Please could someone tell Jim Muir. He doesn’t seem to have a clue. He’s unapologetic about it though.

Look, we’ve had the tears for Arafat episode. How many times does the BBC need to hear that they are notto take sides?

Where to start, where Muir gives us the film-set intro or where he describes the origins of Hamas’ success as being among ‘men of undoubted and bearded piety’?

Right there, I’m angry. Does Muir not know what happened to men who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) grow beard in Afghanistan, another land of men of ‘undoubted and bearded piety’?

According to the BBC’s beloved, Amnesty, ‘Men whose beard or hair length was found not to conform with Taleban regulations were beaten, often with metal cables.’

That’s the piety of radical Islam. It’s only a bad novelist who would pretend otherwise.

But hang on a moment, is Muir implying that the movement was essentially launched through Israeli injustice in the 90’s (a vague backdrop never clearly explained)? He doesn’t bother to mention that the ‘spiritual’ leader Yassin registered it in 1978! Romance, combined with anti-factualism.

Also, against this heroic backdrop, what does it mean to talk about the ‘relatively benign’ Muslim Brotherhood. Relative to what?

And what does it mean, in what time frame, to say ‘as the situation worsened’? There is no reference point for this vaguely described trend. He surely can’t he mean as Bill Clinton bent over backwards to give the Palestinians what they wanted (excepting the destruction of Israel) through the Oslo process?

And, for Muir’s information, sending homicide bombers to kill civilians doesmake them a terrorist organisation, and not just to the eye.

The numerical argument to justify the Palestinians endorsement of this (which, btw, Muir does not acknowledge) is scandalous. Does Muir not realise that there is a crucial difference at work in the calculations- there is no definition of a Palestinian soldier from which to identify civilian deaths? Even Palestinian women and children have been suicide bombers (and I’d be interested to know, by the way, whether the bombers themselves get counted as Palestinian casualties). One theory I hold to is that the Israelis are just far more competent soldiers, so fewer get killed. Furthermore, when Palestinian suicide bombers attack, they go for cafes, buses, the kind of place only civilians are: Israeli military casualties indicate failure due to interception (at least regarding the dominant means of murdering, suicide bombing). The opposite is the case for Israelis offensives against Palestinians, where civilian casualties are a major propaganda defeat. Muir is so uninformative it is quite literally unreal.

There was no justification for a vote for the murderers. That is the only defence the Palestinians have: that of lack of choice. Which makes a mockery of Muir’s last sentence, ‘And many Arab regimes, on which Yasser Arafat modelled his Palestinian set-up, must also be shuddering at the thought of what might happen if real democracy is let loose on them.’

I could go on. A dozen or so brazen lies demand hundreds of points of refutation; that’s the nature of a real lie. But hopefully people in the comments will continue the work. Fisks away! (there’s so much more to say! And thank you, too, because I’m not sure I’d have found this Muir fabrication without comments- especially DFH, whose excellent blog also makes its point).

I followed this link to an “On This Day” article about the 1985 airlift by Israel of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. I have no bias complaints about that article itself. It actually said that the Jews had suffered particular president under “Marxist President Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam.” But I noticed several funny things about the “Timeline Israel/Palestinians” covering the 1950s to the present.

I’m afraid this is going to take some space to demonstrate. Below I have posted the entire timeline. I couldn’t cut and paste for some reason so I typed it out myself. The only thing I have edited out because they were too tedious to type is the exact dates; other than that these are the BBC’s own words in full. I have, however, changed the original font or added reference symbols in the following four cases:

1) Headlines where Israel or Israelis (category includes “Jewish” as no non-Israeli Jews are mentioned) are identified as doing violent acts have been put in italics. I counted 17.

2) Headlines where Arabs (category covers any Arab nationality or political group) are identified as doing violent acts are marked with an asterisk (*). I counted 5.

It would be absurd to expect exactly equal numbers. However the discrepancy between the category above and this one is surprising: no Arab is mentioned as carrying out any violent act until 1973 (“Arab states launch war on Israeli forces.) The second explicit mention of Arab violence, and the first explicit mention of Palestinians as the authors of violence, does not come until 1996 (“Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv kills 12”). Then there are three more, all in 2001 for some reason.

3) Headlines where no race or nationality is attributed to the authors of a violent act but it was actually carried out by Arabs have been put in bold. I counted 18.

The most striking of these was one from 1974, “Teenagers die in Israeli school attack.” Anyone would think the proto-Beslan at Ma’alot was carried out by the Israelis.

The BBC’s reluctance to ascribe violent acts to Palestinian authors has had a paradoxically un-PC effect. In this so-called “Israel/Palestinians” timeline the word Palestinian is not mentioned until 1987.

4) Headlines where no race or nationality is attributed to the authors of a violent act but it was actually carried out by Israelis are marked with a hash (#) sign. I counted 3. Again, it would be absurd to expect exact equality between the previous category and this one, but 18:3 is a startling ratio. I think I see a pattern here.

Headlines mentioning violence by both sides and violence within either side have been left unclassified. Warlike but non-lethal acts have been left unclassified. Headlines mentioning violent acts where who carried them out is controversial have been left unclassified.

This timeline is also unfair to the Palestinians in that the large number of Palestinians killed in the Intifada are not mentioned. I do not refer to actual terrorists but to stone-throwers and civilians who were not carrying out violence at all. Even those sypmathetic to Israel must concede that this is a large category. Possibly the fact that they tended to die by ones and twos means that there were few headline stories.

The BBC timeline follows:

Timeline Israel/Palestinians

1950s:

1953 Israeli raids on Jordan.

1955 Egyptian and Israeli fighters clash over Gaza.

1956 Egypt siezes Suez Canal.

1956 Israeli troops move into Sinai.

1956 Anglo-French forces bomb Suez.

1956 UN forces British to agree withdrawal from Suez.

1957 Israel to pull out of Gaza under UN pressure.

1960s:

1965 West Germany and Israel establish relations.

1967 UN to withdraw peace force from Sinai.

1967 Nasser bans Israeli ships from Gulf of Aqaba.

1967 Egypt and Jordan unite against Israel.

1967 Jordan moves tanks towards Israel.

1967 Moshe Dayan appointed defence minister

1967 Israel launches attack on Egypt.

1967 Israel ends Six Day War.

1967 Moscow calls for UN action against Israel.

1970s:

1970 New peace plan for Middle East.

1970 Hundreds held in series of hijacks.

1970 Hijacked jets destroyed by guerillas.

1972 Israel commandos storm hijacked jet.

1972 Japanese kill 26 at Tel Aviv airport.

1973 Parcel bomb attack on Israeli embassy.

1973 Arab states launch war on Israeli forces.*

1973 Egypt and Israel sign historic ceasefire.

1973 Israel’s founding father died.

1974 Violent border clashes at Golan Heights.

1974 Teenagers die in Israeli school attack.

1974 Dozens die as Israel retaliates for Ma’alot.

1976 Israelis rescue Entebbe hostages.

1977 Egyptian leader’s Israel trip makes history.

1978 Sadat in US for Mid-East talks.

1978 Israel invades Southern Lebanon.

1978 Israel troops leave Southern Lebanon.

1978 Two dead after El Al crew ambushed.

1978 Arab-Israeli breakthrough in US.

1979 Israel and Egypt shake hands on peace deal.

1980s:

1981 Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor.

1981 Egypt’s President Sadat assassinated.

1982 Israeli ambassador shot in London.

1982 Israel invades Lebanon.

1982 PLO leader forced from Beirut.

1982 Refugees massacred in Beirut camps.

1983 Sharon quits after massacre enquiry.

1983 39 troops killed in Lebanon car bomb.

1985 Israel ends major Ethiopian rescue mission.

1985 Gunmen hijack Italian cruise liner.

1985 Gunmen kill 16 at two European airports.

1986 Nuclear technician missing after secrets leak.

1987 Palestinian intifada begins.

1988 Dead heat in Israel elections.

1988 Arafat recognises State of Israel.

1989 Six killed in West Bank village raid. #

1990s:

1991 Bush opens historic Mid-East peace conference.

1993 Israel launches major attack on Southern Lebanon.

1993 Israeli Court sets Demjanjuk free.

1993 Rabin and Arafat shake on peace deal.

1993 Israel and the PLO agree to recognise each other.

1994 Jewish settler kills 30 at holy site.

1994 Yasser Arafat ends 27 year exile.

1994 Israel’s London embassy bombed.

1994 Israelis and Arafat share peace prize.

1994 Israel and Jordan make peace.

1995 Palestinian self rule in West Bank agreed.

1995 Israeli PM shot dead.

1995 Shimon Peres appointed Prime Minister.

1995 Nablus handed to Palestinian Authority.

1995 Israeli troops withdraw from Bethlehem.

1996 Suicide bomber kills 19 on a Jerusalem bus.

1996 Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv kills 12.*

1996 Israel bombs Hezbollah bases in Lebanon.

1996 Clashes at Al-Aqsa shrine in Jerusalem.

1997 Israel gives Hebron to Palestinian Authority.

1997 Suicide bomb kills four in Tel Aviv café.

1997 Suicide bombings put peace visit in doubt.

1998 Further self-rule promised in Wye Memorandum.

1999 Revised Wye Accord aims to revive peace process.

2000s:

2000 Deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian talks.

2000 Israeli cabinet votes to leave Lebanon.

2000 Hezbollah makes gains in Lebanon.

2000 Hezbollah celebrates Israeli retreat.

2000 “Provocative” mosque visit sparks riots.

2000 Shocking images of boy shot in Gaza.

2000 Sharm El-Sheikh peace talks collapse.

2000 Ceasefire in Israel collapses as fighting erupts.

2001 Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister.

2001 Israel sends F-16 fighter planes to Gaza.

2001 Islamic Jihad bombs Tel Aviv disco.*

2001 Hamas bomb kills 15 in Jerusalem.*

2001 Israel kills PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa.

2001 PFLP assassinates Israeli tourism minister.*

2002 30 Palestinians killed in major offensive. #

2002 Suicide bomber kills 19 in Netanya hotel.

2002 Fifth suicide bomb in one month kills 14.

2002 Israeli troops besiege Arafat HQ.

2002 Israeli seige of Bethlehem begins.

2002 US calls on Israel to leave West Bank.

2002 Israeli soldiers die in Jenin ambush.

2002 Fierce fighting in Jenin and Nablus.

2002 Horror at pictures of Jenin in ruins.

2002 Powel peace mission ends in failure.

2002 Israel loosens grip on Jenin.

2002 Bethlehem siege ends – militants deported.

2002 Israelis begin building security wall.

2002 Suicide bomber kills 19 on Jerusalem bus.

2002 Israel kills Hamas leader Salah Shehada.

2003 Suicide bombers kill scores in Tel Aviv.

2003 Mahmoud Abbas to become first Palestinian PM.

2003 EU, UN, Russia and US launch Peace Roadmap.

2003 Israel tries to kill Hamas lead al-Rantissi.

2003 16 dead in Jerusalem suicide bus bomb.

2003 Abbas resigns after clash with Arafat.

2003 Geneva accords rejected.

2004 Sharon plans removal of settlements in Gaza.

2004 Israel kills Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

2004 New Hamas leader al-Rantissi killed. #

2004 Tourists killed in Egyptian resort bombings.

2004 Veteran leader Yasser Arafat is dead.

2005 Abbas triumphs in Palestinian elections.

2005 Israel completes Gaza settler evictions.

ADDED LATER: Here are some more. In the comments, Lee Moore writes: “I noticed this same headline tendency before, and this is a good example – a BBC page summarising Israel v Palestinians headlines in 2002.

Link to BBC story

There are twelve stories about Israelis committing violent acts and they are named eight times in the headlines for those stories. There are fourteen stories about Palestinians committing violent acts and they are named in the headlines for those stories….not once.”

Who was the typical attendee? Here are some pictures of the crowd and their banners. Note the preponderance of “Free Palestine” signs. (And the ones saying, “Victory to the Iraqi Resistance!”) However the BBC quotes an ex-soldier and a lady from CND.

(Via Rottweiler Puppy – read his comments – and House of Dumb)

UPDATE: Following Rottweiler Puppy’s links, I see that the BBC ran not one but two picture-series illustrating the demo. (I don’t remember them doing that for the ten times bigger Countryside Alliance march.) This series of ten pictures consists of: (1) Side view of the crowd, (2) Man with lots of badges, (3) Lady with sign saying “Make Tea not War”, (4) Crowd shot from front, centred on a Trade Union banner, (5) Two ex-soldiers carrying symbolic model coffin – note the caption states as bald fact that 100,000 people have been killed by the war, a highly controversial claim, (6) Peace choir, (7) Coffin guys again, (8) Hippy with quirky sign, (9) “Women say no to war” sign carried, not surprisingly, by women, and finally (10) a shot from the speech platform where Messrs Benn and Galloway graced the multitudes.

This series of eight pictures shows (1) Mum & kid, (2) guy with sign saying “End occupation now”, (3) old lady, (4) the “make tea, not war” lady again, (5) gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, (6) family with dog, (7) a young Asian girl in Western dress, bareheaded, (8) Andrew Murray of the Stop The War Coalition. (And of the British Communist Party; not that you’d get any hint of that from the BBC.)

A splendid collection of lovable British eccentrics, eh? The BBC quotes a mother of two daughters who says their father is out there and who thinks it is nice that her girls can be around “people who care.” The Guardian says that, ‘Protesters sang: “George Bush, Uncle Sam, Iraq will be your Vietnam.”‘ Caringly, no doubt, but it is odd what a different tone the Guardian takes talking to the faithful compared to the BBC talking to a general audience.

Notably absent are crowd shots taken from such a distance that you can read a wide selection of banners, though picture (4) does show one “Free Palestine”. Compare them again to the pictures linked to earlier. I am told, though I do not know this from my own knowledge, that the green flags with Arabic writing are Hamas flags.

The BBC, somewhat defensively, mentions that the placards carried by the protesters were pre-printed. I must say at once that I recall from my own days attending CND and Anti-Nazi League marches that the distribution of banners may not accurately represent the distribution of opinion. That said, the banners do represent the people that the marchers are willing to be seen with.

All but one of these eighteen pictures focused on white people. Other reports of the march suggested that among the crowd there was quite a high percentage of non-white people, overwhelmingly Muslims. Many have enthused about the way Muslims have been brought into politics by this very issue. The Muslim Association of Britain, along with CND and the Stop the War Coalition, was one of the three organisations that organised the march. I fully support the right of people of all races, all religions and all opinions to peacefully demonstrate. But it is striking that the BBC, an organisation that usually goes out of its way to illustrate racial and religious diversity, should under-represent minorities and Muslims in traditional dress in its pictoral record of the demonstration.