Kirsty Young’s castaway this week is the Palestinian author and human rights activist, Raja Shehadeh. Born in Ramallah in the West Bank, his life and writing has been dominated by displacement, struggle and a search for justice. His father was murdered in 1985 and aside from chronicling the unhappy history of his family and his homeland, he’s also co-founded the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq – which monitors and documents violations by all sides in the Middle East conflict, publishing reports and detailed legal analysis on its findings.
Quite. See he threw in a bit of Wagner…..
A fine selection indeed. As he’s a Christian I wonder if his documentation of “violations by all sides” is lop-sided or not…
“This last journey led to a confrontation with a young Jewish settler who had grown up and spent his twenty-five years of life in the very same hills. I knew that a large part of his world is based on lies. He must have been brought up on the fundamental untruth that his home was built on land that belonged exclusively to his people, even though it lay in the vicinity of Ramallah. He would not have been told that it was expropriated from those Palestinians living a few kilometres away. Yet, despite the myths that make up his world-view, how could I claim that my love of these hills cancels out his? And what would this recognition mean to both our future and that of our respective countries?
Definitely maybe…
Anything in that passage that is fictional or not a matter of fact?
Pretty well all of it, starting with “I knew for a fact………” – How on earth could he know for a fact what the young man believed, what his world view was. It is all supposition – not fact.
Fair point but it was a whimsical narrative on a fact. I believe he was pointing out that the lay of the land has changed seismically. I don’t think he intended to put words in the settlers mouth.
So you got your answer on fact, and graciously conceded.
Then, moved to your belief and what you think was intended.
Sorry but I just can’t resist : Desert Island Dics. I stopped listening to this programme long ago. As I’ve said many times, the bbc has polluted every aspect of their output with their bigotry. I can’t remember when there was anyone with a Western viewpoint, and who was exceptionally talented who was worth my time to listen to their outpourings. The programme fell apart maybe 20 years ago.
They had Eric Pickles on recently. FFS. Content free bollocks like this is why this site is a joke.
“…why this site is a joke”
And cut & pasted one liners like that must explain the 31million times people, including you, keep returning to share in it?
Hope you’re not cycling names. Other posters are quite vocal on that.
And your default position is to defend everything on the site and attack everything BBC.
I realise logical thought is a hard work for those accustomed to letting the BBC do the cerebral heavy lifting for them but perhaps you could pause for a moment to consider what this blog is here for.
Of course the default position is to criticise the BBC. That’s what this blog is about!
And look how much there is to criticise (not least the fuddled mental condition of most of its defenders).
You and Goose share a cab in?
As GCooper has ably already pointed out, the BBC has 141-147-200+ PR types on staff and the Graun (though they seem to go off-piste a bit now) plus possible freelancers to articulate how awesome it is.
Hence this site and others exist for when it falters, not such much by accident but by design.
A bit like Helen Boaden claims for the BBC, holding others to account.
But not, apparently, for some, itself?
My ‘default’ is indeed often negative criticism, but almost always supported by URL and quotes or to add to others.
And you know what? I don’t think one of you has ever had a thing to say.
I even on occasion concede a bouquet amongst the brickbats.
‘You’ (and certainly not the BBC, look at Newsnight from McAlpine to the Met) do not change for the better by ignoring what’s wrong and doing all in your power to close down any who point it out.
That’s Downfall tactics.
Risking a scolding from Mr. Anderson I do confess to also finding glitches in the Matrix hard to resist, and find distraction & denial of service ploys and one liner snarks serious enough to mock. Which bizarrely if hilariously often seems to provoke errors and hissy fits from trolls upset at being trolled, that are truly excellent irony value.
Just in the last few days I’ve seen one trashing the notion of hiding behind names as a bunch of others hiding behind names trash the notion of not taking debate seriously or using nasty words, or mock those who post all the time here for having no life… while posting all the while here. Or being someone they’re not when popping up, over and over, as someone else.
And the only consistency is, with a few exceptions, and seldom civil or maintained for long, the posts are never, ever, going near actual examples of BBC lack of accuracy, objectivity or integrity.
Rather like the BBC attacks everything British; except our ‘tolerance’ of course!
Many many years ago Desert Island Discs was about the reasons the guest chose their music, for the memories they evoked. That was in the time of Roy Plummley. Sadly it has been dumbed down to what are the guests’ favourite 8 pieces of music allowing for their choices fitting the BBC narrative. Makes for a lesser programme.
I have also stopped listening to the News Quiz, HIGNFY, Mock the Week because they are now so far to the Left and just not funny that I really cannot be bothered; Newsnight and Question Time are irrelevant so if after the next election the BBC goes subscription I think I will very easily be able to pass.
Oh God they haven’t politicised this programme as well have they?! I wouldn’t have thought it possible. Bring back Sue Lawley I say!
David Vance doesnt seem to make a point here. Its enough to mention a Palestinian guest on the BBC and open it up to the horde?
Haven’t you a rickety rackety bridge to hide under while you wait for the Billygoats Gruff ?
Touche.
The point is – why on earth is the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation choosing to have an obscure Palestinian as the guest on Desert Island Discs ? Has the man any accomplishments of any real note or of any real interest to a British audience ? – I didn’t hear any.
So – he was selected for purely political reasons. The wrong reasons. Basically – toi have another pop at Israel. The BBC’s blurb tries to suggest that the organisation the man helped to start covers human rights issues of all kinds in the Middle East. That is patent rubbish. It focusses on Israel, Israel and Israel. And on the one or two occasions where it has commented on murder and torture by the PLO, the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, it has not properly condemned them.
Oh – and the Al Haq organisation has worked with Phil Shiner to try to bring cases against Israel in UK courts.
When will Panorama do an investigation into the likes of Phil Shiner and other lawyers who have gained millions and millions of pounds from UK taxpayers by bringing cases against the UK and its allies ?
Maybe you should replace David Vance then? You seem to able to either speak on his behalf or know what he’s thinking as he doesn’t say any of this.
There’s been a lot of guests on DIDs. What evidence do you have he’s on there for political reasons? Diddly squat.
I THINK he is alluding to Wagners anti-Semitic leanings in an attempt to slyly dismiss a brilliant man and most consider to have been a force for good. I enjoyed the show. But hey.
“I THINK…”
Therefore you AM?
Posters here have cited sources in personal tales they knew where a large part of their world is based on lies.
But have been doubted or even accused of fabrication.
I the world of belief, fair do’s.
I err that way with BBC editors.
But hey.
http://eirael.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/raja-shehadeh-moderate-or-moderate.html
I first discovered Shahedah when I bought a book of his at the Jerusalem Book Fair in the early 80s. I’ll let the irony of that sink in.
It was probably the 3rd Way The hatred shone through. I thought at the time if this is a moderate I don’t want to meet an extremist.
So – you have a very adverse view of the BBC’s chosen guest from a book he wrote, wild’s post above points to another very negative view of the man, my negative post above is a simple take on 2 minutes’ worth of Googling. (I should have added that it looks as though he like Phil Shiner was after legal aid funds from the UK taxpayer ?)
In other words – it is plain obvious that the man is an extreme anti-Israel campaigner, always has been. How does that qualify him to be a guest on Desert Island Discs – you’d think the producers would have checked him out and decided he was NOT qualified, such polemics do not fit in with the ethos of this programme.
Or is it the other way round – do the BBC producers of Desert Island Discs set pout to find as many leftie nutters preaching victimisation as they can – however obscure, and to hell with the former pleasant ethos of the programme ?
Of course it is. That is how the BBC’s agitprop works. Not content with ‘news’ reporting that borders on naked propaganda at times, the message is every bit as assiduously dripped like poison into the ears of those casually seeking entertainment.
Just listen to a coupe of weeks R4 plays – it’s like being locked in a student flat with a bunch of sociology undergraduates.
Almost nothing escapes the process – certainly not the weapons delivery systems disguised as entertainment, like DID.