A Biased BBC contributor writes…..
“A remarkable tale inwhich a lot is said but what actually happened is hidden.
BBC radio news tells us that there have been riots between Muslims andChristians in Egypt…caused by Christians who blocked a road in protest abouta church that had been burnt down. No indication of who had burnt the church down though.
In the web report they report both Muslims and Christians were killed….thoughit was almost all Christians who died…(how unlike Gaza in which every deathis labelled and blame apportioned)….in fact there have been no confirmedMuslim deaths.
The BBC is quick to report that ‘Egypt’s Sunni authority has urged Muslims tohelp rebuild the church, calling its destruction un-Islamic.’ and later ‘TheGrand Imam of al-Azhar issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the attack onthe church in Atfih, Hilwan governorate, as “a distortion ofIslam”….oh and later to reinforce the message ‘Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyibcalled on Muslim residents of the town to help start rebuilding the church andto refrain from sectarian violence, Egypt’s official news agency, Mena,reported’
So we have established that the attacks were nothing to do with Islam…in factit was the Christians who were to blame for enflaming the situation….
‘The violence erupted when Coptic protesters blocked a highway in the Egyptiancapital, protesting against the burning of the church in the province ofHilwan. The rally angered Muslims who wanted to pass through.’
So we have a church burnt to the ground and a village attacked by severalthousand Muslims, then up to 15,000 Muslims along with the Egyptian Army attackand fire upon the Coptic Christians killing and injury many….with possibly noMuslim casualties, and yet the BBC tries to paint a picture of Muslim tolerance and peace contrasted with Christian belligerence.
They’re worried about how the “uneducated masses” in the UK will react, so have taken it upon themeselves to read out tractor production statistics lest the truth should lead to reprisals
I don’t expect the “uneducated masses” know or care very much about people in a foreign land being massacered regardless of their religion.
This is just run of the mill news reporting seen through the eyes of a bigoted, self hating aethiest.
“Islam must not be offended at any price, although Christians are fair game because they do nothing about it if they are offended.”
Peter Sissons.
Even when Chritians are being massacred the BBC cannot find any fault in their attackers.
“The armed confrontation was preceded by Muslims burning down a church in the Helwan neighborhood of Cairo last week. To rub salt in that wound, the Muslims returned to the burned-out church on Tuesday to conduct mass Islamic prayers on the site.
Coptic Christian spokesmen told reporters that as arguments between the Muslims and the Christians who gathered to oppose them escalated, Muslim gunmen opened fire, killing six Christians and resulting in a pitched street battle.”
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/22694/Default.aspx
Not for Christians the defence of “self defence”. Surely they should be “turning the other cheek”
Islam is different it means “peace” does it not?
http://www.islam-watch.org/Larry/Muhammad-Massacres-and-Sex-slaves.htm
I’m surprised that some of the suicide bombings haven’t been attributed to Christians disguised as Muslims. No doubt it will come when they think the uneducated masses will believe it.
No, not at all: They will be blamed on Israel and Mossad, just as many nutjobs are already doing for 9/11 etc. It’s all quite clear how the BBC mindset “thinks” – just watch any episode of Spooks which deals with the ME and you will see that all Islamist “Freedom Fighters” are duped into doing their evil actions by dirty Zionists, who are so evil and clever they can make the poor conscience-stricken Muslim boys commit any heinous crime just so Islam gets the blame.
Small complaint to BBC
“Copts – who make up about 10% of Egypt’s population – have often complained of harassment and discrimination, and argue that attacks on them go unpunished or result in light sentences.”
By writing using third person perspective instead of point of fact, the BBC obscures the reality of harrasment and intimidation of Copts in Egypt.
Copts haven’t just “complained” of harrasment and discrimination – they <have Been> the VICTIMS of harrasment and discrimination as any cursory look at the facts will confirm.
Copts don’t just “argue that attacks on them go unpunished” – attacks on them <have gone unpunished> for example the Church attacks two years ago.
the TOTAL lack of reporting of the on-going massacre of Christians across the muslim world is a reckless dereliction of duty. A propaganda exercise so shameless I hope beyond hope that the perpetrators literally rot in hell. I say this as Christian and I am not proud of what has become a seething feeling of total disgust at the BBC. I also not the near silence from our muslim brothers in the UK on the matter, but while disappointing, this is completely inevitable.
I have followed the coverage of the Egypt situation with interest – the refusal to report onte million plus crowd chanting death to Isreal, the refusal (apart form a last resort) to identify muslims as the murderers and church desecrators, all the while painting the picture of Christians as irritating trouble makers deliberately antagonising peace loving muslims. The coverage given to the apparent muslim human shield round the church was enormous and glowing I note. And total bollox.
Of all the lefty causes, the one I have most trouble with has been the anti semitisim and aggressive secularism, combined with an irationla fear and loathing of Christianity and a bizarre support for islam. I just don’t get it.
I am sick of it. SICK of it. The campaign to scratch christianity from our glorious past has well and truly been won by the BBC and its lefty lemmings. When was the last time a Christian was anything other than a wierdo, gay, murderer or oddball on BBC tv? Christians are portrayed as jokes. People to laugh and sneer at. It has gone mainstream. Intelligent peopel I know will openly sneer when I quietly confirm I am indeed a Christian (even if is is a very bad one!). It has become entiery acceptable, nay, expected, to sneetr at Christians. The BBC is entirley complicity in achieiving this.
God, I hate the BBC. I loath the BBC with every fibre of my being. I want it CLOSED.
Unfortunately, you’ll never get the BBC to take your charges seriously: their trump card is Songs of Praise. All they have to do is point at that show and laugh, saying that since they have that they cannot possibly be accused of an institutional anti-Christian bias. Even if they’re essentially forced to broadcast it by the BBC Charter.
I seriously doubt, though, that a Beeboid would ever dare moan on air or in print on the BBC website about how the “biblical overtones” of Songs of Praise can “get a little overwhelming”, as Paul Adams did about the recent Tea Party convention.
It’s acceptable to sneer at US Christians, except when it’s the current President.
When I did my army education course for promotion to W02 I spent 6 weeks at an Army education centre. two instructors A major and a Lt. The LT had just come intot he army after leaving university and was around 23 years of age. All of us on the course were in our 30s.
Every day somebody was given a topic to talk about the next day and boy did she hit the motherload when the subject I was given was…Islam.
For 20 minutes I spoke about how incompatible Islam is with the western way of life and that the next major war would be between Islam and the West.
Well at the end of it, nobody spoke and then she opined that she knew lots of Muslims and all of them were peaceful. I simply replied “All of my family are Muslims” when it comes to laying down ones cards on the table I do beleive i had her beat.
A year later 9/11 happened.
I wonder if she still feels the same way about ‘Islam’?
It is clear that the BBC finds it difficult to acknowledge the situation of Christians in the context of Islamic societies.
The reports of incidents are always reported late (I read the European, particularly German and Austrian press who derive their information from the same agencies as the BBC) compared with other media outlets. They also tend to follow the line of the Government spokesmen in Islamic countries who always try to minimise or even deny. This allows the BBC to under-report with the events by ‘erring on the side of caution’ vis a vis religious affiliation.
If a Muslim is injured or killed, there is no reserve in stating that . If a non-Muslim is involved, the ‘Christian’ is often omitted and replaced with the anodyne ‘Man’.
It happens again and again.
The reporting of the Church arson and the Muslim mob is absent despite a full Agence France Press report on the wires, This incident in Helwan (some 30 kms from downtown Cairo) explains the demonstration outside the TV Centre and the sit-down on the Corniche.
In no way does the BBC explain the events or describe the nature of the sectarianism that runs deep in Islamic society in Egypt.
Nor do they point out that the Constitutional Commitee has NO Coptic representative.
The BBC talks the inclusivist talk, twitter democracy etc, approving a cuddly Muslim Brotherhood but fails to recognise a deliberate refusal to secularise by the MB in relation to Article 2 of the constitution which reinforces the Sharia derived constitutional discrimination against the Coptic Christian community.
In the Report linked by David at the end of his post, there is a stunning and illustrative piece of misinformation by the BBC.
‘In January, an Egyptian man was sentenced to death for shooting dead six Copts and a Muslim policeman in Naga Hamady, southern Egypt.’
The Egyptian man (Muslim by the way) was sentenced for the murder of the Muslim policeman NOT for the killing of the Copts.
That is a matter of record.
Just to close (got to earn my keep in Frankfurt today so time is short).
The BBC report linked by David contains the following:
‘Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyib called on Muslim residents of the town to help start rebuilding the church and to refrain from sectarian violence, Egypt’s official news agency, Mena, reported.’
A little more background:
‘….the mob broke into the Church of the Two Martyrs St. George and St. Mina, and as they chanted “Allahu Akbar [God is great],” looted it, demolished the walls with sledgehammers and set a fire that burned itself out the next morning. Looters removed anything valuable, including several containers holding the remains of venerated Copts – most of whom were killed in other waves of persecution – then stomped and kicked the containers like soccer balls, witnesses said.
After the fire went out, the mob tore down what little remained of the church structure. The group of Muslims then held prayers at the site and began collecting money to build a mosque where the church building once stood, said the assistant bishop of Giza the Rev. Balamoun Youaqeem.
“They destroyed the church completely,” he said. “All that was left is a few columns and things like that. As a building, it’s all gone.”
The offer to rebuild has a catch. The church, apparently, cannot be rebuilt on the site as it is now Waqf ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf) as Muslim prayers have been said on its ruins.
So a church which has stood for many centuries is now, according to the Sharia requirements which in Islamic socieies, regulate such matters, superceded by Waqf.
Offers have been made by the Governor of Helwan and, seperately by the Army (unrealistically to ‘rebuild by Easter, ie seven weeks!) to build on another site.
The BBC hasn’t got a clue.
This rule of Waqf is just accepted by non-Muslims as unalterable fact; why?
In Islamic societies, the Waqf reflects the ‘conquest’ reality of Islamic expansion. A dedication of captured territory to Allah….the key concept of Dar es Islam . It is tenaciously applied to assert Muslem authority (see the Jerusalem Waqf).
Violation by ‘refuseniks’ ie Christians, Jews, or ‘Polytheists’ is tantamount to a declaration against Allah’s will expressed in the Koran.
A Muslim is entitled to respond with extreme violence (if he can)
That’s the joy of Sharia.
They have only to say that a pig is buried on the site & the Muslims will give it back.
I guess it’s that if your in such a small minority, what can you do?
I’d add that its cluelessness is deliberate.
The World Service omitted any mention at all of the arson attack of a few days ago that led to the Christian demonstration. The first time they made a brief mention of it was when they “reported” yesterday on the killings. And they used the “violence erupted” bluff to disguise their extreme reluctance to identify Muslims as perpetrators of violence in the “conflict” between Muslims and Copts.
And, naturally, they didn’t mention how many of those killed were Christians and how many, if any, were Muslims.
To detect the news in a BBC report one has to do more than just read between the lines: one has to do a forensic examination of the text.
Meanwhile Gaddafi’s men have expressed their disapproval of the reporting of BBC Arabic journalists by beating them up and performing mock executions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12695077
Looks like Jeremy Bowen got his interview with Gaddafi done just in time. And Jon Leyne is ensconced with the rebels – though he has moderated his reporting a bit and stopped expressing his extreme devotion to them. (A week or so ago when the rebels eventually succeeded on taking over an army or air force base, Leyne was practically jumping up and down with excitement.)
Be interesting to watch developments here.
It’s a clever piece of writing, you must admit, especially as it now seems to have been edited – based on the above interpretations. If you know nothing of the situation, i.e. you rely on the BBC for your news, then it reads like another set of incidents where Muslims are intimidating non-Muslims – but it’s all just a bit of a fuss really.
If you know any background to the story then it is a masterpiece of fudge and omission.
I always err on the cautious when reading the BBC-Muslim axis of evil stuff on here, but this one is bang on.
Pity there isn’t a ‘badger you MP kit’ available from the site to alert our glorious leaders to the ongoing naughtiness at the BBC …
Here is a BBC headline from 1945
Jews Clash with Nazis – 6 Million Dead
Even the leftie spanish press tell it how it is, one paper has a full apge spread today telling the “whole” truth, even the headline “Muslim violence against Christains in Egypt” (in Spanish!)
“Egypt’s Copts have often complained of harassment and discrimination, and argue that attacks on them go unpunished or result in light sentences.” the BBC mantra.
Here’s a clue for the BBC (and the Muslim Brothers ain’t going to change this).
The constitution, under article 46, provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites; however, these rights are restricted in practice. Islam is the official state religion, and Islamic law is the principal source of legislation.
A January 2008 lower court ruling interpreted the constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom as inapplicable to Muslim citizens who wish to convert to another religion.
In its January 2008 decision in the case of Muhammad Ahmad Abduh Higazy v. the Minister of Interior et al., the Cairo Administrative Court noted that the country ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which article 18 provides for absolute freedom of religion, with a reservation, namely that the covenant shall be ratified to the extent that it does not conflict with Islamic law.
Although there are no statutory prohibitions on conversion, the government does not recognize conversions of Muslims to Christianity or other religions, and resistance to such conversions by local officials–through refusal to recognize conversions legally–constitutes a prohibition in practice.
Moreover, in January 2008 the Cairo Administrative Court, a court of first impression, ruled that freedom to convert does not extend to Muslim citizens.’
For want of another word, I’ll use the word which the BBC would not fail to recognise the world over except in relation to Islam wherever it be found.
That word is religious apartheid.
Copts are second class citizens in every sense of the word…employment, education and in the face of the Islamic state.
That is not an argument. It is a fact.
Copts can be successful. Orascom, for example is Copt. But, like for the Jews, the success in business (state employment…law, police, army is closed to them) is regarded by Mulim Egyptians with envy and suspicion.
‘
I have learned more about the Coptic community in Egypt from this website than I ever heard on the BBC.
Seems to me that the BBC will only report on the Copts if it suits the BBC narrative of “Islam is a religion of peace”.
Encouraging sign that a shift has taken place in reporting this morning (11 March).
Possibly in response to this (EPP Group, European Parliament 9.March):
http://www.eppgroup.eu/press/showpr.asp?prcontroldoctypeid=1&prcontrolid=10162&prcontentid=17223&prcontentlg=en
The BBC have summoned Yolanda Knell from Jerusalem to produce this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12674675
Perhaps the lazy reporting and reflex ‘Islam is the religion of Peace’ and all is hunky-dory narrative is, by force of events, being challenged.
This report, which clearly does not go into detail and still relies on the “extemist” argument, hints that there may be constitutional issues to do with the dominance of Islam (conservative!) that need to be addressed.
All in all, a slight nudge towards a more balanced and informative reporting.
Credit where credit is due.
But, as ever, vigilance. The BBC narrative is deeply ingrained and will not easily be shifted.
I live near a Coptic church, I’ve even considered joining quite a few times(I’ve also considered the Greek Orthodox church.) as my beloved Church of England is so far adrift. It is a great shame to see such a noble and ancient Christian tradition. attacked.
I happen to agree with Geert Wilders(sp?) that Islam is a magnificent religion and often a generous and wonderful culture. However it is not the religion of Europe and particularly Britain. I do think it is important not to needlessly disrespect it and I always try not do so.