Little gem about Mendelssohn on Woman’s Hour just now.
“Mendelssohn and the Nazis.”
Also, look out for Sheila Hayman’s film on June 19th on BBC4, and her radio 3 programme which isn’t on Sunday May 9th as advertised. (There is no Sunday May 9th) It’s on tomorrow, Saturday 9th. May. 9 – 9.45pm
“Felix Mendelssohn was the grandson of great Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Baptised at the age of seven, Felix became a devout Christian – with Christian influences at the heart of much of his music. But he also tried, throughout his life, to reconcile his Christian faith with his Jewish roots.
Just two years after his death, Richard Wagner stated that Felix, as a Jew, was a second-rate composer. And, in 1934, the Nazi government declared Felix, and the entire family, Jewish and therefore Mendelssohn’s music was banned in Germany [………….]Mendelssohn’s Elijah was performed at the Oranienburgestrasse synagogue in 1937, with the doors and windows sealed – to keep the music inside. “
Please, BBC, give us features like this on the BBC main channels, not shoved into the obscurity of BBC4 along with all the WW2 history programmes, if for no other reason than to counterbalance incessant programmes about the lives of Saudi women and Thoughts for the Day about UK Moslems that we are treated to day-in-and-day-out on the main radio and BBC telly channels.
Fat chance.
Call me a cynic, but it’s only being broadcast at all to tick the necessary boxes. The BBC has virtually no interest in this stuff these days.
Seems like the BBC has been listening to Classic FM.
The basis of this was on Classic a couple of weeks ago.
The Beeboid who wrote it may get sacked or “re-educated”.
I think you are missing the point. Everyone with a TV is *forced* to pay the Licence Fee. It is this aspect of legal force that is important, irrespective of whether the BBC put out “good” programmes or not.
Anonymous,
Thank you for your comment.
“I think you are missing the point.” ……
……Whose point?….
…“Everyone with a TV is *forced* to pay the Licence Fee.” ….
….Yes, I’ve noticed that. ….
…. “It is this aspect of legal force that is important, irrespective of whether the BBC put out “good” programmes or not.” ….
….This is one aspect that concerns many people. But it’s not the only one.
I think the propaganda is the dangerous one because of the BBC’s (albeit waning) reputation with the general public, and I hope you will allow me to draw attention to it even if it means showing a bit of appreciation when things occasionally buck the trend.
Note. All the dots are my attempt to space out the quotes from the other bits and aren’t intended as an artistic embellishment.
Jewish friendly programme on al-bbc? Dream on…
There is no freedom of choice in the UK. If you want to watch TV then you must pay the licence. This is outrageous – no sane person would tolerate being forced to pay for something they mignt not want. The BBC could be as biased as any other broadcaster if they actually sold their content and you bought it only if you wanted to see it. No one – least of me – would care. That is not the case in the UK and Brits are just too stupid to see it. (PS I’m a Brit too – but got out!)
Actually, the point being missed is that the BBC simply loves dead Jews – you’ll always find a sympathetic feature on past injustices, past anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, the Nazis, Oswald Mosley, you name it… Just don’t expect equal treatment for Israel or present-day Jewry.
I never got as far as the Mendelssohn segment because I couldn’t stop laughing at the befuddlement of those women about Berlusconi’s popularity.
“It’s so offensive, how can this be?”
And then the only male, Daniel on the phone, says he’s “struggling to understand why anyone would vote for him, never mind women.” He goes on about “the mystery of why a short, not good-looking, portly, 78 year-old man who hangs out with members of the far right…”
Loud snort and giggle from the Beeboid hostess. Then the guy says he doesn’t think much of women who would vote for him.
Unbelievable. And they go on and on about how bizarre it is that Berlusconi’s sexist antics just help him in the polls.
The Beeboids are always telling you that different cultures have different values, you must respect them, etc. Yet, when confronted with a different set of cultural values held by Caucasoid Europeans, they freak out and condemn it. They recognize that some Italians don’t think like they do, so they disparage them.
This is insular, intellectual fascism at its finest
PS: Awesome synchronicity: the random word verification image for comments is “palin”!
Miv: Actually, the point being missed is that the BBC simply loves dead Jews
Unless they’re called Jesus… then, not so much!
That’s a twofer!
Jack Bauer –
So true, so very true!
MT
You could argue that our elite are doing a similar thing today.
“Jerusalem, one of the country’s best-loved hymns and the favourite of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has been banned from services at one of Britain’s foremost churches.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584578/Cathedral-bans-popular-hymn-Jerusalem.html
Seems the BBC can’t win either way.
‘You’ll always find a sympathetic feature on past injustices,…the Holocaust…’ Imagine that!
Anonymous said…
Seems the BBC can’t win either way.
————-
The contrast was with PRESENT day treatment of Jews, Israel, etc – or are you too dumb to see that?
Generally a difficult one for the twisted little minds of the Beeboids. On the one hand they are anti-Nazi, on the other hand anti-semitic.
No wonder they get their little knickers in a twist.
Miv,
re your post yesterday 5.59.
The BBC certainly loves Anne Frank; but the antisemitic tribulations that beset Mendelssohn highlight such gross injustice that you’d assume Mendelssohn’s story might lead people to reflect on contemporary issues and parallels.
No doubt people would simply equate it with Islamophobia and the perceived injustices thereof, instead.
I enjoyed hearing the item anyway.
Daniel Finkelsten:“…….all these things, the gas chambers, the concentration camps, the attempt to wipe Jews from the face of the Earth, they aren’t ancient history, and they aren’t fable. They happened to real people and they happened in our lifetime. Anne and Margot Frank were just children to my aunt and my mother; they weren’t icons, or symbols of anything..”
(David P, How do you get a new paragraph after closing tags?)
This is the BBC’s equivalent of acupuncture. With the Euro elections looming, the BBC is now making reference to racism wherever it can to germinate the seeds of guilt which it has sewn over a number of years. This is to remind us that white people must be saved from their inherent racism and thereby steer them away from voting BNP or conservative ( not much between them in the eyes of the BBC).
sue @10:46AM
How do you get a new paragraph after closing tags?
I use two < br> (no space, of course). Same thing for after links. blogger doesn't like the < p> tag, apparently.
David P,
Thanks for that
I did try "< p>" but preview rejected it, and I also tried "< br>" +"< /br>" but preview rejected them too.
Perhaps the problem was that you don't need the latter?
I'll try again, or resort to ….s for spaces
Here's hoping we won't have to soon.
I'm using all my ingenuity already. sigh.
As for serendipitous verification words, I've had a few……..
sue,
No spaces at all between the < and the br and the >. Some html uses the space with the /, but it's not necessary, and environments like this one can't deal with it.