Worcester/ Gaza
Worcester and Hamas are twins!
(Well, Worcester and Gaza.)
Labour councillor Alan Amos, who first suggested the twinning, said:
‘Like many I have watched the plight of the people of Gaza, seeing them get bombed and bombed by Israelis with advanced military weapons.”
See! See what you’ve encouraged BBC? Not sure what the purpose of twinning is, but in this case it seems to be a political statement. Has common sense departed?
Alex
I now see just as much urban squalor plus huge levels of deliberate unemployment, s welfare bog, in London’s East End as I see in Los Angeles.
I find topics like Iraq impossible to talk about with LIBERALS in the US.
And your idea that America somehow sanitises itself on TV and in films is frankly ridiculous. Sure, some stuff does, but there are many examples of the gritty side of life being shown by US TV and movies. If, as you say, many Brits expect to find America free of crime, for example, they must be living on another planet.
Mailman,
Great post, thanks for the reply, the temptation to correct an obvious mistaken assumption is often too great to pass up, it upsets me deeply that there are people who repeat the lies about Israel so easily and yes it does remind me of pre war europe and Britain where anti semitism was so ingrained that when the Jews did call for help the British government turned them away by the thousands!
When Jews did try to escape from Germany many were turned away as undesirables, many people actually thought that the Jews were to blame for their own persecution.
The overwhelming stench of jew hatred is coming from those sections who should know better, its a crime against humanity in actual fact!
alex says
Sorry to wade into your topic, but it cuts both ways. A lot of Brits don’t
know much about the real America, and when they go there, they are often shocked by what they see.
alex says
Many Brits expect a country free of the problems we encounter in our daily lives
wheres your evidence for these claims.
alex says
America, like Britain, portrays a sanitized (aritifical) image of itself through television and movies.
you obviously missed the wire.
This would appear to have nothing to do with the BBC. (Apart from the suggestion that Labour councillor Alan Amos has been duped by the BBC’s coverage).
It might be interesting to note however the Daily Mail article on the subject:
‘A motion calling for the twinning association to consider the link was passed by 29 votes to nil, with six abstentions, at a meeting of the Tory-run council.’
‘Tory councillor David Tibbutt, who supported the move, said the link with Gaza City should be more than a gesture.’
Worcester residents have given a mixed response to the proposal.
There then follows quotes from 4 others. Those who oppose the move do so because the children of Worcester wouldn’t be able to take part in exchange visits or because ‘There are lots of cities all over the world enduring similar problems and to single one out for help is not exactly an impartial approach.’
Not one voice opposing the motion because they are sympathetic to Israel and condemn ‘Hamistan’.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1155642/Worcester-city-Britain-twinned–Gaza.html
Off topic, but Bowenize is now on Urban Dictionary:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bowenize
Knacker:
No, I certainly wasn’t implying that ‘all opinions are equal’ — I was merely trying to suggest that the harsh sentiments regarding Britain that you quoted are definitely not shared by anything like a majority of my fellow Americans, or even the majority of A’s and B’s.
I’m also well aware that many Americans among the groups you named (and I would certainly add to your list members of the US intelligence community) have a much more informed and nuanced — which is to say critical — view of the situation; although the claim that ‘lots of folks want the US to walk away from nearly all remaining political links with Britain’ strikes me again as something of an overstatement. Are you really suggesting that there are people in the State Department who share this view?
I agree with you about the damage done to the once ‘special relationship’ by the likes of Malloch-Brown and the BBC. It’s just that I haven’t seen much evidence on this side of the Atlantic of the sort of outrage you’ve described.
“Many Brits expect a country free of the problems we encounter in our daily lives (crime, bureaucracy, racists, morons)”
Nonsense.Anyone who watches the output of Hollywood and American TV knows that there are problems aplenty.In fact,most are surprised how little gunfire there is.
America, like Britain, portrays a sanitized (artifical) image of itself through television and movies.
Alex | 27.02.09 – 11:38 am |
I think you are referring to fifties programmes and some sixties programmes like the old batman series where the police were the goodies.
If you watch any Hollywood police thrillers now, you will know that the police chief himself is the baddie. (Sorry if this spoils any films for anyone by giving away the ending.)
I believe there was even a John Wayne film made around that time about Vietnam which was not anti-American.
No, I haven’t done a poll and doubt if I’d trust one if I saw it, so of course I could be overstating.
I am sure about what I’ve heard and seen, though — FWIW, I agree w/ most of it, not all. I have no idea how to assess the ‘kinetic potential’ with any accuracy; eventually, you’re left with intuition.
I guess we all have friends in low places, including the Fed gov’t. Yes, there are indeed…er…’robust’ thinkers within the ranks. Outside office hours, they cuss well, too. Downright un-nuanced. Let’s leave it at that.
Sue | 27.02.09 – 8:17 am |
Sarah Jane is saying that posts on a blog about BBC bias have more weight when they concern actual BBC reporting and programming. We’re all aware of the cause and effect of these things, of course, and I think, as you said earlier, that’s even one of the main themes of this blog. If Jews in Worcester are harmed because of this, I, too, would hold Beeboids partially responsible.
But some reference to an actual BBC item would have probably avoided all of this.
Quite right. If anyone still needs it to be spelled out just one random BBC Middle East web page provides a plethora of sympathetic and emotive Gaza stories that normalise militants, profile Hamas and Hezbollah, and emote that all Gazans are nothing more than innocent victims, then tell me that the BBC has little to do with the current tidal wave of hatred for Israel/ desire to twin with Gaza
KEY STORIES
No deal in Israel coalition talks
Palestinians pledge era of unity
US to donate ‘$900m in Gaza aid’
Palestinian groups agree releases
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
Angry young men
Are Gaza’s youths ready recruits for the militant groups?
Gazans seek end to bitter split
Gaza case studies: Weapons use
Who can probe Gaza war crimes?
Bleak outlook for Gaza Zoo
Gaza slowly begins rebuilding
Rebuilding Gaza
Gaza: Humanitarian situation
BACKGROUND
Gaza conflict map
Satellite image shows extent of destruction in Gaza City
Q&A: Gaza conflict
Who are Hamas?
Who is a civilian?
VIDEO AND AUDIO
Gaza view on Israel’s election
Netanyahu to form Israel cabinet
Gaza stories: The doctor’s grief
Gaza stories: Israeli minister
PROFILES
Salam Fayyad; Hezbollah; Sheikh Nasrallah; Ehud Olmert; Mahmoud Abbas;
Ismail Haniya; Fouad Siniora; Mahmoud Zahhar; Amir Peretz; Shimon Peres;
Khaled Meshaal; Hamas; Islamic Jihad; Gaza Strip; Al-Aqsa Brigade; Ariel Sharon.
BBC ARABIC.COM
BBC News in Arabic
TOP MIDDLE EAST STORIES
No deal in Israel coalition talks
Obama to reveal Iraq pullout plan
Palestinians pledge era of unity
PROFILES
Salam Fayyad; Hezbollah; Sheikh Nasrallah; Ehud Olmert; Mahmoud Abbas;
Ismail Haniya; Fouad Siniora; Mahmoud Zahhar; Amir Peretz; Shimon Peres;
Khaled Meshaal; Hamas; Islamic Jihad; Gaza Strip; Al-Aqsa Brigade; Ariel Sharon.
Sue | 28.02.09 – 8:22 pm
Someone is really asleep at the watch.
Ariel Sharon has been in a coma for three years.
Amir Peretz was replaced by Ehud Barak.
Netanyah, Livne and Lieberman – who’d want to read about them?
Sue | 28.02.09 – 8:22 pm |
Et le viola. Thank you.
deegee
That’s what I thought about that list. bang up to date with the latest Pali sob stories and propaganda – woefully negligent on the Israeli profiles. And – apparently nothing about the recent elections or the subsequent party manouevrings in Israel.
So what is the purpose of the page ? To keep people up to date about everything in the Middle East ? Obviously not.
So the only apparent purpose is to use our BBC licence fee funding to propagndise for the Palestinians and therefore Hamas.
David Vance or Sue
You might want to consider a posting on the BBC’s Middle East “news” page, the usual total imbalance.
deegee | 01.03.09 – 1:26 am |
Someone is really asleep at the watch.
Ariel Sharon has been in a coma for three years.
Amir Peretz was replaced by Ehud Barak.
Netanyah, Livne and Lieberman – who’d want to read about them?
That’s an excellent point. If you sent in a complaint, I’m sure they’d claim that they just can’t keep everything up to date. Understaffed with very, very young people being paid very, very low wages, they can’t please everyone. When we were complaining about the CBBC Newsround garbage covering 9/11 and Bin Laden, we heard the excuses that the article in question is very old, they have more important things to do, nobody complained until now, etc.
David
But the Pali sob stories on that webpage are very much up to date !
JohnA | 01.03.09 – 6:16 pm |
Come see the bias inherent in the system.