Let’s think…….
Hamburg/Dresden
D-Day
Nagasaki/Hiroshima
Vietnam
Afghanistan
Iraq
Guess we’d know what ‘you’d’ do.
The same as the Israelis when it comes to defeating terror and a merciless and ruthless enemy which seeks to eliminate you……’never again’ is the Israeli response…and who can blame them.
Pounce originally came up with these figures in the comments and I was reminded of them by Is the BBC biased?:
From their figures, and I haven’t looked at the source myself, it looks like the Palestinian casualties are 14% male under fighting age (up to 17), 18% women, 6% male over age (over 60) and the bulk being 61% of male fighting age…up to 60 years old.
So when the BBC reports ‘X’ number of Palestinians have been killed…just how many are in fact Hamas fighters or commanders?
The figures of course are changing as time goes on and more operations take place but the BBC’s blanket use of the simplistic and misleading description ‘Palestinians’ for casualties feeds into the Hamas narrative and is a highly emotive way of wording their reports…note how in contrast the BBC is very careful to emphasise how many Israeli casualties are ‘military’…
Twenty Israelis – 18 of them soldiers – have died, Israel says, as it seeks to end rocket fire on the country.
Over 500 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began two weeks ago, Gaza’s health ministry says.
The BBC has absolutely no proof of a casualty’s status…it is relying, as it says, on the Palestinians own figures. Are they likely to be truthful? ‘Mainly civilians’.…at present that is pure propaganda but the BBC doesn’t seem to be too bothered about the truth at the moment.
Any civilian casualty is a terrible thing but the BBC’s pretence that nearly all casualties are civilian when they fail to differentiate between the status of the various victims makes the BBC part of Hamas’ ‘human shield’ ploy….a cynical charade that the BBC turns a blind eye to.
I don’t think there can be any doubt whose side the BBC takes in this war.
Judge for yourselves how much attention BBC journalists have paid to Hamas’ media guidance to its own supporters…whom, if you were of a cynical bent, might say included the BBC, or elements thereof:
Via Harry’s Place/Memri:
MEMRI provides some excerpts:
“Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine, before we talk about his status in jihad or his military rank. Don’t forget to always add ‘innocent civilian’ or ‘innocent citizen’ in your description of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
“Begin [your reports of] news of resistance actions with the phrase ‘In response to the cruel Israeli attack,’ and conclude with the phrase ‘This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.’ Be sure to always perpetuate the principle of ‘the role of the occupation is attack, and we in Palestine are fulfilling [the role of] the reaction.’
“Beware of spreading rumors from Israeli spokesmen, particularly those that harm the home front. Be wary regarding accepting the occupation’s version [of events]. You must always cast doubts on this [version], disprove it, and treat it as false.
“Avoid publishing pictures of rockets fired into Israel from [Gaza] city centers. This [would] provide a pretext for attacking residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not publish or share photos or video clips showing rocket launching sites or the movement of resistance [forces] in Gaza.
“To the administrators of news pages on Facebook: Do not publish close-ups of masked men with heavy weapons, so that your page will not be shut down [by Facebook] on the claim that you are inciting violence. In your coverage, be sure that you say: ‘The locally manufactured shells fired by the resistance are a natural response to the Israeli occupation that deliberately fires rockets against civilians in the West Bank and Gaza’…”
Additionally, the interior ministry prepared a series of suggestions specifically for Palestinian activists who speak to Westerners via social media. The ministry emphasizes that conversations with them should be conducted differently from conversations with other Arabs. It stated:
• “When speaking to the West, you must use political, rational, and persuasive discourse, and avoid emotional discourse aimed at begging for sympathy. There are elements with a conscience in the world; you must maintain contact with them and activate them for the benefit of Palestine. Their role is to shame the occupation and expose its violations.
• “Avoid entering into a political argument with a Westerner aimed at convincing him that the Holocaust is a lie and deceit; instead, equate it with Israel’s crimes against Palestinian civilians.
• “The narrative of life vs. the narrative of blood: [When speaking] to an Arab friend, start with the number of martyrs. [But when speaking] to a Western friend, start with the number of wounded and dead. Be sure to humanize the Palestinian suffering. Try to paint a picture of the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank during the occupation’s operations and its bombings of cities and villages.
• “Do not publish photos of military commanders. Do not mention their names in public, and do not praise their achievements in conversations with foreign friends!”
It is surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, easy to tie in BBC reporting with the Hamas version of events:
‘Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine’
Rarely does the BBC provide the figures for actual civilian deaths preferring to say ‘X’ number of Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli attacks began.
‘This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.’
The BBC always limits the casualties to those caused ‘since’ the Israeli counterattack on Gaza began….never mind this is is a 65 year old war.
‘You must always cast doubts on this [Israeli version], disprove it, and treat it as false.’
Well….how often have we heard the BBC interviewer challenge an Israeli spokesman’s explanations?
‘Try to paint a picture of the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank during the occupation’s operations and its bombings of cities and villages.’
That’s just constant from the BBC.
‘In your coverage, be sure that you say: ‘The locally manufactured shells fired by the resistance are a natural response to the Israeli occupation that deliberately fires rockets against civilians in the West Bank and Gaza’…”
Oh yes..those famous ‘homemade contraptions’…inaccurate and harmless.
‘There are elements with a conscience in the world; you must maintain contact with them and activate them for the benefit of Palestine. Their role is to shame the occupation and expose its violations.’
The BBC…the world’s ‘conscience’…imposing its own moral values and judgements upon others….taking it upon themselves to ‘shame the occupation and expose its violations.’
Yep….reckon Hamas must be pretty pleased with the BBC’s reporting despite it being so pro-Israeli according to Greg Philo who would seem to be a firm favourite of some at the BBC (h/T Is the BBC biased?) such as Roger Bolton who lavishes praise upon him:
On Today on Tuesday he was also in challenging mode, alleging that the Beeb’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza was pro-Israel. Many Feedback listeners agree with him, and almost as many disagree.
It was refreshing to hear his views, and I look forward to the publication of his detailed analysis, and that of those who allege the opposite. I also hope voices like his will be heard more regularly. Broadcasters need to be challenged. That’s what Feedback is all about.
‘Now here’s a story for BBC Trending.’
Neither BBC Trending nor any other department has shown any interest whatsoever in the topic of the use of conventional and social media by Hamas for propaganda purposes – despite the fact that there are numerous recent examples.
That lack of interest appears to have caused the BBC to fail to notice that it has itself been co-opted to Hamas propaganda.
A picture circulated by Hamas purporting to show a teenager in Gaza killed by an Israeli airstrike is in fact a still image from the Hollywood horror film ‘Final Destination 4′, as can be seen in this video below.
Note the caption in Russian inserted by Hamas: it reads “BBC Israel kills Palestinian teens in Gaza”.
Evan Davis, the BBC’s economics goto guy, is in the Newsnight hotseat:
“Evan is an outstanding journalist,” said BBC director general Tony Hall. “I think he is an extraordinary, clever and intelligent interviewer. He has a wonderful presence on TV and I’ve got no doubt he’ll be a really great presenter of Newsnight,”
Wonder if he will get away with the giggling and smirking interviews on Newsnight as he did on the Today programme in which his sole aim seemed to be to make a fool of the politician, usually Tory, point scoring rather than a sensible interview.
Apparently no one will replace him on the Today prog, surplus to requirements:
His appointment solves a conundrum for the Today programme, which has been widely perceived to have had one too many presenters since Husain’s appointment last year, bringing the total number to six, along with John Humphrys, Justin Webb, James Naughtie and Sarah Montague.
The BBC said Today would continue with a rota of the remaining five presenters.
The BBC is losing some of its audience as well:
The news was revealed on the day the BBC’s annual report was published. It also stated that audiences spent 18.5 hours with the BBC each week.
That is an hour less than 2012/2013. The figure includes radio, TV and online use.
But 96% of UK adults still use the BBC each week.
When Premier League supremo Richard Scudamore found himself at the centre of a Media storm when the contents of some private emails were leaked by a disgruntled ex-employee the BBC was there joining in with the witch hunt, Victoria Derbyshire expressing her shock at the language used and especially the use of the word ‘gash’ to describe a woman.
The Guardian was at the front of the pack as well and here they explain why there was such a furore.…not just the words used but the hypocrisy of football organisations:
Were other factors at play in the affair becoming so toxic for Scudamore?
It is unavoidably true that many in football and the media saw a sharp contrast between the aggressive way the Premier League has criticised people in other organisations for similar situations and the tolerance shown to Scudamore.
Which brings us onto James Donaghy, a TV reviewer for the Guardian whom the Guardian obviously thinks is perfectly kosher…despite having read his ‘alternate’ material..which they must have done as they link to it…….
James has written for Arena, Vanity Fair Italia, House, Front and Project. His thoughts on television, boxing and betting can be found at http://aerialtelly.co.uk/
Now Donaghy has a perfectly respectable website for his work:
James has been writing freelance since 2006 for a variety of publications. He specialises in TV, music, movies, boxing, betting and all aspects of popular culture.
He also writes e-books for Amazon Kindle and runs things at the Aerial Telly blog.
But Donaghy also has an ‘underground’ site, ‘Aerial Telly’, where he expresses his views more forthrightly…it is the site the Guardian links to.
Donaghy, otherwise known as ‘Jamdog’, uses an interesting and very unGuardian-like turn of phrase on this site:
Ginger gash, Heebs, Durkas, ‘Tards, Arabian Shi’ites and Chocolate Benjamin are some of the the exotic characters highlighted by his reviews:
what Gemma from Sons of Anarchy would call “that ginger gash” Milner (Rose Leslie) the security skank
The pressure is on for Philip though because this Milner gash is a real fucking taskmaster.
Baby Arby looks and acts like a fucking tard
Finally we get another husbland and wife duo Filip Devogeleer and his wife/business partner Jessica Wang. Roomii Toys is their cuntpany
But who’s this handsome gentleman? It’s Ghanaian entrepreneur Benjamin Mougarbel, owner and face of Benjamin’s Hot Chocolate Ltd…..Chocolate Benjamin shuffles out potless. Sigh.
Nessa and Atika are captive in a Durka shitbox listening to the screams of tortured prisoners.
Later they both go to some function or other where a crazed Heeb throws a raspberry pudding on their table screaming “Samaria belongs to Israel!”
All of which brings us back to that earlier statement by the Guardian:
Were other factors at play in the affair becoming so toxic for Scudamore?
It is unavoidably true that many in football and the media saw a sharp contrast between the aggressive way the Premier League has criticised people in other organisations for similar situations and the tolerance shown to Scudamore.
Is there a sharp contrast between the way the Guardian and the BBC pillory people like Scudamore but seem to look the other way for their own like ‘Jamdog’? Or should that be ‘Jammydodger’ as he seems lucky to get away with it?
I was somewhat surprised to hear an item on the Today programme this morning discussing a current (pointless) Government PR campaign to try and stop young British muslims going to Syria. Remarkably, the suggestion was put about that many go there on a “humanitarian” impulse. This is nonsense. They go there to fight and KILL. That is the aim of the Jihad. The BBC seeks to sanitise this evil inn everyday possible – whether it is blaming it on OUR foreign policy or in this case claiming that the Jihad is just a radical version of the Red Crescent.
It’s really quite dreadful turning the BBC News on at the moment. Their sheer hatred of Israel is just oozing through and frankly the State broadcaster is little more than an echo chamber for the Hamas publicity machine. From its refusal to call HAMAS terrorists – it much prefers “fighters” – through to its sly suggestion that Israel only kills women and children – the BBC stands indicted. I listened to TODAY at 7am and the first ten minutes were just sheer anti-Israeli propaganda – with the BBC delighting in playing John Kerry’s caustic comments against Israel. (It seems to surprise the BBC that the Obama regime is hostile to Israel). Lyse Douchet has rapidly become the new Jeremy Al Bowen, as she breathlessly trots around Gaza whilst never once finding Hamas terrorism in operation. i don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the BBC has firmly aligned itself with all the Jew-haters out there and is in this to ensure that Hamas win the propaganda war.
Monday morning arrives and time for a new Open Thread. Detail the bias here please.
BBC World Service journalist Naziru Mikail:
Whenever I see Netanyahu I remember what happened to ex-PM Sharon! There's GOD wooo! #Gaza #Israel
— Naziru Mikail (@nazirumikailu) July 20, 2014
(Ariel Sharon died after 8 years in a coma following a stroke)
It’s OK, though, because his Twitter profle says: “Views here are personal!” He does like to use an exclamation mark!
Update. The same BBC journalist was impressed by a ludicrous claim of “reversion” to Islam (exclamation mark!):
Video: Jewish man reverts to Islam live on air for Gaza!
http://t.co/QLYFiXUu2i #GazaUnderAttack #SavePalestine
— Naziru Mikail (@nazirumikailu) July 19, 2014
Where does the BBC find its employees?
We get bombarded with casualty figures from Gaza by the BBC in every other sentence it seems…initially their preferred source was ‘Palestinian medics’, then the ‘Health department’ in Gaza’, and now the one they opt for is figures given by the UN.
But you might ask, where does the UN get its figures?….from Palestinians, as BBC Watch details:
Readers no doubt recognize the names of the two highlighted NGOs above – Al Mezan and PCHR. They are two of the “primary sources” upon which UN OCHA recently told BBC Watch it relies for casualty figures in the Gaza Strip. Describing them as “United Nations” figures, the BBC in turn quotes and promotes those UN OCHA statistics without any independent verification of its own and fails to inform audiences that they are sourced from political NGOs.
The fact that the BBC is providing publicity, promotion and amplification for political NGOs engaged in anti-Israel campaigning through ‘lawfare’ to influence public opinion is one which is completely incompatible with its commitment – and obligation – to impartial reporting.
The same UN which yesterday had to admit Hamas had used its facilities to hide missiles:
Agency Demands Full Respect for the Sanctity of Its Premises in Gaza
Something the BBC barely mentioned in its reports…even after the discovery they were using this less than informative description:
“Israel accuses Hamas of hiding its military infrastructure within the civilian population.”
UNRWA is in essence a UN provided political advocate for Palestinians demanding the ‘right of return’ for them…and hence the destruction of Israel…as admitted by a UN official on the BBC:
April – August 1948: More than 700,000 Palestine refugees are displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli War.
The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest
UNRWA deals specifically with Palestine refugees in its five areas of operation in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Its role encompasses assistance, protection and global advocacy for Palestine refugees.
Despite that being on their website apparently any such ‘right’ was removed in 1965:
The right of return, Prosor reiterated, would “flood Israel with millions of refugees, and drown the Jewish state by sheer numbers.”
Right of return, he said, is actually a euphemism for the destruction of Israel.
UNRWA is responsible for helping fuel this “fiction” of the right of return to Palestinian children through their textbooks and schools.
“It’s worth noting that their mandate to resettle refugees was removed in 1965,” Prosor said. “They have perpetuated the problem instead of solving it.”
The Palestinians themselves have stated:
For most Palestinians the right of return for the up to six million
refugees who are ancestors of those who made the exodus from Palestine
that followed the creation of Israel in 1948 is an absolute.
“Israel wants the Palestinians to admit Palestine is the home of the Jews.
It wants us to give up on the right of return,” says Fadel Taha.
“Palestine is for us and for our grandchildren and can only be liberated
by resistance. Oslo and Madrid [peace conferences] brought only shame. We
don’t believe in negotiations.” says Abu Ahmad Fadel Taha, the
leader of Hamas in Ain al-Hilweh.
Tom Gross reminds us of the close relationship between UNRWA spokesman, Chris Gunness, and the BBC, especially the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen:
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness is a British citizen, who previously worked for 23 years as a foreign correspondent and in senior editorial positions at the BBC and has a decades-long record of bias against Israel. Gunness is close friends with the BBC’s notoriously anti-Israel “chief Middle East correspondent” Jeremy Bowen.
I revealed Gunness’ close friendship with Bowen in a dispatch in 2009, here.
Nor is the BBC finding space in its attacks on Israel this hour, to mention that Israel thwarted a major terror attack this morning involving 13 Hamas gunmen who infiltrated into Israel by underground tunnel from Gaza.
From 2009:
REVEALED: UNRWA SPOKESMAN WHO LIED ABOUT ISRAEL PREVIOUSLY WORKED AT THE BBC WITH JEREMY BOWEN
I have previously outlined on this website the concoctions of the well-funded UN body UNRWA which have resulted in defamations of Israel and physical attacks on Jews in many different countries around the world.
For example, UNRWA has now admitted that their claim that Israel shelled a school in Gaza in January and killed 32 Palestinian civilians is completely false. The shell in question, it turns out, was in response to Palestinian mortar fire at civilians in Israel and killed nine Palestinian adults, none of whom were in the school. Seven of those killed were armed operatives and two were civilians.
The sensational and false claims of UNRWA led to headlines around the world such as “UN accuses Israel of herding 110 Palestinians into a house then shelling it, leaving 30 dead” (London Daily Mail Online UK, Jan 9 2009 11:59AM GMT).
The false reports led to anti-Israel riots and attacks on Jews in all six continents of the world.
A JOINT WAR CRIMES ALLEGATION BY UNRWA AND THE BBC
Now, it turns out that Chris Gunness, the UNWRA spokesman who went on several different international TV networks in January to accuse Israel of “war crimes” on account of the supposed school incident, is in fact a former BBC journalist and a close colleague of the BBC’s notoriously anti-Israel Chief Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Bowen.
In a diary article which Jeremy Bowen posted on BBC online, he states:
“I just broke off writing for a couple of minutes to take a call from Chris Gunness, who is the spokesman for Unrwa, the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees.
“He was ringing to say that Unrwa wanted an investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Civilians are protected by the laws of war.
“I have known Chris for years, as he used to be a BBC foreign correspondent. He wanted to make sure that we knew he was using the phrase for the first time. He said that the attack this morning on a UN school in Gaza looked as if it was a war crime.”
Tom Gross continues:
In three occasions in the past when I have criticized the BBC, the BBC online editors have then subtly changed their website so as to delete the part I criticized without letting readers know it had ever been there in the first place.
For the record, at the end of this dispatch, I attach Jeremy Bowen’s full diary entry (in which he makes the remarks above), together with two biographies of Chris Gunness. Gunness worked for the BBC for 23 years in senior editorial positions in both television and radio.
So it turns out that the UNWRA spokesman condemning Israel for “war crimes” that in fact never happened, is a former BBC World Service correspondent and producer who is a close friend of the current BBC Chief Middle East Correspondent who helped spread these allegations. Can it be that the false claims about Israel coming from two august institutions, the BBC and UNWRA, are in the hands of two friends who might just have a world view not sympathetic to Israel?
The BBC World Service and UNRWA are both funded by the British government. UNRWA receives huge amounts of money from many other countries too. Earlier this month, the Obama administration announced it would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the considerable funds it has already supplied UNRWA, an organization accused of allowing the promotion of suicide bombing and martyrdom to be taught at the schools it pays for and administers.