The BBC has decided not to report all the words of John Kerry…just the ones that suit its apparent anti-Israel agenda.

John Kerry is the US Secretary of State and is leading the effort to agree a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.  You might think his words would be worthy of some note by the BBC.  But no. Or rather, not all of them.

He said some important things two days ago in support of Israel but look as I may I cannot find them reported on the BBC website:

After airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza, Kerry backs Israel’s right to defend itself

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel “has every right in the world to defend itself” against attacks by Hamas in Gaza.

Kerry said Israel has long endured rocket attacks by Hamas, and no nation “would sit there while rockets are bombarding it.” He said “thousands of rockets” were being fired at Israel. “People can’t live that way.”

Kerry also cited tunnels constructed by Hamas in what he said is “an obvious effort” to try to kidnap Israelis.

He that it is “unacceptable by any standard anywhere in the world” and that Israel must protect its citizens.

In response to a question on ABC’s “This Week,” Kerry dismissed claims that Israel was committing genocide as “rhetoric that we’ve heard many, many times.”

Kerry turned his answer into an excoriation of Hamas and continued, “What they need to do is stop rocketing Israel and accept a ceasefire. It’s very, very clear that they’ve tunneled under Israel. They’ve tried to come out of those tunnels with people with handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs to capture Israeli citizens and hold them for ransom, or worse. They’ve been rocketing Israel with thousands of rockets.

“They’ve been offered a ceasefire, and they’ve refused to take the ceasefire. Even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire, they’ve just stubbornly invited further efforts to try to defuse the ability to be able to rocket Israel.”

Kerry placed responsibility for the escalation on Hamas, arguing that “when three young Israeli kids are taken and murdered, and Hamas applauds it and celebrates the fact that they were kidnapped and supported the kidnapping, and then starts rocketing Israel when they’re looking for the people who did it, that’s out of balance by any standard, George. And I think it’s important for people to remember the facts that led to this. Hamas needs to join up, be part of a solution, not the problem.”

The BBC on 5Live has just quoted Kerry saying that Israel has the right to defend itself….but two days later than The Times of Israel reported the same words.

The BBC instead chose to report this:

Gaza crisis: Kerry Israel air strike remarks caught on mic

Kerry said, apparently unaware it was being recorded: “It is a hell of a pinpoint operation. We’ve got to get over there.”

Mr Kerry later told Fox News he “reacted obviously in a way that, you know, anybody does with respect to, you know, young children and civilians.”

More than 500 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began 13 days ago, Gaza’s health ministry says.

Twenty Israelis – 18 of them soldiers – have died, Israel says, as it seeks to end rocket fire from Gaza.

Curiously the BBC has gone the other way in reporting the words of the UN’s Ban Ki-Moon, here on the web admitting that he says Israel had the right to defend itself…but then goes on to blame Israeli blockade for the rockets….er…isn’t the blockade in place because of the rockets?:

Mr Ban is due to travel to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and meetings with Palestinian officials in the West Bank.

Mr Ban said he appreciated Israel’s right to defend itself, but said restrictions on Gaza should be lifted “so that people should not resort to this kind of violence as a way of expressing their grievances”.

It was a different matter on the radio bulletins where the BBC preferred to report that Ban Ki-Moon had utterly condemned the Israelis….“dozens more civilians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza. I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.”

Anyone looking at the way the BBC has reported Kerry’s and Ban Ki-Moon’s words might rightly consider that the BBC has been trying to paint the Israelis in the blackest light possible.

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:

The Hamas guide to social media

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”.

Jonathan Freedland, who just a few minutes earlier Mishal Husain told us worked for the Guardian and the Jewish Chronicle but didn’t mention the BBC, pops up, yet again, on the BBC:

The Long View

Jonathan Freedland examines the current anxieties surrounding the teaching of history through the prism of history textbooks from around a century ago with his guests in front of an audience at the Chalke Valley History Festival.

What is the balance to be struck between dry facts and flamboyant descriptions? Should British history imbue children with a sense of patriotism and chronology?

This turned out to be just another excuse to deride Britain, Empire and all that….

Apparently British history is not something to be proud of…such abhorrent behaviour…how do you teach such history when there is so much revulsion towards Britain’s past?….for example Britain looted, oppressed and impoverished India and no Indian can talk positively about Britain because of that legacy.

Or so we are told by William Dalrymple.  William Dalrymple who is pro-Muslim, pro-‘native’, anti-British.

Why would the BBC choose him as their impartial voice of history and reasoned debate?

The other guest speakers were in a similar vein, the whole programme being, as said, a vehicle to rewrite history and to bash Britain.

Janet Daley suggests that such self-loathing by British intellectuals (Orwell too denounced such an attutude) allows others to provide a different narrative…and when the BBC is also promoting an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas terror narrative who can doubt she isn’t right?

British guilt over jihadis is for dummies

In order to persuade young Muslims that their allegiance belongs here, this country will have to question its own casual self-loathing

If we expect law-abiding, loyal Muslims to handle this problem, we are going to have to give them a lot more help. The parents and the mosques and the communities can condemn as much as they like – and to their credit they have done a great deal of that over recent months. But these are displaced people themselves who need support in order to understand the values of British culture. In order to persuade their sons (and some of their daughters too) that their allegiance belongs to this country, Britain will have to question its own casual self-loathing. And the West will need to consider the larger consequences of its cynical isolationism.

Interesting, as always, couple of exchanges with Nicky Campbell this morning on ‘Your Call’.

Campbell emphasised this is about ‘your calls’…just a shame that that isn’t necessarily true…step over the BBC imposed line of what is ‘acceptable’ and you’ll find ‘your call’ gets you a self-righteous and sanctimonious telling off from Campbell.

This morning’s effort was about the conflict in Gaza…though I would object to that narrow term of reference…the BBC has been insisting on limiting its reporting of casualties in Gaza starting only from when the Israeli counter-attacks began….which kind of puts the blame on Israel….ignoring the hundreds of rockets that are launched at Israel every year and neglecting the fact that the attacks began in 1948 when the Muslims first tried to wipe out the Jews…something they are still intent on accomplishing.

Campbell though keeps up the chosen narrative asking ‘What do you think of the slaughter of the innocent people in Gaza?’

Nothing prejudiced and emotive about that at all.

However when a caller comes on (23 mins) and says that a sizeable majority of Arabs are not interested in peace with Israel and that a sizeable proportion of Muslims aren’t interested in living in peace with the rest of mankind Campbell objects to the tone of the language used.

Campbell says ‘With every respect that’s an incendiary thing to say, it’s a highly inflammatory thing to say….em..peace loving…em..some would say that’s extremely islamophobic.’

The caller reels off a list of Muslim atrocities and intentions…Campbell tries to ignore the implications by claiming the caller is conflating entirely unrelated issues…except of course they are all related by one issue…and wraps up with the thought that ‘People will draw their own conclusions about what you said and why you said it.’

Really?  Why he said it?   What did Campbell mean?  Isn’t this the usual BBC brush off of open and honest discussion about a serious issue with the shout of ‘racist’…or rather ‘islamophobe!!’?

All so different though when a pro-Palestinian comes on(33 mins)  and tells us that Israel is a terrorist state inflicting terror upon the Palestinians.

Campbell merely asks the next caller what she thinks of that idea.  No outrage from Campbell, no condescending censure.

Shelagh Fogarty carries on the good work later….she has a couple of quick comments from Israelis then a long interview with a Palestinian, a ‘Gaza mother’….Fogarty asks, amongst other things, ‘What do you say to your 6 year when he says to you ‘When is it my turn to die’.

Any proof at all that the 6 year old boy said that?  Or is that the invention of Hamas’ media unit?

How well briefed Fogarty was on the plight of this woman and her family.  The producer or researcher must have had along discussion with this ‘mother’ before the interview and determined which especially affecting bits they wanted to be emphasised. Pure propaganda from Hamas aided by the BBC.

Fogarty finishes with the thought that this ‘mother of 5’ doesn’t want to talk politics and refuses to talk about Hamas, Fogarty emphasises this and says that she only wants to talk as ‘a mother’ and that this makes her words all the more powerful.

OK…except is there any doubt that every word the woman spoke was approved by a Hamas offical stood nearby?  She didn’t want to talk about Hamas because then she couldn’t be drawn into any discussion about the rights and wrongs of Hamas’ behaviour.

Her refusal to talk politics was itself ‘politics’.  Shame the BBC aren’t honest enough to admit that…they must have known the ‘mother’ had a minder as they interviewed her….as do all their journalists in Gaza.

Kill All The Jews

Let’s just remind ourselves what the Palestinians teach their children…from The Commentator:

The anti-Semitic terror group Hamas, which runs the Gaza strip and which has recently moved to reconcile differences with the Palestinian Authority, came under renewed criticism on Monday after revelations reached the West that Hamas TV had just run a broadcast openly telling children to kill all the Jews.
Watchdog organisation Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), reported that, “on the weekly Hamas TV children’s program Tomorrow’s Pioneers this week. The young Hamas TV host Rawan talks to a young girl in the studio named Tulin, who tells her she wants to be a police officer when she grows up. The child host directs her to the conclusion that as a police officer she would shoot “all the Jews.”

Child host (Rawan): “Tulin, why do you want to be a police officer? Like who?”

Girl (Tulin): “Like my uncle.” …

Child host: “OK, so what does a policeman do?”

Nahul (an adult in a giant bee costume): “He catches thieves, and people who make trouble.”

Child host: “And shoots Jews. Right?”

Girl: “Yes.”

Child host: “You want to be like him?”

[Girl nods]

Child host: “Allah willing, when you grow up.”

Girl: “So that I can shoot Jews.”

[Nahul the bee claps his hands]

Child host: “All the Jews? All of them?”

Girl: “Yes.”

Child host: “Good.”

On Wednesday Owen Jones made a rather surprising claim in the Guardian (Jones never lets a bandwagon go by without jumping aboard)…that the BBC was pro-Israeli:

‘Israel under renewed Hamas attack’, says the BBC. More balance is needed

The macabre truth is that Israeli life is deemed by the western media to be worth more than a Palestinian life – this is the hierarchy of death at work

The media coverage hardly reflects the reality: a military superpower armed with F-15 fighter jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, Delilah missiles, IAI Heron-1 drones and Jericho II missiles (and nuclear bombs, for that matter), versus what David Cameron describes as a “prison camp” firing almost entirely ineffective missiles. Twenty-seven Palestinians are reported to have died in Gaza – and, mercifully, no Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets – and yet the BBC opts for the Orwellian “Israel under renewed Hamas attack”.

The BBC is a public broadcaster, duty-bound to provide balanced reports that accurately reflect the reality on the ground. It is failing to do so, and it is up to licence payers – to whom it is accountable – to demand that it does.

Incredible that Jones manages to ignore every other headline from the BBC or their continuous reports of Israeli bombardments of Gaza killing ‘Palestinians’…and oh yes…The Palestinians may have fired off a few ricketty homemade rockets into the deserts of Israel where absolutely no one was hurt.

So BBC…tell us who all those ‘Palestinians’ were…just how many were Hamas terrorists?

Why is it that it is always ‘Palestinian medics’ who the BBC report as the source of casualty figures…why not the true source…Hamas propagandists who control everything the media does and sees in Gaza?  The BBC won’t use ‘terrorist’ but will use ‘medic’…adopting Hamas’ own preferred narrative.

Later in the day the BBC’s Kevin Connolly came on to the Sheila Fogarty show (51 mins 35 sec) to talk about events in Gaza….he told us that essentially Israel is to blame for the Hamas rocket firing…a response to Israel’s extensive search for the three kidnapped teenagers.

Connolly goes on to say that Hamas’ only weapon against Israel (and her aggressive, violent attacks on Gaza?) is these rockets…the subtext to that is that Israel is the aggressor and Hamas is almost defenceless against that aggression….which Connolly actually says later in the piece as he describes the bombing of a Hamas house which Hamas used as a propaganda opportunity….demonstrating Connolly thought the power of Israel against which Hamas is defenceless….which again puts the blame for the violence squarely in Israel’s court.

Connolly talks of the power of images in such a war and how they alter perceptions…Fogarty agrees that images have a huge impact on how we see situations….and tells us that it shows how important it is that journalists are there to bring us the truth about those images.  Had to laugh about that considering the BBC’s past record on photos from the conflict.

Connolly today put that down in print.…but made a much more rounded effort in describing the motivations of both sides:

Gaza-Israel conflict: What can Israel and Hamas gain?

Note that he changes the words…whereas he said rockets were Hamas’ only ‘weapon’ in the radio report here he replaces ‘weapon’ with ‘tool’:

The only tool Hamas had at its disposal to respond to the round-up was rocket fire from Gaza – and those arrests were reason enough for that bombardment to intensify.

That changes the perception of Hamas…from being aggressive, even in what it claims is its defence, to a more technical, neutral term that removes that violent subtext.

Connolly still downplays the effectiveness of Palestinian rockets:

Lots of the rockets in Gaza are workshop weapons.

What he doesn’t mention are the thousands of highly effective missiles imported from Iran.

Connolly does at least admit that Hamas may be using civilians as human shields and a propaganda weapon, or is that propaganda tool?…

Hamas’s military leaders might be calculating that the sight of Palestinian civilians suffering under terrifying aerial bombardment will force the Palestinian Authority to show much greater solidarity and prompt Arab governments to show more support.

Hamas might reason that there were few advantages in keeping the peace whereas once hostilities have started it can demand concessions for agreeing to end them.

Connolly goes on to admit perceptions can be manipulated by Hamas….

Israel might argue that it’s trying to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas is trying to cause them. But television pictures of civilian dead in Gaza – especially children – will help shape perceptions of Israel round the world.

And he alludes to the possible terrors of Israeli civilians under rocket bombardment, but doesn’t go into detail…..

To the outside world the Gaza rockets may seem ineffective – partly because many are homemade and partly because they’re hopelessly overmatched by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defence system.

But Israeli civilians judge the rockets by the intent behind them and not by their military effectiveness. They are grimly familiar with the ritual of running for shelter with their children when they hear a 15-second warning. They expect their government to put a stop to it.

Connolly should perhaps give more time to reporting the effects of the missiles on Israelis:

In May 2007, a significant increase in rocket attacks from Gaza prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents from Sderot.^[157] According to the United Nations, 40 percent of the city’s residents left in the last two weeks of May.^[158] During the summer of 2007, 3,000 of the city’s 22,000 residents (comprising mostly the city’s key upper and middle class residents)^{[citation needed]} left for other areas, out of rocket range.

During the 2008–2009 conflict, a large section of the residents of Ashkelon, a southern coastal city put in range of Grad-type rockets since the beginning of the conflict, fled the city for the relative safety of central and northern Israel.^[159] On January 10–11, according to Israeli media, 40 percent of the residents fled the city, despite calls by the Mayor to stay.^[160]

In February 2009, the BBC reported that 3,000 of Sderot’s 24,000 residents had “upped and left.”^[1]

A few quibbles with his web reportbut it was  generally fairly balanced, his radio report seeming more inclined to play up the ‘defencelessness’ of Hamas against the military might of Israel…..ignoring the fact that all the bombing would stop if Hamas stopped rocketing or otherwise attacking Israel and agreed a permanent ceasefire.

And Owen Jones…he is of course just a professional contrarian who has to ‘protest’ every ‘right-on’ cause to maintain his leftwing credentials and keep the paychecks rolling in in exchange for his not so unique brand of leftwing demagogy.

Good to hear on the BBC (2 mins) that  ‘Israel continues to bomb Gaza in defiance of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has called for an end to Israeli airstrikes.’

Nicky Campbell talking to an Israeli military spokesman earlier in the day (09:41) was busy making equivalence between the Israeli government and the terrorist organisation Hamas.

After asking if the Israeli airstrikes might be described as a ‘barrage of aggression’ he suggested ‘some people might think‘ that as well as Israelis living in fear perhaps Palestinian children are also living in fear at the moment because of those airstrikes asking ‘What would you say to those families?’.

He went on to say there is a [fair] comparison between civilian deaths.

But there isn’t.  You cannot separate out the intentions of the various State actors.  Hamas deliberately targets Israeli civilians whilst Israel does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties.

Campbell seems to think that Israel should not defend itself and should sit back and shrug off any amount of bombardment….philosophising that violence only begets more violence.

All very easy when sat in the comfort of a radio station in the safety of the UK.

The relative safety of the UK I should say…because Nicky Campbell has been traumatised by violence here…..as reported by the Mail today.

‘I was spat on because I tackled litter yobs’, says Five Live host Nicky Campbell

Nicky Campbell has revealed how he was left ‘extremely upset’ when  litter louts spat on him  outside his home.

The Radio 5 Live Breakfast host was verbally abused and ‘showered’ with spit when he confronted the gang of yobs for ripping open bin bags and kicking rubbish all over his street.

Speaking for the first time about the emotional impact of the attack in Clapham, south London, he said he had to be comforted afterwards by his wife Tina.

‘I asked them very politely to put [the litter] in a bin and they covered me in spittle all over my hair,’ he told this week’s Radio Times.

‘I walked back home and then I went upstairs and had a shower and lay on the bed.

‘I called Tina and she came up and I talked to her about it and I was extremely upset.

Although the incident occurred in 2011, it appears from Mr Campbell’s comments that it has had a lasting impact and remains in the forefront of his mind.

The shocking encounter happened just weeks after the father of four found himself having to chase a burglar from his property.

After being alerted by the family’s golden Labrador, Maxwell, he jumped out of bed naked at 5am to confront the thief who was trying to steal his £600 bike from the garden.

At the time Mr Campbell said: ‘I ran downstairs, opened the back door and flew out with Maxwell beside me.

‘My body parts were dangling in the wind. I just wanted to get him. I was pumping with adrenaline.’

However the burglar fled the property empty-handed. ‘If I’d caught him I don’t know what I’d have done – probably hit him,’ Mr Campbell added.

‘Or maybe I would have tried to sit on him naked until the police arrived – that would have traumatised him for life.

‘Something primordial took over…’

Interesting how a bit of abusive language and being spat at can have a lasting impact on the traumatised Campbell…and how he just wanted to hit a burglar.

Guess Campbell applies a different standard for Israelis who have been under attack by Muslims for over 60 years, living under the threat, once again, of annihilation.

Is that really why a peace settlement hasn’t been negotiated in the last 20 years…or is it more likely that this is the problem?:

In December 2006, Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the PA, declared that the PA will never recognize Israel: “We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem.”

That was in 2006….but just a few days ago things hadn’t changed:

Hamas won’t recognise Israel

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Hamas will never recognise Israel and will not accept the conditions laid out by the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, according to the Islamist movement’s deputy leader.

Speaking late on Saturday, Mussa Abu Marzuq said Hamas, which recently signed a reconciliation deal with the Western-backed Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank, would never agree to recognise Israel.

“We will not recognise the Zionist entity,” he said at a press conference in Gaza City

Recognising Israel is one of the key conditions laid out in the 2003 peacemaking roadmap of the Middle East Quartet, which brings together the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

The other two key demands are a renunciation of violence and acceptance of all prior agreements with Israel.

And considering the Israelis suspended talks because Fatah joined up with Hamas you might think that was the real problem:

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, accused the western-backed Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of forming an alliance with Hamas, which he called “a terrorist organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel” – and hinted at further retaliatory measures.

“What has happened is a great reverse for peace, because we had hoped the Palestinian Authority [PA] president Abbas would embrace the Jewish state, the idea of two nation states, Palestinian one and a Jewish one,” Netanyahu told NBC. “But instead, he took a giant leap backward.”

“If Abbas is back to doing business with an organisation that refuses to recognise Israel and believes in armed resistance, one cannot blame the Israeli government for abandoning the peace process.”

And yet Bowen thinks the major problem is the Settlements…Settlements are an issue but not the major one bearing in mind that the Palestinians have agreed to exchange settlements for other land handed over by Israel.

The problems are much deeper than the shallow, simplistic accusations Bowen makes in his Tweets…it’s a very selective choice of what was in the Ynetnews article in which the American’s attitude was called into question.

The US did indeed try and blame the settlement issue for a failure of talks:

The American version of why the current round of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians failed is fundamentally different to the one presented by Israeli officials. The list of those to blame for this failure is also very different. From the US perspective, the issue of the settlements was largely to blame.

You can get an inkling of the US attitude to Israel, apart from Obama not seeming personally interested, in this comment by one of the American team:

“One of the Palestinians who participated in the talks told an Israeli participant: ‘You don’t see us. We’re transparent, we’re hollow.’ He had a point. After the second intifada ended and the separation barrier was built, the Palestinians turned into ghosts in the eyes of the Israelis – they couldn’t see them anymore.”

Ynet: It almost sounds like you wish for an intifada.

“Quite the opposite, it would be a tragedy. The Jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. You’re supposed to know how to read the map: In the 21st century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation. The occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world and threatens Israel as a Jewish state.”

However, earlier in the interview one said: “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.”

Ynet: The world is being self-righteous. It closes its eyes to China’s takeover of Tibet, it stutters at what Russia’s doing to Ukraine.

“Israel is not China. It was founded by a UN resolution. Its prosperity depends on the way it is viewed by the international community.”

Not quite sure why the way Israel was created is relevant…either it is a sovereign, legitimate nation or it isn’t, regardless of its origin.

The American team give a version of events that favours only the Palestinians and damns the Israelis…here even when Abbas rejects the deal it’s still the Israeli’s fault:

He was willing to give the process one final chance, but found, according to him, that he has no partner on the Israeli side. His legacy won’t include a peace agreement with Israel.

“In February, Abbas arrived at a Paris hotel for a meeting with Kerry. He had a lingering serious cold. ‘I’m under a lot of pressure,’ he complained. ‘I’m sick of this.’ He rejected all of Kerry’s ideas. A month later, in March, he was invited to the White House. Obama presented the American-formulated principles verbally – not in writing. Abbas refused.

“The claim on your side that Abbas was avoiding making decisions is not true. He wasn’t running away, he was just stuck.”

Not Abbas’ fault at all then.

No wonder Bowen wants to draw attention to this interview…unattributed by name to anyone…just ‘the team’of American negotiators beating up on Israel….bearing in mind their boss, John Kerry, used the phrase ‘apartheid state’ in relation to Israel.

Question is why would Bowen like to point to the Settlements as the major issue rather than Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel and its stated desire to wipe Israel off the map?

“Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. Allahu akbar!”

The Muslim Brotherhood….loveable rogues….or as Jeremy Bowen declared them:

“conservative, moderate and non-violent”.

Later updated, corrected, to this:

Though you might argue with the ‘non-violent’ bit as well……Hamas being a Muslim Brotherhood group.

And never mind this…..

The Muslim Brotherhood’s goal, as stated by Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was to reclaim Islam’s manifest destiny, an empire, stretching from Spain to Indonesia…..

Muslim Brotherhood goal: Islamic world domination  – “…the Islamic Ummah [nation]… can regain its power, be liberated and assume its rightful position which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the teachers of humanity…”
– “…know your status, so that you firmly believe that you are the masters of the world, even if your enemies desire your degradation…”

– “It should be known that Jihad and preparation for Jihad are not only for the purpose of fending-off assaults and attacks against Muslims by Allah’s enemies, but are also for the purpose of realizing the great task of establishing an Islamic state, strengthening the religion and spreading it around the world…”  [So not ‘defensive’ in the way you might interpret the word ‘defensive’…more along the lines of ‘pre-emptive attack is the best form of defence’]

– “…Jihad for Allah is not limited to the specific region of the Islamic countries. The Muslim homeland is one and is not divided. The banner of Jihad has already been raised in some of its parts, and it shall continue to be raised, with the help of Allah, until every inch of the land of Islam will be liberated, the State of Islam will be established…”

Means: Jihad – a mandatory religious duty. “This is followed by the power of arms and weapons… This is the role of Jihad.”

“You should be prepared to answer the call of Jihad whenever you are called, in any region of the Islamic world. Our Islam is universal not regional, and all Islamic countries are one homeland. Go out to battle, oh believers, young and old, by foot or on horseback, under all circumstances and conditions”

So non-violent?…..‘Go out to battle, oh believers…..‘

Sounds fairly unviolent…depends on the context I suppose!

Why is that of interest?

The BBC reports:

David Cameron orders review of Muslim Brotherhood

Prime Minister David Cameron has commissioned a review of the Muslim Brotherhood’s UK activity, No 10 says.

The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist movement which has been declared a terrorist group by Egypt’s government.

Number 10 said the review would examine the group’s philosophy and activities, and the government’s policy towards it.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that the “main conclusions” of the review, which is due to be completed by the summer, would be made public.

The BBC still reports this:

‘Says it rejects use of violence and supports democratic principles’

and this:

Whitehall officials have suspected for some time that a small number of people belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood here in the UK also have links to violent extremism.

But these are believed to be individual cases rather than part of a collective policy.

Ahhh….so once again we’re being told the Muslim Brotherhood is really an organisation ‘of peace and tolerance’…and it’s just a small group, no doubt perverting the Muslim Bortherhood’s true beliefs.

Perhaps Frank Gardner, security expert, should read up a bit more on the Muslim Brotherhood and their beliefs and aims.

The BBC tells us that this is its most famous slogan:

“Islam is the solution.”

I might suggest that this is the more famous, or infamous one…curious the BBC doesn’t quote such a well known ‘slogan’:

“Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. Allahu akbar!”

I look forward with interest to the government’s conclusions…though as ‘ No 10 has not provided any details on which bodies are to be involved in the review’ it is difficult to judge just how genuine the appraisal will be….certain groups will no doubt try to influence the outcome in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood and downplay their dangerous beliefs and activities.

And let’s not forget there are many that are happy to ignore such things if it gets them a vote or two…… the SNP were desperate to get Osama Saeed, a Muslim Association of Britain member (part of the Muslim brotherhood), as one of its MPs.

Talk about selling their soul for the ethnic vote.

Scottish National Party to endorse Islamist candidate

Later today, Friday 17 April [2009], Osama Saeed will be endorsed by the Scottish National Party (SNP) as their prospective parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central by Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson MP at a rally at the SNP’s spring conference in Glasgow. If elected to Westminster, Saeed, a former spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain (a front-group for the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s largest Islamist movement), will be the UK’s first ever openly Islamist MP.

His world vision:

The return of the caliphate

Mark Goldring, Oxfam’s chief exec…..Jewish?

If so bit of an irony all considered….Perhaps he should boycott himself.

The BBC’s report on Oxfam getting dumped by its star face is pretty light on the important facts:

Scarlett Johansson quits Oxfam role over SodaStream row

This is how it wraps up:

The company’s chief executive, Daniel Birnbaum, said his factory was “a model for peace”.

“We’re very proud to be here and contribute to the co-existence and hopefully the peace in this region,” he told Reuters news agency.

However, away from the factory, Reuters quoted one unnamed Palestinian employee as saying “there’s a lot of racism” at work.

“Most of the managers are Israeli, and West Bank employees feel they can’t ask for pay rises or more benefits because they can be fired and easily replaced,” he added.

Really? A racist factory?  Any facts to back that up?  Any BBC reporter on the ground?  Or is it just random anti-Israeli abuse?

Funny how one of the world’s biggest news gathering media corporations can miss this:

Arab SodaStream workers applaud their CEO

The Forward went to the SodaStream factory in Mishor Adumim and spoke to the CEO, Daniel Birnbaum.

He shows that he is far more pro-Palestinian than all of the “pro-Palestinian activists” combined.
[T]hough he wouldn’t have opened the factory at its current site, Birnbaum said that its presence here is now a reality, and he won’t bow to political pressure to close it — even though the company is about to open a huge new plant in the Negev, within Israel’s internationally-recognized boundaries, which will replicate all functions of the West Bank plant, and dwarf it.

The reason for staying is loyalty to approximately 500 Palestinians who are among the plant’s 1,300 employees, Birnbaum claimed. While other employees could relocate on the other side of the Green Line if the plant moved, the West Bank Palestinian workers could not, and would suffer financially, he argued.

“We will not throw our employees under the bus to promote anyone’s political agenda,” he said, adding that he “just can’t see how it would help the cause of the Palestinians if we fired them.”

“We are making history for the Palestinian people and the Israeli people,” he told them in Hebrew, followed by a translator who rendered his comments into Arabic. Birnbaum reassured the workers about their jobs and said he wanted to bring “more and more hands” into the factory as SodaStream grows.

The Palestinians applauded these comments. But then Birnbaum added with a flourish: “Scarlett Johannson would be proud of you!” And at the sound of Johannson’s name — even before the translation — applause among the assembly of mostly male, 30-something Palestinian workers burst out again, palpably louder.

During discussions between a Forward reporter and about a half-dozen of these Palestinian employees, conducted out of earshot of Israeli managers, none complained of labor abuses, or of receiving pay below the Israeli minimum wage. Asked about the calls by anti-occupation activists to boycott SodaStream, one spoke about the dearth of jobs in the Palestinian Authority economy.

So who cares more about Palestinian Arabs – SodaStream or the Israel haters?

Nothing like a bit of hypocrisy from Oxfam…guess money talks……

Sainsbury’s recycling centres across the country receive the highest volume of donations for Oxfam in the UK beyond its own shops.

Some more hypocrisy from the Guardian and an Indian Marxist:

Vijay Prashad…an Indian….a Marxist….what does he have to say about the Indian Caste system?  What does he say about the way India occupies and terrorises Kashmir if you believe Pakistan?

What does he make of ‘Pakistan’….a piece of India stolen and occupied by Muslims having driven out the Hindus and Sikhs and in which no Christian or Amahdiya Muslim can feel safe?

How about the Pakistan that funds its proxy army in Afghanistan…the Taliban..the same Taliban that is killing Afghans and Allied troops? The Paskistan that essentially occupied Afghanistan and stripped it of its industry and wealth?

How about the Pakistan that has hundreds of terrorist training camps churning out terrorists who head off to India or Kashmir to do their worst with the blessing of Pakistani Intelligence?

Boycott Pakistan?  Or India?  Life is complicated eh?

Never mind the murderous Palestinian Hamas and Fatah organisations.

Oh so different a couple of years ago when the Guardian was happy to take a upbeat look at Soda Stream……..

The 1980s DIY drinks machine has been given a revamp by green designer Yves Béhar. He tells us why eco is the only way.

Ironically, the situation is the opposite in Britain: London’s design scene is thriving, but there’s little manufacturing in the UK to benefit from all that talent. SodaStream, a British invention and for decades a British-owned brand, is only getting its eco-crusading revamp now it’s been acquired by an Israeli private equity group.

If more designers thought like Béhar, perhaps they’d be allowed to fix big problems, too.

You may see the relevance of this photograph of Muslims making the Quenelle gesture when you listen to this broadcast about the decisive battle against Muslim invaders into Europe…

The Battle of Tours (Poitiers)

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Tours. In 732 a large Arab army invaded Gaul from northern Spain, and travelled as far north as Poitiers. There they were defeated by Charles Martel, whose Frankish and Burgundian forces repelled the invaders. The result confirmed the regional supremacy of Charles, who went on to establish a strong Frankish dynasty. The Battle of Tours was the last major incursion of Muslim armies into northern Europe; some historians, including Edward Gibbon, have seen it as the decisive moment that determined that the continent would remain Christian.

Listening to 5Live I caught this look at Zoopla (17 mins) ending its sponsorship of West Brom because Anelka made what is an anti-Semitic gesture.

We heard that the owner of Zoopla was Jewish…but no indication of Anelka’s religion.

Anelka was quoted as saying this was an anti-‘system’ gesture not anti-religion….strange choice of word there by Anelka.

Lucy Grey, the BBC presenter, then asked ‘Is this Opportunistic of Zoopla?‘….Suggesting perhaps they weren’t really offended…that there was nothing to be offended about?

The equivocation, scepticism and lack of depth as to the nature of the Quenelle made me have another look at the subject…..

The BBC were slow to realise the significance of Zoopla’s move, reported 4 days ago but barely noticed by the BBC.

That seems to have changed today as it is given a prominent place on the Frontpage:

The BBC however still have problems with deciding whether the ‘Quenelle’ is anti-Semitic or merely an ‘up you‘ to government.  (Wonder how they would take it if it was a Tea Party member who made a similar salute?…the BBC’s disdain for white, anti-government Americans being well known).

Sky has no such problem:

The Truth Behind Footballer’s ‘Sick’ Salute

Nicolas Anelka may or may not have known what he was doing with his Nazi-like salute, but his great friend, the French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, almost certainly does.

Dieudonne is smart. Very smart.  He’s smart enough to invert an idea, and invent a gesture, and direct them towards the same place – modern anti-Semitism.

Newsnight had a look at this with its now infamously coy description of the Neo-Nazi Alain Soral as merely a ‘writer and film-maker’ and a close friend of Dieudonne.  Paxman does says twice that the gesture is anti-Semitic but allows Soral to get away with several references to the ‘Zionist lobby’…or the ‘System’…Paxman should have been asking exactly what he meant by that as it was clear it was being used as a euphemism for Jewish….the ‘System’ also a euphemism…as Dieudonne claims the ‘System’ is being run by Jews.  Soral himself says ‘That’s the question’….except Paxman doesn’t take him up on that.

We are told supporters of Dieudonne say if there are no disturbances at Dieudonne’s shows, and there hasn’t been we are reassured by the BBC, then what is the problem?…even if it was anti-Semitic?

The problem might be that it is not only people in the theatre that see these performances…Newsnight itself admits that You Tube broadcasts of the shows get 2 million hits a week….just how many of those viewers then become ‘poisoned’ (using Sarah Montague’s description of the supposed effect of the EDL’s own statements) and then go on to act out their prejudices for real?

And what of Soral?  He is a well known Neo-Nazi….Newsnight even flashed this picture of him making the Quenelle salute at the Holocaust memorial up on the screen:

And yet Paxman made no link to that during the interview.

The BBC, Paxman aside,  do seem reluctant to come out and say outright that the Quenelle is an anti-Semitic gesture….or that it is associated with some Muslims…the BBC preferring to link it to the Far Right and in this report allows Dieudonne to get away with using  ‘Zionist’ rather than Jew or anti-semitic. 

‘It is the trademark of the hugely controversial French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, who once said he would like to put a quenelle – a rugby-ball-shaped serving of fish or meat paste – up the backside of Zionists.

Dieudonne made the gesture when he headed his own anti-Zionist campaign in the European elections in 2009. French media trace it further back, to one of his performances in 2005. It came to greater prominence in September when two soldiers were photographed appearing to make the gesture outside a Paris synagogue.

There are thousands of examples posted online, some at sensitive sites such as the Auschwitz death camp, and Dieudonne’s fans can be seen repeating it outside his theatre.

Both Anelka and Dieudonne say it is an anti-establishment symbol of defiance. But the French sports minister, Valerie Fourneyron, was one of many to disagree with the footballer’s interpretation, saying it was sickening and incited racial hatred.’

We were told in one interview with an ‘expert’ that it was the ‘Far Right, radical Muslims and youths from the Banlieues’ who are following Dieudonne in big numbers….so that’ll be the Far Right, radical Muslims and lots of other Muslims from the Muslim Banlieues then.

Just what are the BBC hiding with this constant refusal to admit ‘normal’ Muslims are making the gesture…such as Anelka?

Here Anelka Tweets his excuse:

Another ‘supporter’ of Dieudonne doing the Quenelle outside the Jewish school in Toulouse where a Muslim killed some of the pupils.

But Anelka is a good friend of Dieudonne….and here he is once again making the salute…this time in a theatre, so presumably he is there to see the show……he must be under no illusions exactly what Dieudonne means…..

Dieudonne has publically supported the openly anti-Semitic views of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and even dedicated his live show “Mahmoud” to him.

“What he says about Jews, no one else would even dare to utter,” says Camus. He is the most prominent proponent of anti-Semitism in France. He breaks all the taboos.”

This is a screenshot of Dieudonne from his film L’Antisémite.……

 Guess who the ‘them’ might be…….

“L’Antisémite,” directed by and starring the French comedian Dieudonné, was, according to Le Monde, co-produced by Iran:

After images that hold Auschwitz up for derision, we see the shoot of a film centered on an alcoholic and violent character who is disguised as a Nazi officer for a costume party. The Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson appears as himself for a few minutes, the Shoah is personified as a saint.

Here’s the trailer. In voice-over, a woman says:

Tell me you’re not an anti-Semite. My love, it’s a sickness. You have to be truly cured. For the children. Anti-Semitism is the worst thing that could happen to them.

Then, on camera, Dieudonné says:

You’re right, my dear. I’m an anti-Semite. It’s clear the Jews control everything—the media, finance, politics. We no longer have a choice. We must—

and he turns to camera and, staring into it, says—

exterminate them.

 

Now you might be thinking that he’s just acting, those words or sentiments are merely what’s in the script…..but have a look at this Press TV interview Dieudonne has done…..once he gets onto the ‘Zionist Lobby’…you will soon note the exact same sentiments towards them as on the film as a whole…..

He says…...I will be happy to celebrate the destruction of Israel…the Jews are the greatest Mafia in the history of mankind….we should always fight against those who do bad in the world…and those who created the State of Israel.

So is the Quenelle just ‘anti-System‘?

To Dieudonne the ‘System’ is the Jews, the Zionist Lobby which ‘runs the world’…..so anti-system is merely an evasive subterfuge for saying anti-Semitic.

Here the BBC ask….

What is the quenelle gesture?

Jean-Yves Camus, a French academic who studies the extreme right, told the Independent the quenelle has become a “badge of identity, especially among the young, but it is doubtful that all of them understand its true meaning”. He says Dieudonne has become the hero of a movement convinced the world is run by Washington and Tel Aviv.

Note no mention of Muslims.

And again here the BBC miss out a certain sector of society well known for anti-Semitic views (Their ‘dirty little secret’ as Mehdi Hasan called it):

 Can you accidentally do a Nazi salute?

A 20-year-old Greek footballer has been banned for life from playing for his national team after a controversial goal celebration in which he appeared to give a Nazi salute. The player says he hadn’t understood the meaning of the gesture – but is it possible, in 2013, for a European to be so poorly informed?

Many parties on the fringes of European politics employ elements of neo-Nazi symbolism, he says, although they present it as something else to stay on the right side of the law.

In particular, those groups have managed to infiltrate sport in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy and the UK.

“Football culture is symbolically rich and neo-Nazi-type gestures and symbols have become immersed in certain of those cultures… It’s obvious what they represent.”

In 2005, the then Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio received a one-game ban for a raised-arm salute.

Contesting the ban, he described himself as a “fascist” but “not a racist”.

“I made the Roman salute because it’s a salute from a comrade to his comrades and was meant for my people,” he said.

Matthew Goodwin, associate professor of politics at the University of Nottingham, and a specialist in political extremism, thinks that it is inconceivable that young Europeans could be entirely ignorant of the associations of neo-Nazi symbolism.

“Europe still displays a fascination with Nazi Germany – its paraphernalia and culture is still very heavily present. There is the popular culture, the films – the symbolism is still represented,” he says.

In Greece, in particular, it is “incredibly doubtful” that people don’t have notion of what the symbolism or gestures mean, says Goodwin – partly because of all the fuss over Golden Dawn.

“It’s not a marginal issue,” he says.

“Naivete and ignorance is difficult to digest in modern Greece.”

Once again the BBC refers solely to the ‘Far Right’.

Of course Muslims would never think of doing such a salute….and if they did, the BBC would never report it…….

Hezbollah and the Mullahs of Iran.

Hamas reaching for the TV remote.

“The Hamas credo is not just anti-Israel, but profoundly anti-Semitic with racism at its core. The Hamas Charter reads like a modern-day ‘Mein Kampf.'”

Here is the Hamas Charter:

"Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it

as it had eliminated its predecessors."

         The Imam and Martyr Hassan al-Banna

[Al-Banna has had a huge influence on Islamic thought.

He is the grandfather of Tariq Ramadan and older brother of Gamal Al-Banna.]

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it.

Nothing is loftier or deeper in Nationalism than waging Jihad against the enemy and confronting him when he sets foot on the land of the Muslims. And this becomes an individual duty binding on every Muslim man and woman; a woman must go out and fight the enemy even without her husband’s authorization, and a slave without his masters’ permission.

 Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammad! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill

From Harry’s Place….just so we know what’s what and who supports who….

Labour and Hamas UK

The BBC go on to tell us that…..

Anelka is not the first French footballer playing in England to make the gesture. Samir Nasri and Mamadou Sakho were also photographed in this way, although Sakho later tweeted that he had been tricked and didn’t realise its true meaning.

‘French footballers’?

Anelka is a Muslim, Sakho is a Muslim, Nasri is also Muslim…why no mention….not relevant?

Mamadou Sakho (L), Tony Parker (C), and Samir Nasri (R). Photos: Screengrab/Slate/Youtube/DieuPharaon/AstuceFoot

The Quenelle is clearly intended by Dieudonne to be an anti-Semitic salute…the evidence is just too overwhelming to say otherwise….pity the BBC doesn’t seem too keen to look hard into this and seems more concerned to deflect people off into looking at the ‘Far Right’ whilst failing to mention that three footballers who made the gesture are all Muslim.

The BBC fails in its obligations to inform us and bring us the News…instead bringing us a version of the news that bares only a passing resemblance to the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Hiding the fact that some Muslims maybe anti-Semitic is an insult to everyone…..the BBC were quick to report the exaggerated claims of the Muslim pressure group ‘Tell Mama’ about alleged incidents of anti-Muslim attacks but seems all too keen to sweep under the carpet incidents of anti-Semitism, all too willing to ascribe it to some other intention or to blame some other convenient scapegoats.

Andrew Gilligan in the Telegraph tells us the truth about ‘Tell Mama’…and about the BBC…

“Over the past week or so, these sorts of hate crimes have noticeably increased in number and, in many instances, become more extreme.