It is big news that the BBC has actually upheld some of the complaints against Jeremy Bowen. The way they’ve wriggled and jiggled out of the remainder is an indication of the wider battle we’re faced with.
Whether or not they sack him remains to be seen; it’s just the tip of the inherent bias iceberg really. The tenacity of the complainant Jonathan Turner is remarkable. Anyone else would have lost the will to live long ago.
Congratulations to Jonathan Turner. And roll on the release of the Balen report.
You know whats funny about those independant readers? They accuse Al Beeb of being Pro-Israeli, clearly they are watching a different Al Beeb to the one we watch! 🙂
But the reality is, anything that doesnt heap enough venom, scorn, blood libel, outright lies upon Israel, to those who read the Independant, is reason enough for them to believe Al Beeb is pro-Israeli!
It doesnt matter to them that Al Beeb has used every lie, every propoganda piece from Hamas and Hesbullah without question, helped to spread every blood libel without hesitation.
So in their sick and twisted mind, because Al Beeb doesnt do this enough for their satisfaction, then Al Beeb is pro-Israeli.
Mailman
mailman | 17.04.09 – 10:25 am
Too true. Dunno if you saw this thread after the BBC refused to broadcast the DEC appeal for Gaza:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/01/bbc_and_the_gaza_appeal.html?page=1#comments
The blog attracted over 2200 comments. Here’s a summary of the nature of those comments:
*Mark Thompson writes a blog justifying his decision not to broadcast the DEC appeal.
*Majority reaction on the blog is immediate and violent condemnation from the left, with “humanitarians” and “liberals” hurling abuse at Thompson in words they would never dream of using to his face.
*The abusers insist they are driven by the purest of motives and only want to assist the Palestinians and yet spew a degree and quantity of venom at Thompson and the BBC seldom tolerated on a BBC blog.
*They employ tired old psychological tactics, like trying to make Thompson feel guilty for his decision.
*They cast about for the worst insult they can possibly find and then triumphantly come up with it in the form of a conspiracy theory: Thompson has been cowed by the Israel lobby; he is subservient to the Zionists. They offer no evidence for this claim or any reason why Israel would want to deny ordinary people of Gaza aid.
*They come up with another triumphant conclusion, again without a shred of evidence: Mark Thompson and the BBC are pro-Israel.
*Many of them insist they have been loyal to the BBC for decades but will never again access a BBC programme because of this one decision.
*A powerful degree of anti-Semitism is evident in many of these comments.
*There are a few respectful, calm and thoughtful objections to the decision but they are a very small minority indeed.
*Another small minority supports the decision.
What do we glean from this? The tunnel-visioned devotees of the left need to take a serious look at themselves and their history to understand how and why they have become fascists with extreme intolerance for the points of view of others.
Clearly Jeremy Bowen was never the appropriate person to be Mid East editor. He is a war correspondent/action junkie with Economics qualifications he doesn’t use. He doesn’t speak Hebrew or Arabic (or apparently any other language other than English) so he must rely on fixers to translate and arrange interviews. By his own admission his fixers have been ideologically anti Zionist and even activists. Some may well be operating under the direct control of Hizbullah, Hamas and Fatah. He carries a grudge against Israel for the death of his Hizbullah fixer/driver in Lebanon and has expressed guilt feelings for living in Israel in a house that was Arab owned before 1948.
The big question, one that never seems to addressed, is how could the BBC ensure that appropriately educated, professional personnel report from this highly emotional area? You could argue that Aleem Maqbool is much better qualified than Jeremy Bowen to take over as Mid East editor. That is truly frightening.
Oops! – Anonymous | 17.04.09 – 11:47 am was me. :o(
“Clearly Jeremy Bowen was never the appropriate person to be Mid East editor.”
Quite right. But in some ways he was no worse than Orla bin Goering, who he replaced back in 2006…
James
I think the fragrant Orla was a senior reporter there – not the Middle East Editor. Bowen was brought in as Editor above her – possibly because of the slant of all her reporting – and she was moved on a while later.
A primary job of an Editor is to get the right team of reporters in place.
Bowen seems to have had no trouble collecting a bunch of Palestinian stringers whose reporting is highly suspect. But no sign of any Israeli reporter on his team ?
Fisk is not “ultra-left”. He is on the fascist antisemitic far right.
Indeed, so are most of the “We are all Hezbollah” Nazis, whatever they choose to call themselves.
Maybe Fisk went so far left that he bumped into the far right?
Maybe so, Bryan. But the distinction between the totalitarian (and antisemitic) left and the totalitarian (and antisemitic) right is pretty meaningless, imo.
Orla bin Goering. Lol.
“…Dunno if you saw this thread after the BBC refused to broadcast the DEC appeal for Gaza…”
It’s a rock and a hard place.
Both sides are extreme and neither side will give any quarter to the other, no matter what the level of suffering is.
And as usual, most of the casualties and suffering are borne by non-combatants.
IMO the BBC made the right decision.
The golden rule is don’t ever get too involved with either side.
ady | 18.04.09 – 1:20 am |
And as usual, most of the casualties and suffering are borne by non-combatants.
That’s the one common ground we all have, isn’t it? Too bad that’s where the numbers game starts.
IMO the BBC made the right decision.
The golden rule is don’t ever get too involved with either side.
They eventually figured that out, didn’t they? No matter which side one is on.
Well said.
“…That makes you an antisemite who can’t spell…”
An angry dyslexic…
He’s annoyed because he recently sold his soul to santa.