The first three items in this FOOC have something in common.
The first report by Jonathan Head is about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The more we hear the more we fear.
Kate Adie’s flippant introduction to Jennifer Pak’s report from Kuala Lumpur belies the tragic consequences of life in a regime where sex outside marriage is taboo and illegitimate babies are abandoned.
From Senegal, Angus Crawford briefly reflects on the wisdom of his own meddling. In a place where 4 year old boys are sent away to Islamic ‘schools,’ beaten and made to beg, a BBC crew trails after a nine year old boy being reintroduced to the family that rejected him. There’s an uncertain outcome.
Three BBC items each featuring a terrible aspect of Islam. Yet news about the increasing likelihood of terrorist attacks in the UK is still not enough to compel the BBC to join the dots; they just continue whistling happy tunes about street cleaners.
I commented on Head’s piece a couple of Open Threads ago. It was a complete travesty of the tragedy of what is happening in Turkey today.
What INBBC omits on Erdogan’s Turkey, including financial support to AKP from Iran regime:
“Turkey’s Islamization: One Step Closer”
http://www.aina.org/news/20100917111154.htm
Police have arrested two men under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act. Their crime? To burn a copy of the Quran.
http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=256:we-are-offended&catid=42:feature-stories
It’s the same on the other side of the pond
East Lansing, Michigan Police Department offers $10,000 reward in Qur’an-burning case
When did it become illegal to burn the Qur’an? Sharia Alert from East Lansing, Michigan: “$10,000 Reward In Koran Burning Case,” from WLNS.com,
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/east-lansing-michigan-police-department-offers-10000-reward-in-quran-burning-case.html
ALSO
Terry Jones, the pastor who talked about burning a Koran and then didn’t do it, is going to be billed by the city of Gainesville, FL, for the “security costs” they incurred in doing what they thought necessary to secure the city as a result of his plans.
http://www.whatswrongwiththeworld.net/2010/09/a_new_way_for_government_to_su.html
The cost is to be around $180,000
The authorities are in a state of total panic over koran burnings.
Why? Are we being manupilated?
“The costs of standing up to Islam in Islamized America”
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/017369.html
“Police have arrested two men under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act.”
No names, no location, no story.
“$10,000 Reward In Koran Burning Case,”
It wasn’t just burnt it was also smeared with feces. You think that’s ok?
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/burned-koran-found-at-islamic-center-of-east-lansing-20100913-mr
No it’s probably not ok, but it’s hardly crime of the century and it certainly doesn’t warrant a $10k reward. Wonder what sort of rewards they offer for real criminals – your thieves, rapists and the like?
OK? No. Constitutionally protected free speech in the US? Yes.
“….and covered in what’s believed to be feces.”
Believed to be? Not quite sure? – should’ve used one of these.
An odd feature abut reports of Koran burning is that the journalists never bother to say whether it is the original Arabic Koran or a translation, that is being desecrated. Muslims do not consider translations to be the Koran at all and give them names like ‘the Meaning of the Glorious Koran’. I’d imagine that one of these being destroyed wouldn’t bother them too much – it’s possible that Bible belt pastors or a few vandals out for a laugh might be unaware of this. The fact that most journalists don’t seem to mention this detail makes me suspect that Muslims don’t point it out to them.
Islam Not BBC (INBBC), still giving Islamising AHMADINEJAD an easy political ride:
“Ahmadinejad, master of spin” (-and INBBC’s Mr. Leyne falls for it)
INBBC’s Mr. Leyne is dimmly aware of the political support which much of the West’s lib/left MSM gives to Ahmadinejad over the West. INBBC’s Mr. Leyne does not make clear whether he himself openly includes INBBC in this. It’s pretty obvious INBBC is in here:
“Many liberals and opponents of the US government are receptive to his [Ahmadinejad’s] accusation of double standards by Western democracies.
“Sometimes, they seem more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt than they would leaders of their own governments.
For example, while most Iranians have very clear opinions on whether Mr Ahmadinejad’s re-election was rigged, Westerners still pore over the evidence and re-examine the statistics.
There is a body of opinion in the West that the allegations of election fraud are simply Western propaganda designed to ‘soften up’ public opinion before an attack on Iran.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11366959
Can you imagine INBBC treating Dutch politician Geert Wilders with such circumspection?
Obviously circumspection, thoughtfulness, analysis have their place. The inability of John Leyne and the BBC to judge whether speculative undermining self-examination is appropriate in certain circumstances is worrying. All very well for an in-depth discussion amongst the politically literate, but to the average BBC listener where ‘a little knowledge’ could be the proverbial dangerous thing, it is reckless.
There may be some truth in what he says, but there’s a time and a place. It reminds me of harsh critics of Israel who write for the Guardian, or build careers out of self hatred. They don’t seem to understand that their criticism is invaluable to their real enemies who will exploit it with consequences way beyond their grasp or their intention.
No, we probably won’t be hearing a similar attempt to ‘understand’ Geert on the BBC.
That must be Jon Leyne. When he was based in Iran and much of the media was pushing that huge story of the “adulteress” to be stoned, he was silent. I complained to the BBC about it and shortly afterwards heard a clip on the World Service from Leyne, then based in Cairo, on the story. Impossible to tell, of course, but it could be that my complaint got through to someone at the BBC who hasn’t yet been dhimmified.
Leyne is one of the BBC’s worst Israel-haters. I recall that when the Palestinians were throwing one another of Gaza rooftops, he claimed in a website article that the Israelis were “rubbing their hands in glee” at the strife there.
I’m tempted to use a few choice words to describe Leyne, but I wont.
That should be “off Gaza rooftops” of course.