Worcester/ Gaza
Worcester and Hamas are twins!
(Well, Worcester and Gaza.)
Labour councillor Alan Amos, who first suggested the twinning, said:
‘Like many I have watched the plight of the people of Gaza, seeing them get bombed and bombed by Israelis with advanced military weapons.”
See! See what you’ve encouraged BBC? Not sure what the purpose of twinning is, but in this case it seems to be a political statement. Has common sense departed?
Despite these conservative views the Metropolitan Police has sought Abdurraheem Green’s advice recently.
And the preacher himself insists that in spite of his conservative views about life in Britain he is “part of the solution” to extremism because young people listen to him.
“I surely have said some pretty radical things and maybe even written some radical things in the past,” he told Panorama. “But one thing I have been very consistent on is terrorism, participating in terrorist activities, violent revolution – is not something that I have ever thought was part of the religion of Islam.”
Some senior police officers argue it is vital to work with radicals because they have credibility amongst young British Muslims.
But some moderate scholars warn this is a dangerous road.
Sheikh Musa Admani, imam at London Metropolitan University, says if advice is sought from the radicals, or if they are funded with public money, then “Muslims are going to endorse them as a whole and so there’s the danger”.
All emphases added. It is not clear to me whether Sheik Musa Admani actually used the term radical himself, but the sentence about senior police officers is certainly the wording of the BBC writer. How odd that he or she uses the antithetical terms “conservative” and “radical” almost interchangeably.
Blanket coverage for Bono
Unfortunately with the wrong kind of blanket.
Bono is very busy; hassling world leaders, campaigning, singing in an American accent.
“You may not know much about it, but I bet you RECKON something”
(David Mitchell)
Celebrity opinions are just like any other opinions, but more passionate.
Please tell me I’m wrong. I can’t find anything on the BBC about the message Geert Wilders has received from Irving N. Jones on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home department.
(If anyone hasn’t seen Fitna yet it can be seen on Jihad Watch).
Wilders barred from UK: “would threaten community harmony and therefore public security”
The Telegraph’s report also seems rather inhibited, or am I imagining things.
“A spokesman told the daily Telegraph “The government opposes extremism in all its forms.” ” It will stop those who want to spread extremism hatred and violent messages from coming into our country”
So by stopping someone from coming into this country who wants to stop extremism hatred and violent messages, the government is stopping extremism hatred and violent messages?
Pull the other one.
Whatever side you’re on, it’s certainly a big news story, but maybe the BBC thinks making a big fuss would threaten community harmony and therefore public security.
If the BBC is not reporting this, or is playing it down, it is far more sinister than just another victory for Lord Ahmed.
Update:
A report has now appeared on the BBC website. Was I too quick to post or was the BBC a bit slow?
And if this comment, on Alice Cook’s economics blog UK Bubble, is correct, diversity is compulsory at CBeebies. The comment is by UK blogger Electro-Kevin.
I can’t bear to watch any soaps, police/hospital dramas … There is an overt left-wing bent in all of them. Even Life on Mars was supposed to be a snipe at bigotry but backfired as the audience (sick of crime) loved Gene Hunt.
I feel compelled to check BBC news sources with other channels for balance.
I’ve felt the need to write to David Dimbleby about his biased treatment of ‘right wing’ panelists.
My boy’s school was the site for a Cbeebies programme. A school comprising 95% white, they asked for ALL ethnic minority children to be used in filming. This resulted in Highwood Primary School looking 50% ethnic (not that I care) with a lot of kids disappointed. It wasn’t the ‘names out of a hat’ selection that would have given kids an even chance of being on their favourite programme.
Try explaining that to a 7-year-old who hasn’t even noticed colour yet !
Auntie’s definitely not right.
The BBC are collecting tributes to Scotland’s first Muslim MSP, Bashir Ahmed, who has died at 68.
All well and good. The tributes are paid across the political spectrum, from Labour and the Lib Dems to Tories and SNP.
The BBC also offer us a potted biography of Mr Ahmed.
He came to Scotland aged 21 and worked as a bus conductor and bus driver before buying his own shop.
He subsequently owned shops, restaurants and a hotel before retiring from business.
He was elected five times as president of the Pakistan Welfare Association.
In 1995 he founded Scots Asians for Independence, and he had been a member of the SNP’s national executive committee since 1998.
In 2003 he was elected as councillor for the Pollokshields East ward of Glasgow City Council.
He was elected as an SNP member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow region and Scotland’s first and only Asian MSP at the 2007 election.
He served on Cross Party Groups for Carers, Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Older People, Age and Ageing, Palestine and Tartan Day.
He was also a member of Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee.
As well as his political interests Bashir was an active member of the Asian and Muslim communities in Glasgow attending a number of the committees of various mosques in the city.
Maybe it’s just me. But I can’t help thinking that if, say, a Tory MSP had died, and his CV featured the disruption of a religious service in a mosque, as part of a campaign for more Christian schools, that the BBC would find room to mention it. Probably in the headline and the first paragraph.
Just like that, eh ? When there’s a ceasefire and all. Norman Geras compares the headlines on the latest Gaza trouble. Not that the BBC are the only ones with such a headline.
Guido pictures BBC correspondent and R5 presenter Anita Anand in her Obama hat.
Squander Two asks if “some banks and a couple of car manufacturers being in trouble are stiffer challenges than September the 11th ?“
And Dumb Jon reckons that “on the plus side, this does mean the week after the death of Princess Di is no longer the stupidest moment in modern pop culture“.
I’m afraid I wasn’t paying complete attention during the inaugural speech. Too busy scanning the skies waiting for the mothership to descend. But it seemed pretty inclusive. Bush was thanked for “his service to our country.” Lots of mention of “our forebears” and George Washington, to make it very clear that Obama knows what country he is president of and, despite certain unfortunate remarks, fully identifies with it. Yeah, there was some slightly partisan stuff about “We are ready to lead once more” but, look, you can scarcely come in as a new president having campaigned on a slogan of “change” then say, “well on second thoughts, I am now firmly resolved to run things in exactly the same way as the previous administration,” can you?
It was all so nice. (I also liked the bit where there were no explosions.) I’m not sure I didn’t have a sentimental tear in my eye as I wandered out into the kitchen to inaugurate a celebratory packet of digestive biscuits.
So twenty seconds after the man calls it a wrap with “… and God bless the United States of America” down stomps the BBC in size eleven hob-nailed Doc Martins. The first, the very first, thing that comes out of the post-speech commentary just had to be that Obama’s comment blah blah blah was “a missile into the heart of the previous administration.” Something like that anyway, and I think, but only think, it was Huw Edwards doing the idioting. Like I said, by this time my attention had wandered. So after all that I missed the moment when the prophecies were fulfilled: because, surely brothers, the BBC was destined to speak thus.
Obama did no more than indulge in some standard “new dawn” rhetoric. The man may be an economic ignoramus but – and this skill at performance may bring us good or ill – he knows very well indeed how to vary his demeanour to match the mood of the occasion. The BBC doesn’t.
