not true he says.
Conservative Muslims…the BBC rubbing it on re hardline/strict/whatever…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7889631.stm
I suugest the the REAL Conservative Muslims complain very strongly:
http://www.conservativemuslimforum.com/
I would not claim to be a Central America/South America expert but I have travelled widely in that area (sixteen countries) and my observations on the BBC’s coverage of the region, as seen from the UK and in the Americas (BBC Worldwide) are as follows (for what they’re worth).
Firstly, the BBC is so obsessed with the USA that they are unable to cover virtually any news story in the region without coming at the story from the angle of ‘how will this affect country X’s relationship with America’.
Secondly, the BBC perceives the whole of Latin America as a single homogeneous unit (for its own convenience) in the same way that the BBC perceives the entire Muslim population of the world as one homogenous unit. To bundle Uruguay up with Ecuador, or Chile up with Guyana is preposterous, in the same way as bundling up European countries such as Norway and Turkey together would be preposterous. Only the truly ignorant would do this, or those looking at too small a scale map!
The inept (and biased) BBC coverage of the region manifests itself in several ways:
1. Anti-American politicians/movements are always given prominence and implied support. (Nothing new here!)
2. Any coverage of an election in the region (and thankfully we now have these) nearly always gives prominence to the USA angle. Here is some earth-shattering news for the BBC • people in Santiago de Chile, Quito, Panama City or Mexico City chose their candidates to vote for, for the same reasons that people in Coventry, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Tunbridge Wells do. It’s jobs, education, crime, health and so on…the voters of Latin America are not obsessed with the USA anywhere near the amount the BBC seems to think they are(or should be). Buenos Aires is a very long way from Washington! Ask yourself this • how many people in the UK chose a candidate to vote for solely on the basis on how that candidate relates to the USA? I don’t know many who do and we have a so-called ‘special relationship’ with the USA. So why presume Central/ South Americans do? Keep an open mind.
3. For the BBC the Region is always swinging to the left or swinging to the right politically. Rubbish! For every Chavez, there is a Calderon. For every Morales, there is a Uribe. South American countries do not behave like llamas; they don’t move in isolation but they move far more independently than the BBC will ever credit.
4. Political events where the ‘winners’ are from the right of the political spectrum are given less prominence or simply ignored because they tend to be inconvenient for the BBC.
5. Political events where the ‘winners’ are from the other side of the political spectrum (left or right) which is the opposite side to where the BBC tells us the region is swinging to will bring the following response:
(a) It’s ignored
(b) Overnight, the region is now swinging the other way! The BBC do this as a means of self-justification rather accept the obvious that they just don’t ‘get’ Central/South America.
6. In the world of the BBC, Canada is not part of the Americas (sorry all Canadians). It’s just too hard for the BBC to make it’s view of the Americas ‘work’ to include Canada. I.e. in the recent Canadian parliamentary elections it swung right where everywhere is swinging the other way (when of course it doesn’t swing at all for the reasons I outlined earlier).
I could go on but I’m losing the will. Dear BBC • can we please have news coverage of Latin America done by people who actually understand the region and who do not come at it by simply overlaying the whole region with a pre-conceived London-centric template!
CeleryApplesWalnutsGrapes | 16.02.09 – 8:23 am | #
======
It keeps Brown’s Bust Britian off the agenda. And that’s all that counts to the government’s mouthpiece.
Celery etc
Excellent post, thanks.
As you say, the BBC presents South America through the prism of US relations. I have seldom seen or heard about any of the countries in terms of their people, their historic or natural highlights. eg the dynamic cities, sights like Macchu Picchu or Easter Island or the big waterfalls or the Amazon jungle or Patagonia. The BBC should be our window on the world at least part of the time – all we get is their obsession about about left/right politics.
Well said CeleryApplesWalnutsGrapes: apart from sounding delicious you’ve hit several nails on the head!
I too travel extensively in South America and am often frustrated by the BBC coverage. It will be interesting to see if Obamessiah in the Whitehouse will make the beeb’s stance change in South America…I doubt it.
I see the BBC has now officially cleared McJock for having any involvement in the Llyods HBoS mess.
Whilst ITV, Sky and the print media (even the left press) are hammering him for the mess he made (yet again)the BBc just tow the Liebour party line.
Here’s my latest HYS comment
DEBATE:Are you ready for a cashless society?
SENT:16-Feb-2009 11:04COMMENT:
Thank you BBC for highlighting this subject which is more important and topical than Jacqui Smith’s and Alistair Darling’s expense accounts.
COMMENT STATUS: Rejected
The only thing I know about Chavez is that he would be nowhere without Bush and America – without the bogeyman enemy to rally against, he might be judged on what he achieves.
The “ticker tape” headline on the BBC news website for this story, was “Casualties feared” ;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7891900.stm
Feared by whom? The Taliban, yes. The Pakistani authorities, probably no. Western Governments or India? No again.
Feared by the BBC. Obviously yes. Poor Taliban, being ruthlessly hunted down by the wicked USA.
With the layoff of hundreds of workers at BMW in Cowely why am I NOT surprised that the BBC are not pointing the finger at McSnot?
BMW are complying with the law. Agency workers are just that, agency workers. They are employed as and when needed. If people are unhappy with hundreds of them being laid off without any employment rights shouldn’t the finger be pointed at McBogey and his chums?
you can bet if the Tories were in power the BBC wouldn’t be so ‘nice’ about it.
Classic BBC. Female beeboid on News 24 attacking Tories for backing Lloyds HBOS takeover. Gordon Brown just facilitated the merger she spouts. Why does the BBC keep blaming the Tories for everything? They are NOT in power. It was LIEBOUR that took us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and it’s LIEBOUR that have got us in this financial mess.
Funny thing was just as she said it she licked her lips in a very nervous way as if she knew she was lying.
Not a single mention of this.
“I am hearing that this deal has been negotiated at a very high pay grade level, with the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, talking to Sir Victor Blank, chairman of Lloyds TSB, about how helpful it would be if Sir Victor could bring himself to end the uncertainty hanging over HBOS by buying it.” (Robert Peston)
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2087311/hboslloyds-as-arranged-by-gordon-brown.thtml
martin
My reading of the matter is that Brown was up to his neck in the deal, desperate for a quick fix – and smarmed/strong-armed the Lloyds chairman into going into the deal without proper due diligence. A mega-deal that now looks like being the end of Lloyds Bank independence. Before the deal, Lloyds was fairly clear of the whole sub-prime mess, was totally solvent. Now it is insolvent. And Brown’s prints are all over it.
Keith – yeah wouldnt it just be a shame if some of the taleban died? tell you what, maybe the bbc can run a documentary about how misunderstood the poor taleban are. wait, i’ve just given them a nice idea there…
Lets get this right Brown is an utter donkey should be sacked.
But there was very short notice here.
We came within two hours of the total closure of our financial system in October and an unimaginable revolution making depression.
The truth of this near utter disaster will come out in its fullness one day.
Allowing HBOS to go bust was not an option, not even a nuclear one.
Looks like you think it was.
Bron, thats one hell of an exaggeration. how says we came within 2 hours of a meltdown? the government? I wonder why they would say that.
Last night on BBC America World News, the narrative the BBC is going to follow over the Obama years became clear. Matt Frei (for it was he) declared that USA is in disgrace thanks to the evil George W Bush, people were interviewed who professed disgust at the words “USA” and “torture” being uttered in the same sentence, the country was shown as a crumbling edifice of rust and ruin – until – The Messiah is here! All will be redeemed by good works and fine talk! The land will flow with milk and honey…you know the kind of thing. While events appear to be at odds with this rosy-eyed view of the new Lincoln’s actions, “Honest Obe” will continue to be portrayed as the only hope in a hopeless world.
For viewers and listeners to the BBC outside the UK, let me explain the tone of the reporting: it is BBC ROYAL REPORTING at its most sickly. Jenni Bond at her hushed whispering worst. Oh dear, it’s going to be a very creepy four years. And just wait for the first “in-depth” BBC interview with the Pres.
Bron:
Just a few questions:
A) Under whose watch did the UK banking sector come to be just two hours from meltdown?
B) Who created the regulatory system that allowed this dangerous set of circumstances to arrive (despite, warnings from the then Governor of the Bank of England – Eddie George)?
C) When did the FSA start warning about HBOS’s inherently dangerous financial model? Hint: It wasn’t just two hours before the crisis • it was years before the crisis. And who ignored these (and other) warnings?
D) Who appointed failed bankers to the board of the city regulator?
E) Whose Bank Bailout plans have failed to get credit flowing again to small businesses?
F) Whose economic mismanagement has left the counties finances in a perilous state?
Fact: Gordon Brown’s fingerprints are all over this financial crisis.
As for the Lloyds-HBOS deal, you have answered the wrong question. Nobody is seriously suggesting that Brown should have allowed HBOS to fail. Clearly, it would have brought the entire financial sector down with it. However, Brown could have nationalized HBOS (aka RBS) with a view to re-privatizing the bank once the recession was over. Instead, Mcavity pushed for the Lloyds-HBOS merger; a deal that has holed a truly solvent bank i.e. Lloyds Bank. This means that one the merger bank is nationalized / saved….
a. There will be less choice/competition on the high street. There was a good reason for the competition commission to have blocked the deal. Less competition means future higher prices for financial products for you and me.
b. For the immediate future, the UK will have only two (as opposed to three) sizeable independent banks e.g. Barclays & HSBC. This will further hinder the recovery.
c. The UK taxpayer is exposed to even greater potential liabilities.
d. The job losses, announced at the merger of the banks, at their respective HQ’s could have been avoided. That means more people on the dole, less people paying tax.
So for all the money that McBrown has shovelled ay HBOS • we are back where we started i.e. staring nationalization in the face. But in the meantime we have gained nothing.
Now of course, I say all this with hindsight • but that’s the point. Famously, President Harry Trueman had a plaque on his desk saying • ‘The Buck Stops Here’. Whereas unfortunately for us, Brown’s motto seems to be ‘The Buck starts here’! He is PM • he made a series a wrong calls that has cost this country tens (if not hundreds) of Billions. Therefore, however reasonable his original strategy may or may not have seemed • he needs to go • full stop.
And returning to the theme of this blog – which national state broadcaster consistenly fails to highlight (or play-down)Brown’s failings?
Take today’s lunchtime newsreport by Caroline Flanders (SP) the BBC’s Economics editor. She reported/spun the latest predictions that the UK’s GDP was due to fall by 3.3% as ‘good news for the PM’. Apparently Japan’s economy is expected to fall by the same ammount,so we might not have the deepest recession of all the G7 countries. I bet that must be a great comfort to the those workers at the Mini factory who have been laid off today. Moreover, didn’t Gordon claim that we were ‘best’ placed (as opposed to 2nd worst placed) to weather the economic storm? Why no mention of this fatious claim?
The BBC can find the space and time to report this…
‘Brown demands MPs pension review’ • see link for full story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7889863.stm
But not this •
‘MPs plump up their ‘golden parachute’ pay’ – http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5734069.ece
If you follow the Link • you will notice that the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) recommendation for a less generous increase has been overturned by “a committee of MPs, including Harriet Harman, the leader of the house, and Michael Martin, the speaker..”. Indeed, contrary to the SSRB’s advice, henceforth MPs will be able to claim their parachute pay (redundancy pay to you and me) “even if they simply choose to stand down”.
So on Sunday the PM demands a review of MP’s pension and benefits • with the clear impression that he wants to see them reduced • and then on Monday, it emerges that under the leadership of his deputy and a GVN friendly speaker • a committee of MPs announce that the very same benefits are to be increased. Yet no follow up story from the BBC?
One further point that the Beeb might like to address •
Given his Parliamentary majority, why do BBC journalists allow No.10 to put out fluff stories about Brown demanding commons action? If the PM really wanted action, he could and should instigate it. The fact that he doesn’t (or in this case, allows the exact opposite to happen) surely indicates that Brown wasn’t serious in the first place. So when the next ‘PM demands action’ press release lands on the Beeboids desk, rather than just publishing it as fact, why don’t they ask what the PM is actually doing about it? And then publish the response.
The BBC and half the story • Gordon’s half: naturally • it’s what we do 🙂
Bron: Calling McSnot a Donkey is an insult to Donkeys.
McFatty One Eye is just a joke of a human being. He’s a coward who hides when the shit hits the fan and is first in line to take the glory.
He keeps blaming the USA for this mess, which in part has caused this problem.
However, Northern Rock and the Bradford and Bingley which were the two UK banks to fail first had nothing to do with the USA. They had to do with these banks handing out 125% and self certified mortgages.
Why were they allowed to do that? Who was in charge of the Treasury whilst this was happening? McSnot that’s who.
The BBC are trying to re-write history here and they are also doing it with Lloyds HBOS. You only have to read Peston and Robinsons blogs to see how they were bigging this merger up as being a work of genius by Broon. Now we have Peston and other beedoids trying to wipe McSnot’s fingerprints off this whole mess.
It won’t wash. We know what happened. The buck stops with Bogeyman.
The latest “bash America without offering any counter view” article from the Beeb:
“Anti-terror tactics ‘weaken law'”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7892387.stm
A British Muslim student kills 20 in suicide attack. Reported by the Daily Mail but of course I couldn’t find any mention on the BBC.
I did however find these highly important and relevant stories:
North v South: Is there more to it than mushy peas v jellied eels?
How can Geordies wear so little? It’s a burning issue for science
Thanks Al-Beeb but we’ll just continue to hunt out the important stuff for ourselves. Don’t bother your pretty little selves and don’t worry about wasting the license payers hard earned cash. Just think of it as a well that never dries up.
Classic BBC. Female beeboid on News 24 attacking Tories for backing Lloyds HBOS takeover. Gordon Brown just facilitated the merger she spouts. Why does the BBC keep blaming the Tories for everything?
martin | 16.02.09 – 12:30 pm |
The more Brown goes bonkers the more preposterous the BBC becomes in blaming everyone else.
Most news outlets are covering the collision between the British and French nuclear submarines.
The proposterous BBC however take it to a new dimension.
That breathless bimbo Caroline Wyatt said the incident was “incredibly embarrassing” for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Is it?? Why is it?? Just another bimbo utterance from the BBC.
Then, of course, the BBC rushes off to get a quote from the communist Kate Hudson, chairman of CND, “The collision of two submarines, both with nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons onboard, could have released vast amounts of radiation and scattered scores of nuclear warheads across the seabed.”
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament described the collision as “a nuclear nightmare of the highest order”.
It’s one of those oddities of the BBC that they never canvass the opinions of CND and their mouthpieces when Russian nuclear vessels are involved in incidents. A boy are there a few of those around.
The BBC no pretentions of credibility whatsoever.
I have today recieved this reply form the BBC’s complaints Dept…
“Dear Mr. XXX
Thank you for contacting the BBC.
We wanted to let you know that we’ve received your recent complaint and will respond as soon as possible, however we hope you understand that the time taken to do so can depend on the nature of your complaint and the number of other complaints we’re
currently dealing with. You may be aware of a number of high profile issues affecting the BBC recently which have struck a chord with our audience. As a result we’ve received a huge increase of comments in recent weeks, covering a wide range of
conflicting views, and responding to them all in an appropriate timescale has presented us with a real challenge.
We issue public responses to concerns which prompt large numbers of significant complaints and these can be read on our website at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
We would be grateful if you would not reply to this email – in the meantime, we would like to thank you again for contacting us with your concerns, we appreciate your patience in awaiting a response.
Regards
BBC Complaints”
My original complaint was lodged on 25-11-08. Some two months later they eventually replied. My follow-up complaint was e-mailed on 20-1-09. So it’s taken them 26 days to issue this generic response. Now imagine if a private sector company was so neglectful of its paying customers – what would the BBC say?
On the plus side though – clearly the BBC are getting more complaints. The worm has finally turned… 🙂
Note the BBC’s coverage of the truck driver found guilty and jailed for causing death by using his laptop whilst driving. Remember it and compare to the coverage when Lord Ahmed was convicted of a similar crime last year and when he is sentenced on 25 February. Something tells me Lord Ahmed will get kinder treatment…
TPO | 16.02.09 – 4:23 pm |
In a similar vein, why is the News 24 website running lengthy articles on the history of sex education? As if there aren’t somewhat more worthwhile things for BBC journos to write about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7892257.stm
No surprise that the article is distinctly in favour of a somewhat liberal sex ed approach- note in particular the somewhat mocking tone of the captions. But of course rising teenage pregnancy figures and collapse of family values has never been of interest to the BBC
Notasheep,
The only difference is that the mob raising ahmed can whip up a rage mob and he has political connections, one law for them and one for us eh?
Cassandra:
Notasheep,
The only difference is that the mob raising ahmed can whip up a rage mob and he has political connections, one law for them and one for us eh?
Cassandra | 16.02.09 – 5:33 pm | #
—————————————
Cassandra, you are correct, Labour and its cronies seem to inhabit a different UK to the rest of us. Personally I would allow them to keep ignoring the law, eventually the chickens will come home to roost, and Labour will be thrown into the political wilderness just as the Conservatives experienced.
Will86:
TPO | 16.02.09 – 4:23 pm |
In a similar vein, why is the News 24 website running lengthy articles on the history of sex education? As if there aren’t somewhat more worthwhile things for BBC journos to write about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magaz…ine/ 7892257.stm
No surprise that the article is distinctly in favour of a somewhat liberal sex ed approach- note in particular the somewhat mocking tone of the captions. But of course rising teenage pregnancy figures and collapse of family values has never been of interest to the BBC
Will86 | 16.02.09 – 5:20 pm | #
———————————-
How telling that the picture with the article doesn’t illustrate sex education, but contraception. They are not the same thing.
That is as revealing of the BBC mindset as any Freudian slip of the tongue.
Did anyone notice that while all the panellists on Question Time (except Salma Yaqoob !!!!!) were in favour of banning Geert Wilders, while when the same question was put to the audience on Any Questions, only one member of the public was, with the entire hall against Jackboot’s ban?
Where do the BBC get their panellists? The Tory on QT was a right drip.
Sunday Feature, Sunday 01 March
9:30pm – 10:15pm
BBC Radio 3
Broadcaster and film-maker Navid Akhtar talks about the Ka’aba – or the Black Cube – at the heart of the Masjid al Haram Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the holiest shrine of Islam, encircled by millions of pilgrims every year, and is traditionally said to have been built by Abraham on the foundations of the first house of Adam. Navid considers the ways the Black Cube has intersected with Western culture, from the work of constructivist painters like Malevich, to our desire for simplified geometric buildings. He discovers connections between the rituals of the pilgrimage to Mecca and Western thought, and how the cube is inspiring a new generation of Muslim artists.
——————
So…let me see if I’ve got this right: the cube was unknown in the west before the advent of Islam, is in fact an Islamic construct?
Moslems certainly seem to feel they have some prior claim to the shape:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/013547.php
OK, here’s one that needs a bit of investigation. A couple of weeks ago this piece of puff about the once-nearly-famous band Saint Etienne appeared:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7869744.stm
Mark Savage’s world-stopping story is basically that the band would like to write a song for the Olympics. Well, hooray f*ck, as my old tractor driver used to say.
And the astonishing outbreak of free publicity for this fairly obscure bunch has continued today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7869977.stm
The gob-smacking news that Mark Savage (again) brings us in his full-length ‘story’ is that they are releasing a ‘greatest hits’ CD. Fetch me a chair, I need to sit down.
I wonder what is bringing them all this free advertising?
Some singers/groups are entitled to free BBC publicity – U2, Buena Vista Social Club, Radiohead – others are not. It’s odd or is there a political angle?
CeleryApplesWalnutsGrapes | 16.02.09 – 9:58 am |
Well said indeed.
I’ve found that a certain Ms Donna Savage was once linked to the band, doing lead vocals for their monster 1990 hit [Eh? – Ed] ‘Kiss and make Up’.
“Charon Reports on the Geert Wilders affair… ”
http://www.insitelawmagazine.com/charonreport13feb.html
It won’t wash. We know what happened. The buck stops with Bogeyman.
martin | 16.02.09 – 3:24 pm | #
Brown is all of the things you say and a whole lot worse. However the buck should not stop at Brown.
Gordon Brown has friends in VERY VERY high places, make no mistake on that one.
There is less then no point hanging the assistant monkey grinders assistant monkey by a short piece of piano wire. Especially if you have not even bothered to work out who the GRINDERS are.
Elected politicians are simply fall guys to a system to nasty to be mentioned, too powerful to directly confront, and far to evil to fully understand the true motivations of.
Gosh, Atlas – do tell…
Chuffer, I once saw Saint Etienne at Glastonbury, apart from the singer they were bland and dull, mind you with Labour appointees in charge of the Olympics, they are probably the ideal band.
Navid considers the ways the Black Cube has intersected with Western culture,
Miv Tucker | 16.02.09 – 7:37 pm |
To this day no non Muslim can visit Mecca to see the Ka’aba. The punishment is death.
Given this fact any connection with Western art or architecture is fatuous. I’m sure someone on the programme mentioned this embarrassing contradiction? 🙂
deegee –
Don’t hold your breath…
Stephanie flanders what a stupid ******g bitch.
Talking about the recession (or downturn as the BBC keep calling it) “there are parts of the economy that are doing well(not cars obviously), KFC are creating 9000 new jobs over the next 3-5 years”
WOW. 9000 jobs in a burger chain over 5 years. That is really going to turn the economy around isn’t it?
Whilst high paid manufacturing jobs are lost some rubber Chicken outfit create 9000 minimum wage jobs and that is GOOD NEWS on the BBC.
I bet Ms Flanders won’t be giving up her six figure salary paid for my the tax payer to take on a job in the KFC?
Mind you judging by her fatness she eats in one a lot.
“Millie Tant:
Will86:
TPO | 16.02.09 – 4:23 pm |
In a similar vein, why is the News 24 website running lengthy articles on the history of sex education? ”
This matter turned up a few days back on ‘Today’, occasioned by the release of a DVD compiling archive UK sex-ed films. The BFI woman responsible for overseeing the release was as hopelessly inarticulate (she wouldn’t even make the grade for an interview on ‘Woman’s Hour’) as the lengthy item was unaccountable in its presence and duration.
R
When it is necessary to support Mc Stalin the BBC is prepared to change terminilogy & attitude.
Ms Flanders calls KFC, which is creating jobs, a “restaurant chain” not the usual BBC line for fast food outlets, normally seen as responsible for obesity, environmental destruction & disgracful farming practices.
Similarly honorary beeboid Jon Snow omits to mention that the job creation is programmed over 5 years.
The bBC, Hezb-allah ,the right to bare arms and half the story.
Large Hezbollah rally in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has held a mass rally in southern Beirut to mark the anniversary of the assassination of top military commander Imad Mughniyeh……….
Crowds cheered and shouted as Sheikh Nasrallah – the leader of Hezbollah appeared on the large screens live via videolink. Sheikh Nasrallah – who rarely appears in person because of security reasons – said he would keep the promise of revenge he made to Imad Mughniyeh.
He referred to what he said was Hezbollah’s right to own and use any kind of weapons, an apparent response to Israeli concerns that Hezbollah may have acquired advanced anti-aircraft missiles that could be used against Israeli planes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7893775.stm
So according to the bBC Hezb-allah have the right to carry arms because of Israel. Never mind what the Jews think.
Here is what the bBC isn’t telling you about just why Sheikh Nasrallah referred to the right of Hezb-allah to bare arms?
United Nations Security Council 2 September 2004
Resolution 1559 (2004)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 5028th meeting, on
2 September 2004
1. Reaffirms its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial
integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive
authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon;
2. Calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon;
3. Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-
Lebanese militias;
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/498/92/PDF/N0449892.pdf?OpenElement
Anybody else surprised at how the bBC puts its own slant on the truth in which to defend the speeches of a terrorist leader.
The bBC, Hezb-allah , the right to bare arms and half the story.