Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.
General BBC-related comment thread.
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That dreadful Eddie Mair show at 5 pm. Anyone else hear it, the first item which went on interminably was about Harry’s so-called gaff, as though nothing else was happening in the world – I nearly burst a blood vessel. It’s a mountain out of a molehill and of no importance. Maybe I’ve missed it but I haven’t heard anything yet about the racist chants that were heard in London on Saturday and what is being done about that. It’s the bBc like a dog with a bone, something to get those anti-royalist Guardian pygmies going. A good way to cover up what a mess this government is making of just about everything it touches. I’m now placing bets with myself whether it will be brought up again tomorrow.
Labour is now talking about stealing the Conservatives’ other leading economic policy, the loan guarantee scheme. Why isn’t Nick Robinson reporting it that way…
the BBC have just introduced me to a new concept.
a “hate word”. Could any contributors out in blog land enlighten me? wtf is a “hate word”? This sounds so “newspeak” that it is beyond satire.
Perhaps there are Double plus hatewords that are. Is there a list of such words held in Bush House, the mere thinking of which gets you sent to the Gulag by the BBC thought crimes department?
Tom FD: Because Robinson is up the arse of Nu Liebour. He also refused to report that Labour have ‘stolen’ the Tories subsidy for employers taking on unemployed workers.
Robinson also refuses to put McFatty On Eye on the spot over his ‘claim’ that this ‘downturn’ is ‘global’. In fact McFatty One Eye is responsible for a lot of this as was Bill Clinton and Obama with their support for Acorn and loans to people who couldn’t afford them.
“really nasty” seems to have disappeared from the above!
Classic Radio 5 shite on now. Richard Bacon (I’m sure there’s a reason I’ve heard of him before….) going on about “can you buy ethically in a downturn” (whatever that means)
Of course what those skinny little men who work at the BBC and own those limp handshakes mean is “those evil capitalist pigs exploiting illegal workers”
Of course who lets these illegal workers into the UK in the first place? Gordon Brown of course.
Remember the Chinese workers who drowned in Morecambe bay? Oh and the 50 others that died at Dover docks.
Blame the evil capitalist pigs, not the scum Socialists that allow women and children to be brought into the UK like animals and used and abused.
We are an island. Controlling who comes in and out is easy, unless you’re a bunch of corrupt Socialists trying to change the voting pattern of the UK by letting anyone come here, settle and get a vote. Just so long as they vote for the fat one eyed Scotsman of course.
More BBC bollocks on Newsnight. So Muslims are being radicalised by Gaza. No shit. What’s new?
Apparently we are in the frame as our Government is not doing enough to stop Israel. Hang on a minute I thought Muslims were always telling us infidels to mind our own business in the middle east?
Why is it that no white Christians have been radicalised by this scum setting off bombs in London or flying planes into buildings in New York?
Didn’t innocent women and children die on 9/11?
I didn’t see Muslims protesting about the slaughter of innocent life then? Or do Muslims only care when they are being killed in self defence?
Moslems do not always care when fellow Moslems are being massacred. If those massacred are Black and those doing the massacring are Arabs, as in Darfur, this seems to be perfectly acceptable to all strains of Moslem opinion in the UK. No BBC interviewer seems prepared to ask any of those protesting about the deaths of less than 1000 in Gaza why they do not protest about the hundreds of thousands of Balck Moslems slaughtered in Darfur. Just as a matter of interest, has the BBC reported the death toll in Darfur recently?
Thing is we intervened to stop Muslims being slaughtered in the Balkans. And what thanks did we get for it?
Bali
9/11
Madrid
7/7
It goes on and on.
Muslims will always find an excuse to hate. It’s what their religion teaches. Shame the beeboids can’t mention that from time to time.
Excellent article by Mark Steyn in today’s Washington Times on Europe’s latest wave of anti-Semitism.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/12/a-spreading-sickness/
Million Dollar Traders: Eight “ordinary” people given $1million and 2 weeks to run their own hedge fund.
When I read about this programme in the TV listings, I thought it would be a US import set in New York with American contestants, what with it being about dollars and all that. But I was wrong, this being the BBC, it was set in London with contestants from Togo spending a million US dollars, filmed in wobbly camera vision for that authentic New Labour party political broadcast feel. The BBC hates the Pound and Britian so much, it can’t bare to do a programme called Million Pound Traders. The BBC loves to replace British culture with foreign culture at any available opportunity.
Would the BBC accept licence fee payment in dollars, I wonder? How would the BBC feel if people decided to pay $139.50 instead of £139.50?
The BBC: undermining British culture, it’s what we do.
We’re in a ‘climate emergency’ squawks the vile rat faced Kirsty Wark on Newsnight. Oh how she shrilled when announcing that that heavyweight of environmental science the actress Emma Thompson and a few other limp luvvies have bought land to stop Heathrow being expanded.
Now I just wonder how many times Ms Thompson flies every year to go and do her shit films and see her luvvie pals in LA?
I wonder if the liberal latte drinkers would be happy if they were restricted to flying once a year? Or is it just the great unwashed public that will have to give up their two weeks in Florida they flog their guts out for and manage to keep enough money from the fat one eyed scot?
BBC ‘Newsnight’ a few minutes ago: a pathetic, politically biased, ill-informed, dhimmi exchange between BBC’s Ms. Wark and Labour’s Ms. Blears.
Paraphrasing the exchange:
WARK: ‘Isn’t Israeli action in Gaza disproportionate?’
(No context provided.)
BLEARS: (-after waffle) ‘Yes’.
WARK: Isn’t there a danger that this will cause Moooslem (her pronunciation) extremists in the UK to take violent action?’
BLEARS: ‘There is a danger, but nearly all Muslims are wonderful’ -implication: vote Labour, you Muslims.
No P.S. about Islamic Jihad Hamas and how the BBC through its reporting, and Labour through its political alliances, expresses dhimmitude towards Hamas.
Islam Jihad HAMAS not mentioned! It’s all ‘distressing photographs from Gaza and the disproportionate action by Israel’!
The BBC at its Balen Report (censored) worst:
“Report on BBC’s anti-Israel bias will stay secret” (‘Daily Mail’ 2007)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-451138/Report-BBCs-anti-Israel-bias-stay-secret.html
New poll in the Times puts Tories 10% ahead. So will the BBC cover it (Sky have)?
What do you think?
George R: Newsnight is bollocks most nights. But when rat face Wark is on it really stinks.
This ‘climate emergency’ that that sixth former in a suit on Newsnight just now was harping on about sounds serious. What ever shall we do? There must be another abundant organic gas that we can label evil and hilariously, futilely try to ban, surely?
If I was that other guy – who was made to ‘debate’ this oik’s autistic ‘points’ – I’d’ve said, ‘Sorry Kirsty, I make a habit of not entering into debate with common criminals such as this smug tit.’
Jeremy Bowen outdid himself tonight on the Ten Oclock News with his one-sided politically-driven poppycock. Here is my official complaint:
“I should like to complain in the strongest terms about BBC coverage of the Gaza conflict. Night after night we are treated to emotive pictures of civilians wounded or killed in Gaza. We are not told how they were injured and by whom, but the blame is always attributed to Israel.On top of all this, it behoves journalists to point out that a significant number of Gaza dead have been Hamas combatants but you insist on a crude scorecard between Gaza and Israeli dead as if this was a football match. The truth is that Hamas is cynical enough to use civilians as human shields.
The BBC should be saying that all the pictures are approved by Hamas. There have already been instances of staged footage, old footage, and claims which turn out to be false. The UN and various NGOs whose claims are quoted as gospel truth are in fact politicised and cannot be trusted.
The BBC has never made a serious attempt to cover the suffering of Israeli civilians. It is never explained that Hamas targets nursery schools and old age homes.The rockets falling on southern Israel are no longer ‘home-made’, they are sophisticated, semi-guided long-range Grads made in Iran.
Moreover, the BBC coverage is singularly uniformative. We are given no serious analysis and no context. This is not about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is not even about the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is radical, Iranian-backed Islam fighting an outpost of the free world, but Jeremy Bowen does not or will not get it. Never has Bowen pointed out that Hamas is a genocidal antisemitic organisation – Hitler’s spiritual heirs. There is no moral equivalence between a murderous totalitarian regime and an embattled democracy attempting to defend itself.
Media coverage is so biased as to come dangerously close to incitement, inflaming opinion around the world against Israel and Jews. It won’t be long before the BBC has Jewish blood on its hands.”
Martin:
George R: Newsnight is bollocks most nights. But when rat face Wark is on it really stinks.
Martin | 12.01.09 – 11:14 pm | #
You should not use language like that on this blog and I insist that you apologise right now…………………………to the Rat!
davka: Good luck. You’ll probably just get some standard reply from a beeboid saying “the BBC is impartial in its reporting on a difficult situation, our journalists try to bring balance to the reports from the middle ease… blah blah blah bollocks nonsense crap etc etc etc etc”
Start the week today was quite funny I find it is usually a cosy promotion fest of mutual back slapping lefties. Today though I was unusually quite happy by the time I was parking at work.
The thing I liked was that one of the guests had wrote the book that gave rise to Slumdog Millionaire, which is unquestionably the thing of the moment, I am definitely going to see it now; but the Author Vikas Swarup finds himself in a room with people twisting and turning and not sounding straightforward. Now there is a culture shock!
I started listening two thirds in as I was driving, when they were talking to Vikas Swarup, I didn’t know his name then nor all the other guests but have looked them up since. I quickly realised he was the guy who wrote Slumdog Millionaire at the time. But it was the contrast between him and his fellow panellists that was interesting.
Andrew Marr is the epitome of somebody who has found his niche and is snuggling down into it for eternity. Whilst flattering himself that he is doing something worthwhile.
The bottom line is Swarup seems a typical product of the Indian subcontinent who has hope and creativity, so when he mentions that his book is about social mobility Andrew Marr immediately counters with:
“One thing that worries me… That social mobility is a long slow painful process”
Tom Stoppard was on a panel, whom I respect, and I reckon because he’s intelligent therefore didn’t embarrass himself, but a guy that made me laugh out loud, called Adam Phillips (who had written a book on ‘Kindness’ apparently, Bless) had to pipe up and question Vikas, and basically said “Don’t you think that hope can be poisonous?”
I personally suspect that Vikas Swarup by this stage, realised he was dealing with some idiots, I love the fact that he quite simply replied with some basic examples of hope that drive achievement, including the Wright brothers and the fact hope can never be detrimental.
I recommend listening to it. About three quarters the way through 🙂
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00gkz10
IP
good points – i heard him on R4 or R5 saying how his book was down to earth and how he refused to “exoticise” india.
cue sharp intakes of breath from assembled patronising R4/ r5liberals…
polls not likely to be cited on the bbc , number 347…
hamas not popular in arab world at all.
“Among the eight countries with sizeable Muslim populations surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in 2008, Hamas received a positive rating in only one, Jordan, where 55% voiced a favorable view of the organization while 37% expressed an unfavorable opinion. Still, Jordanian attitudes toward Hamas were less positive than in 2007, when 62% gave the group a favorable rating, and 36% a negative one.”
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/research-before-israels-invasion-hamas-popularity-was-waning
jimbob: Yes and none of the Muslim Countries (except for the shit stirrers in Iran) have shown any interest in backing Hamas.
Even on the West Bank to be honest the trouble has been minimal.
I think if Hamas gets its throat slit not too many people will give a toss.
It would also be a big help to Obama coming into power.
Don’t you just love the BBC? For weeks now the Tories have urged fatty one eye to offer some sort of loan guarantee for small businesses and as we know fatty one eye has waffled and said no that the Tories have no idea blah blah balh.
So now that fatty one eye has seen the light (again) thanks ot the Tories, how does the BBC report it?
“…The Conservatives want a much larger £50bn national loans guarantee scheme to get credit flowing again and help firms being affected by the unwillingness of banks to lend due to the impact of the credit crunch.
The Tories have said that their scheme would not expose the taxpayer to any risk but Labour says that is totally unrealistic…”
So ‘unrealistic’ that just a few days ago mcfatty one eyes was saying the idea was daft.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7825460.stm
“…Condemned Tory plans for a £50bn national loan guarantee scheme, saying small businesses default on 25% of loans and that “if the Conservatives think that they can spend £50bn and it will cost [the taxpayer] absolutely nothing, they are absolutely wrong”…”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/13/economy-gordonbrown
Here’s a good one. Many people here will remember the BBC’s “White Series”, in which every manner of immigrant – especially Mohammedans – were shown as being a superior species to the shiftless native Brits. One BBC favorite immigrant group is the Poles, as in “Here Come The…”, from the White Series.
This was all part of the BBC Narrative – supporting government policy all the way – that immigration was the answer to Britain’s problems, multi-culti social engineering, and all that.
Now, apparently, the Poles are leaving, and the Beeboids are fretting:
South East suffers as Poles leave
Notice how the only businesses in the South East – well, Eastbourne, anyway – which are suffering from this exodus are the ones which cater mostly to the Polish immigrant. Funny how that works. The BBC didn’t say if the local Chinese take-away joint was doing poorly. While I realize that the removal of a group of hardworking people from a community will reduce council tax revenues and things which benefit everyone, it seems this will really mean that Eastbourne returns to the pre-influx status quo.
Nothing in this video tells me otherwise. They even managed to find a professional local with collar and tie, who was always pleased to leave a tip for a Polish waitress (no comments from the back, please).
The one glaring omission from the piece is the reason why they’re all leaving. It’s not because of a rise in anti-Polish sentiment among South Downs villagers. One Polish girl slightly gives it away, and the BBC editors figured that was enough context. She says that “the pound is not as good as it used to be.”
The BBC lets on that it’s not just because of an improving situation in Poland, but they can’t quite mention Gordon Brown’s economy. Rather than inflation, the girl is talking about the value of the money the Polish send back to the homeland. That’s why the Poles are leaving. There wasn’t any talk about unemployment or anything. When the girl says that “you can’t buy so much”, she’s not talking about that awful Zywiec lager getting too expensive, as everyone can plainly see from the sign in the store window at 1:04 into the video clip. When sterling sinks, so does the value of money the immigrants send home.
It wasn’t that remark by George Osborne that has caused the pound to sink so badly, and it wasn’t the fault of greedy US bankers. If it was part of the US-based “global downturn”, then why is the dollar doing better than sterling? Sorry, that doesn’t fit the BBC Narrative.
But the BBC can’t even mention the state of the UK economy under Mr. Brown’s stewardship. Instead, you’re all supposed to be sad that all those beneficial – and polite, and well-spoken – immigrants are leaving, because of some vague reason.
I’ll just hope this was part of some longer, more detailed report, yeah.
On the Mail’s website:
‘Thatcher’s mother should have believed in abortion:’ Firebrand Derek Hatton’s ‘obnoxious’ slur on former PM
Left-winger Derek Hatton has made an astonishing attack on Baroness Thatcher, saying it was a ‘shame’ she had ever been born.
The former deputy leader of Liverpool Council criticised the former Prime Minister’s mother for ‘not believing in abortion’.
No prizes for guessing which tax-funded left wing broadcasting corporation won’t make the slightest mention of these scandalous, disgusting comments.
But then again, Hatton is a “militant” isn’t he? Just like those Palestinian terrorists. He can say and do what he damn well pleases.
http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/190725/diff/2/3
“UN chief wants Gaza conflict halt”
Very interesting to see how the BBC gets an article to fit; What gets added, and what is removed to make space for it.
(Scroll down to see the deletion).
Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but it seems that the western doctor working in Gaza and featured regularly on the BBC’s regular pro-Hamas anti-Israeli propaganda reports (or news broadcasts as they call them) is none other than a certain Norwegian named Dr. Mads Gilbert. Gilbert is a Marxist and member of the revolutionary socialist Red party. He has been a pro-Palestinian activist since the 1970s, and so it is hardly surprising that the BBC should seek to feature him as an impartial non-partisan observer of the situation in Gaza, is it? He and Bowen should link up for after-work drinks.
Here is the link: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=1580
Can anyone explain last night’s assault on Primark? Has a top Beeboid been shortchanged there recently? It was another one of those ‘news’ stories that leaves you sitting there thinking’Huh?’
‘Illegral immigrants being exploited by enterprising if unscrupulous North-Western businessmen to produce cheap clothing’ seems right up there with ‘dog bites man’ and ‘Pope found in Rome’. Did it warrant ten minutes?
Vintage d-class journalism here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7825314.stm
I particularly love the headline, not just because it it perilously close to ‘gang-banging’, but because it is so confused. Is someone really planning orders to ban anti-gangs?
Chuffer: how about
“Auntie gagging for gang-banging?”
On the 10 o’clock news last night there was a grovelling apology from Primark. This follows hot on the heels of Prince Harry’s apology for something he did 3 years ago.
Does anyone else find these forced public apologies sinister, in a 1984 way?
Living up in Scotland as I do, I have (or rather had) no opinion one way or another regarding the 3rd Heathrow runway.
Then, on Today this morning, there was a clip from Alistair McGowan, who has donated money to those fighting the runway. Presumably because he is a BBC comedian his donation is worth more than other people’s. He said, and I paraphrase, “We are talking about the end of life on this planet as we know it”. That immediately pushed me into the camp of runway supporters.
Which planet was he talking about? The one he lives on or Planet Earth?
I watched with incredulity at the 8 minute report on Primark’s production procedures on the BBC 10 o’clock news last night.
Absolutely amazing that they can devote almost an entire programme to an issue rather than report on the real issues.
Jimbob 12:03: Jordan – the country formed out of a large part of the land that was to have been a Jewish homeland. Jordan the country who should have taken in every “Palestinian” who “fled” the new Israel as the Arab armies came to destroy it, just as Israel took in all the Jews that fled neighbouring Muslim Countries. Do you mean that Jordan?
@ Gareth.
Interesting that the piece focussed more on the apparent exploitation of workers by “big business”, rather than the angle of people working there on the black market and claiming incapacity benefit or being asylum seekers or illegal immigrants without the right to work.
“BBC World Service and Ericsson join hands for project in Bangladesh”
Is this the BBC’s way of assisting more mass immigration from Bangladesh to the UK?
http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_b/bbc_worldwide/20090113_ericsson_join_hands.html
James: My point. How are so many illegals and asylum seekers allowed here? They don’t have ANY employment rights as they have no legal status.
The thicko leftie beeboids can’t understand that.
The BBC and Labour make no connection between violence of some Muslims in the UK and:
1.) Labour’s stealth practice, and undeclared policy of mass immigration to Britain from Islamic countries for over a decade, under Blair, and now continuing under Brown;
“There’s been a free-for-all under Labour, admits Hazel Blears”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1112319/Theres-migrant-free-Labour-admits-Cabinet-minister-Hazel-Blears.html
2.) the tenets of Islam;
‘Jihadwatch’:
“UK: Officials fear Gaza will ‘radicalise’ British Muslims”
[Extract]:
“Apparently the same way Iraq, dogs, and underwear ads tend to radicalize Muslims. If the latter are constantly crying ‘wolf’ — that is, if everything ‘offends,’ ‘enrages,’ and “radicalizes” them, if “cartoons” lead to riots and deaths — exactly when should the world take Muslim complaints seriously?”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024372.php
Labour’s (and BBC’s) attitude towards the threatening Muslim demonstrations in Britain in support of Islamic jihad Hamas, seems to be: ‘Oh, these people seem very annoyed, what can we do to appease them? Be tough on Israel? Fine.’
http://www.darwinawards.com/
can only be a matter of time before one of our beloved members of parliament or the BBC wins one of theses esteemed awards.
George R | 13.01.09 – 9:13 am | #
I don’t know, is it? Please explain.
As far as I can see the article is about development in Bangladesh, hence ‘The BBC World Service Trust recognizes that the mobile channel can play a key role in supporting its learning objectives in Bangladesh, thanks to its ability to reach a wide audience.’
Here’s the Jerusalem Post and the BBC reporting within ten minutes of each other on the same address by Hamas terror chief, Haniyeh.
Jerusalem Post:
For the first time since the beginning of the IDF military
operation in the Gaza Strip, Hamas on Monday openly signaled its willingness to accept a cease-fire with Israel.
The message from Hamas was issued by its prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, who has been in hiding since the beginning of the offensive.
Haniyeh’s remarks contradict fiery statements made by Hamas leaders in Syria and Lebanon.
Haniyeh said in a televised speech that Hamas would cooperate with any initiative to stop the offensive and reopen the border crossings into the Gaza Strip.
“We will deal positively with any initiative aimed at ending the offensive,” he said.
However, Haniyeh said that Hamas would also continue to fight against the “occupation forces” of Israel.
“We are confident that eventually we would achieve victory and crush the aggression,” he said. “The intifada must continue because the occupation is continuing to kill.”
Haniyeh’s speech, which ended with a prayer, was seen by some Palestinians as an admission of defeat. A Fatah official in Ramallah said the speech reflected Hamas’s growing predicament.
“This speech shows that Hamas has been defeated,” he said. “Haniyeh has actually raised the white flag.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231774432114&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
BBC:
After 17 days of this foolish war, Gaza has not been broken and Gaza will not collapse,” he said in a televised address from a secret location in Gaza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7825684.stm
Nowhere in this article does the BBC reveal that Hamas is showing a willingness to stop the fighting. So while the Jerusalem Post presents both sides of the address, the BBC presents only one. I guess the BBC gets its instructions from Hamas terror chief Mashaal in Damascus.
However, there is a small speck of light at the end of the BBC tunnel. Grimer’s complaint on another thread may have had an effect, since the BBC is no longer trying to hide the fact that Hamas also rejected the call for a ceasefire:
Both Hamas and Israel rejected last week’s UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The BBC will be in seventh heaven in a few days time, as the Beeboids are going over to the USA again, en masse, on another publicly subsidised trip so that they can evangelize for Obama:
‘Cranmer’-
“Gene Robinson to invoke God at Obama inauguration”
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2009/01/gene-robinson-to-invoke-god-at-obama.html
‘Variety’
“BBC bullish on Barack Obama”
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998296.html?categoryid=1019&cs=1&nid=2562
Richard Lancaster
Isn’t it?
Bangladeshis in Bangladesh with some English language skills will find it easier to become immigrants in the UK.
George R | 13.01.09 – 10:18 am | #
Do you have any evidence to back up this conspiracy theory?
Richard Lancaster
What conspiracy theory? It’s called ‘multiculturalism’.
Talking about conspiracy theories, when will the Balen report be published?
@ Martin 9.28 am
“…as they have no legal status.”
The “beeboids” (though I hate the term) would argue that they DO have legal status. Either as asylum seekers, in which case they are protected by the relevant UNHCR agreement which we signed in 1951, or by the Human Rights Act. The problem is that some prefer to give precendence to that legislation above all other considerations.
George R | 13.01.09 – 10:34 am | #
So that’s a no.
As for Balen, god knows, but I find it amusing so many people on here profess to know its contents. I’d like to see it.
I’ve only just got around to reading this so apologies if it’s already been commented on:
The unmeasurable price of war
I have also met killers – people who have destroyed innocents like Israeli Ella or Palestinian Mahmoud
So, no distinction at all between cold-blooded killers of women and children, and as we will see, an IAF pilot who aborts missions so as not to take innocent lives, he’s a “killer” too, according to the BBC’s Paul Martin.
His youngest brother Mahmoud, aged 12, and his 14-year-old cousin, were told it was too dangerous outside Ashraf’s family home in the deserted side streets. So the children played innocently on the family home’s flat roof.
Then an unmanned Israeli aircraft fired two small rockets.
I wonder if this is the same incident covered by AlJazeera in which a wounded young girl says her friends, other kids, were playing on the roof of their house with a Hamas flag
So let’s just get this straight; in the midst of a war in which Israel is pin-pointing targets from the air you let your kids play on the roof with the flag of a terrorist group?! I’d be hard-hearted indeed to say, “serves them right”, or what did they expect”, but what the F***???
Also, Ashraf’s home was close to one of the city’s security headquarters.
So not only all the above, but they were right next to what any fool should know was a prime target!
All those Israeli leaflets dropped to warn the Pals to get away from target areas seem to have been a complete waste of time, and paper!
Here comes the “good” bit:
I have also met killers – people who have destroyed innocents like Israeli Ella or Palestinian Mahmoud. They have their explanations. Some months ago, I went with a Palestinian rocket-firing brigade keen to dispatch their weaponry into the heart of an Israeli town (Sderot itself actually).
Twenty-four-year-old Mohammed (on his first rocket-firing mission) said Israeli men, women and children would one day end up fighters. “So let’s kill them first,” he said.
Cold-blooded killer?
Months later I met him in a Gaza street. He had decided to retire from rocket-firing and return to computer programming.
So that’s alright then…
I also met two Israeli pilots from the Cobra brigade, their twisted snakes emblazoned on the sides of their one-man helicopters, each bristling with rocket launchers and a machine gun.
One pilot, Uri, pulled down his dark-glasses visor, then whipped out a Hebrew newspaper clipping with photos of a boy and his grandfather.
They died, he said, when this man was picking up this kid from the nursery school. Uri was taking off, aiming to kill what he defined as terrorists. “I always carry these photos with me on a mission,” he explained, “to remind me that when I hunt down a terrorist I am protecting people like these.”
Did he sleep easy at night? I asked him.
There was a long pause. “No,” he said, “I sometimes lie awake and wonder, when I saw our target was close to civilians, whether I was right not to fire. Maybe I let him live and tomorrow he will kill more of our civilians.”
A man with a conscience who goes out of way to control his desire for vengeance and save innocent lives?
Bottom line:
From neither the Israeli nor the Palestinian fighting men could I detect much empathy for the innocent.
Then you must be blind, Paul Martin!
You’ve just described a Palestinian terrorist who says, ‘Israeli men, women and children would one day end up fighters. “So let’s kill them first,”‘ and compared him to an Israeli pilot who says, “I sometimes lie awake and wonder, when I saw our target was close to civilians, whether I was right not to fire. Maybe I let him live and tomorrow he will kill more of our civilians.” and you see no difference?
Paul Martin, and the rest of the BBC have surely lost what Melanie Phillips calls their “moral compass”.
Biodegradable,
I saw the hatchet job they did on comments on The Editors. Now Stephenson has put up an update:
Update: Your comments on the BBC’s reporting are welcome below; for general comments about the Middle East and its politics, please use this Have Your Say discussion.