Bad Influence

For reasons best known to them (probably), the BBC World service came up with a poll to measure selected countries’ perceptions of certain other countries’ influence.

Israel comes out slightly above Hell on Earth.

Since the BBC and the BBC World Service have been pumping out selected information about the aforementioned countries, and withholding certain other selected information, it throws up an analogy thus:

I run a monopolistic campaign to promote my product for a number of years. I also run a monopolistic negative campaign to discredit my rivals’ products.  I then send out a questionnaire to random consumers and non consumers asking whether they see my product in a positive or negative light.

Since most of the participants in question have been subjected to my campaign but many of them have never tried my somewhat niche product because it isn’t relevant to them, the results cannot show how popular my product is, merely how effective my campaign has been.

The BBC World Service can rest assured. Their campaign has been a great success.

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104 Responses to Bad Influence

  1. George R says:

    Yes, the British people pay for INBBC propaganda polls which, in effect, ask mainly Muslim Arabs of the Middle East, which is their least popular country of the region!

       19 likes

  2. Jon in Norway says:

    I have long viewed the BBC’s invitations for viewers or listeners to contribute their opinions to programs cynically.

    If, for example, many contributors allegedly suggest (BBC has full control over which contributions it chooses to broadcast) NATO must stop Gadaffi bombing his own people, the BBC and Foreign Office know their campaign to convince people this is what Gadaffi was either doing or intending to do has succeeded and they can then point to a desire amongst the population for NATO to enforce a “No Fly” zone which the Foreign Office and BBC do not describe more accurately as “humanitarian bombing”.

    Once the public’s feedback to the BBC lets the Foreign Office know the public believe what the BBC have been telling them, the Foreign Office knows the next stage of their plan will have the necessary wider support amongst voters.

       14 likes

  3. Jon in Norway says:

    But to suggest the BBC is responsible for the lack of popularity some Israeli regime ‘s policies enjoy is illogical.

       0 likes

    • deegee says:

      It is however responsible for misleading the public about those policies. It can’t take complete responsibility – billions in oil money helped but neither can it claim that constant BBC bias wasn’t a factor.

         20 likes

      • Jon in Norway says:

        My friends from that part of the world tell me no-one takes the BBC seriously and the BBC Persian Service in particular is seen as a joke so the BBC’s influence on the opinions of people in the region is, I think, minimal.

        Of course, the BBC will try and inflate the impact they have. They’re not going to stand up and say “we don’t know why tax payers money is used to broadcast to people who think we’re comedians!” are they?

           5 likes

        • LondonCalling says:

          And your friends are…a source of authority? I have a number of friends who are completely wrong about many things.

             7 likes

          • The Umpire says:

            They probably feel the same about you. That you are wrong about many things, and are they entitled to their opinion, or are they?

               1 likes

            • LondonCalling says:

              They are still my friends. I think you are missing the point. Unattributable opinions of friends as an ” appeal to authority” doesn’t wash.
              Not much of an umpire are we?

                 1 likes

              • Jon In Norway says:

                I like my news “unfiltered” by news organisations and get a chance to meet and talk with hundreds of people from all over the world and what they tell me often diverges from what I’m told by various media outlets. You stick to the BBC if you want.

                   1 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            Well, am I to believe what an educated Tunisian in Norway tells me to my face or what a BBC presenter says an educated Tunisian might tell me to my face if I ever met one? You seem to trust the BBC more than I do if you think I should say to an Arab “no, I won’t accept what you say is your opinion because it doesn’t coincide with what Rupert Wingfield-Hayes is saying on BBC World”

               0 likes

            • LondonCalling says:

              Jon, from the number and length of your posts, you have too much investment in this. Its only a blog, we have heard you, move on.

                 3 likes

      • Jon In Norway says:

        What public? If you want news about Israel, why tune into the BBC?

           1 likes

  4. Jon in Norway says:

    I’ve always thought the BBC’s reporting on Israel was, on the whole, pro-Israel with a few apparently midly critical pieces thrown in now and then to give the impression of impartiality.

    It’s vital the BBC can defend itself against accusations of bias so it will make sure there are pieces those defending the BBC on programs such as “Feedback” can highlight to show the BBC’s impartiality.

    This however doesn’t convince people who have access to many media outlets and can see how the BBC “censors by omission”. The classic example is the BBC completely ignoring unrest in Saudi Arabia and other states in the region to which the UK is allied during the “Arab Spring”.

    Since OFCOM banned Press TV from the Astra cluster of satellites at 28.2E, I wonder how many people are just watching it online. Press TV were proving rather too good at showing the holes in the BBC’s coverage of just about everything.

    Of course, it’s the BBC’s perceived or actual bias that drives people to seek information from other media outlets. I love Russia Today’s “Kaiser Report”.

       2 likes

    • deegee says:

      In what sense was the BBC pro-Israel – because it didn’t actively come out for Israel’s destruction? It was so concerned that the public was seeing through its bias that it commissioned the Balen report on it and then refused to let the public see the results.

      If you regard either Press-TV or RT as examples of proper reporting it is clear you have a different definition of the proper function of journalism than do the rest of us.

         18 likes

      • Jon in Norway says:

        The bias in Press TV and Russia Today is obvious but it is the holes in the BBC’s reporting that drives me to see what other channels are saying.

        Did I infer other channels lacked bias?

           3 likes

      • Jon in Norway says:

        It’s coverage was pro-Israel, in my opinion due to the language BBC editorials chose use to paraphrase UN statements rather than quote from them verbatim. It’s pro-Israel by taking the sharp edges off UN and other comments by letting a correspondent “give us the gist” in a sound bite.

        Thanks for the link to the piece in the “Standard”. Never knew pro-Israeli’s had tried to stop Jeremy Bowen reporting on Israel.

        Bowen’s a great asset to the BBC. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and co are just too transparently following the FO agenda.

           0 likes

        • Demon says:

          Try typing anti-Israel in the Search on the top right. You will get a flavour of the things that people on here find objectionable to the BBC’s unbalanced coverage of a sensitive subject. You may not agree to all the points made about bias but I would defy anyone with a truly open mind to read some of those posts and not realise that the BBC are playing hard and fast with the truth and hardly ever publish anything that’s negative to Israel’s enemies and hardly anything positive about Israel.

          Just because they haven’t yet started calling for the complete annhilation of the Jewish state and all its inhabitants, doesn’t make them pro-Israel. And although the BBC haven’t officially gone so far, many of their tweeting staff have come very close.

             18 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            I’m not really here to discuss pro or anti-Israel bias. It’s not really an issue to me either way. I’m more interested in the BBC’s “brand” and reputation for impartiality and honesty becoming increasingly worthless as people get their information from other news sources and realise that if they want to keep themselves well-informed, they have to get their news from many sources. The BBC’s actual or perceived bias is driving their audiences to sample competitor’s output which, as far as I can make out, is dangerous for the BBC as a whole. BBC’s main strong point was that it wasn’t CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera etc.. I found myself switching to Press TV simply because they had uninterrupted coverage from the UN. They enabled me to hear things for myself, live whereas the BBC would cut off a delegate from say Syria and go to a talking head from a Washington-based think-tank. I voted with my remote control!

               0 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            The Jewish State? I thought there were Christians, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox …. all sorts there. It IS confusing for outsiders to know “what” Israel is or is supposed to be …

               0 likes

        • Sue says:

          “But to suggest the BBC is responsible for the lack of popularity some Israeli regime ‘s policies enjoy is illogical.”

          How do most people get to hear about these “policies?” How are they in a position to evaluate them?
          I put it to you that if the BBC put every country under the same scrutiny as it does Israel, and reported every detail as selectively and one-sidedly, the results of a randomly posed question would be different.
          How many times have you heard the BBC showing Israel in a positive light?
          How many show Israel’s breadth and depth, its diversity and its positive contribution to medicine, science and technology?
          As you say, people who have access to other outlets could take the trouble to seek out a variety of news and views of any topic. If they have the will.
          Until the BBC’s reputation for impartiality is laid to rest people will continue to rely on it and regard it as the ultimate bastion of truth.
          We constantly hear people on the BBC referring to “What Israel is doing to the Palestinians” They need say no more. It has become a shorthand embedded in the nation’s psyche. No-one ever asks: “What IS Israel doing to the Palesinians?” or “What is Hamas doing to them?” “ What is Hamas doing to Israel?” “ What is radical Islam doing to the rest of us?”
          Sorry, but the BBC is very largely responsible for the lack of popularity of Israel and Jews as well as inverting the ‘never again’ theory by emoting that ‘Muslims are the new Jews,’ and spreading alarm by suggesting that any signs of ‘Islamophobia’ presage an impending other-way-round catastrophe. When of course the boot is actually on the other foot, and any impending catastrophe is more likely to be a matter of “Again” rather than “Never Again.”

          Bowen bears a grudge against Israel, and you’re quite right, Bowen IS a great asset to the BBC.

             25 likes

          • Daphne Anson says:

            Sue, I take off my (gardening) hat to you. You are absolutely right.

               8 likes

          • Dave s says:

            Very recently I was at a gathering where holding forth was an “academic” wearing a “Free Palestine” badge.
            Two things struck me.
            1. The company allowed to pass rants which if directed against any favoured liberal minority would be beyond the pale.
            2. The anti Israeli position is very close to an anti Semitic stance and as illogical. It fulfils a need in otherwise empty lives. and cannot be reasoned with at all.
            What did I do? I listened quietly for nearly 2 hours to as vile a stream of ranting as one would have heard in 1930s Berlin.
            I thought of the Fogel family. Told the man he was a lying anti Semitic thug and left. It was that or disrupt a gathering where I was a guest.
            As to Norway. It appears to be a country well on the way to committing liberal induced suicide and can safely be disregarded by all.

               12 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            Well, I stream BBC Radio 4 around my house in Norway and the last I heard about Israel was some criticism for expanding settlements there a few days ago so, if Israel is what you want news on, why are you using the BBC?

            The BBC’s agenda doesn’t even seem to include the alleged nuclear “threat” from Iran at the moment …..

               0 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            How do most people get to hear about these “policies?” How are they in a position to evaluate them?

            << I listen to the BBC because I'm british and prefer English. I don't worry if I hear nothing about Isarel from them>

            I put it to you that if the BBC put every country under the same scrutiny as it does Israel, and reported every detail as selectively and one-sidedly, the results of a randomly posed question would be different.

            <>

            How many times have you heard the BBC showing Israel in a positive light?

            <>

            How many show Israel’s breadth and depth, its diversity and its positive contribution to medicine, science and technology?

            <>

            As you say, people who have access to other outlets could take the trouble to seek out a variety of news and views of any topic. If they have the will.

            <>

            Until the BBC’s reputation for impartiality is laid to rest people will continue to rely on it and regard it as the ultimate bastion of truth.

            <>

            We constantly hear people on the BBC referring to “What Israel is doing to the Palestinians” They need say no more. It has become a shorthand embedded in the nation’s psyche. No-one ever asks: “What IS Israel doing to the Palesinians?” or “What is Hamas doing to them?” “ What is Hamas doing to Israel?” “ What is radical Islam doing to the rest of us?”

            <>

            Sorry, but the BBC is very largely responsible for the lack of popularity of Israel and Jews as well as inverting the ‘never again’ theory by emoting that ‘Muslims are the new Jews,’ and spreading alarm by suggesting that any signs of ‘Islamophobia’ presage an impending other-way-round catastrophe.

            <>

            When of course the boot is actually on the other foot, and any impending catastrophe is more likely to be a matter of “Again” rather than “Never Again.”

            <>

            Bowen bears a grudge against Israel, and you’re quite right, Bowen IS a great asset to the BBC.

            <>

               1 likes

            • Jon In Norway says:

              My answers in the haven’t appeared. I can’t be bothered to re-format and try again. Sorry.

              I should just make the point the BBC has given FAR more coverage to the Sunday Times journalists hurt or killed in Syria than it ever gave to the attack on Jeremy Bowen’s team by Israeli state forces. If the BBC was biased against Israel, wouldn’t it have gone on and on about Bowen’s driver and car being targeted and destroyed by the Israeli military? You want to hear bias, you listen to the coverage of the “unrest” in Syria (and if you think Assad is the worst neighbour Israel could have, just wait and see who replaces him!)

                 0 likes

              • Biodegradable says:

                … the attack on Jeremy Bowen’s team by Israeli state forces…

                … Bowen’s driver and car being targeted and destroyed by the Israeli military…

                It’s clear where your sympathies lie Jon.

                   3 likes

              • Sue says:

                What a shame your formatting didn’t work, because the answer you could be bothered to post didn’t seem to fit the question.
                However, one thing about Jeremy Bowen and his grudge against Israel.
                When something like that happens Israel always expresses regret, a practice practically unheard of amongst its enemies. However it’s discounted immediately, with a reflexive ‘they would say that wouldn’t they’ and other cynical comments about self-policing.
                One might also say, “war is hell. If you can’t stand the heat, don’t go into the kitchen.”
                Here Bowen says “News teams working in dangerous places deserve protection. War is an inherently dangerous business. But we didn’t blunder into a battle that day. We were targeted on an otherwise peaceful road.”
                The road may well have been quiet, although the film crew had surely driven there for a reason.
                “Takkoush had just driven BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen and cameraman Malek Kenaan to the area. While Takkoush waited inside the car, the two journalists started filming a burned-out vehicle that had been destroyed by shellfire,”
                Bowen expects us to believe that they were filming a peaceful road, (why?) but obviously over-all circumstances were far from peaceful. They were tense and likely to be volatile. The Israeli soldiers may have been trigger-happy and reckless. Stuff happens. But it’s quite obvious from his statement about the incident that he is not an impartial person. So the BBC’s decision to appoint him while claiming impartiality is indefensible.

                   4 likes

                • Jon In Norway says:

                  It seems ironic that on a site that accuses the BBC of bias I should find so much bias though YOU seem more inclined to debate than some and that’s to your credit. I’ve worked in about 20 countries and don’t find the BBC much different to many other broadcasters though the BBC is less critical, I think, of Israel than Scandinavian broadcasters so it could be much worse though to argue the BBC has more effect on regional opinion than the TV stations in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria etc. is, I think farfetched

                     0 likes

        • ltwf 1964 says:

          I misread your post- “Bowen’s a great asset to the BBC”

          for a minute i thought you had written
          “Bowen is the greatest asshole at the bbc”

          oh what a disappointing start to the day 😉

             15 likes

        • Andy S. says:

          Jon, do you listen to news channels in Norway? From what I’ve seen the Norwegian Government has a reputation for its Anti-Israeli stance – giving “aid” to Hamas for example and some of the comments from government ministers – and I’m sure they have their placemen and “little helpers” in the media.

          There’s something about the “benign” influence by the Norwegian Labour Party over their society that makes me feel uneasy.

          Judging by your government’s stance on Israel I’m not surprised you don’t see any bias in the BBC’s broadcasting.

             8 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            No. Norway’s pretty neutral but the Palestinians, Hamas etc. haven’t been caught assassinating people in Norway like the Israelis have and the fact those that did were caught, tried, convicted and are now rotting in Norwegian prisons apparently makes the Norwegians “pro-Palestinian” according to some pro-Israel commentators. That’s all I know and that comes from Norwegians who just think that friendly states don’t orchestrate that kind of thing on their “friends'” territory.

               0 likes

            • The Highland Rebel says:

              It appears that a lot of women in Norway will not be sharing your views.

              http://barenakedislam.com/2011/07/25/norway-and-the-eu-rape-of-white-women-by-muslim-men-is-now-at-epidemic-levels/

                 6 likes

              • Jon In Norway says:

                Really? barenakedislam.com. Yet another respected news outlet’s web site to which you are directing me? Thank you! I know quite a few Norwegian women. I don’t form their views but I don’t recall meeting one who I can imagine sharing your taste in web sites.

                I don’t think there are many Israelis in Norway. I’ve met Algerians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Afghans, Kurds, Iraqis, Iranians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Philipinos, Thais, Chinese, Russians, Americans, all the Europeans, Egyptians doing business here and lots of others but only Israeli tourists. I don’t think many people meet many Israelis so I won’t get to hear their opinions much.

                   0 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            My government? What do you mean?

               0 likes

          • Jon In Norway says:

            By “No” I mean “No, I don’t get any Norwegian TV coverage here”. I sometimes see Norwegian TV in hotels but I rarely watch TV preferring BBC Radio 4.

            Actually, we shouldn’t even be debating BBC TV bias since people are consuming less and less TV anyway! Who has the TIME to get their news via TV? I think once viewers seek news from elsewhere it’s very hard for broadcasters to get them back unless they have a bullet proof reputation for being reliable.

               0 likes

  5. Guest Who says:

    ‘Their campaign has been a great success.’
    BBC ‘proves’ BBC is getting it about right shokka…
    http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/boaden-v-bojo.html?
    ‘Our research suggests that our audiences continue to trust our journalism.
    Cometh the woman, cometh the ‘our’.
    And they say great satire is dead chez Aunty.

       9 likes

    • Jon In Norway says:

      ha ha ha really? So what? Lots of people thought the earth was flat. they were wrong? Just because people trust your journalism doesn’t mean it’s good journalism any more than those who trusted Bernie Madof knew anything about investing and ponzi schemes.

         1 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Glad to get one from you too, as you have posted so many I couldn’t locate the one below one in situ, so here will do for taking what you have posted elsewhere and develop a tad in areas that may serve the site and thread topic as opposed to being an evident attempt at resolving insomnia (ultimately successful I’d gather, so kudos)…
        ‘Not all Zionists are Jews and not all Jews are Zionists.’
        Glad you think that.
        Others have seen less clear…
        On 20 Mar 2012, at 11:39, NewsOnline Complaints wrote:

        I am sorry not to reply to your email sooner regarding this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16501566.

        One gets used to it.

        We do not mean to suggest that all Zionists are Israeli or that all Israelis are Zionists. It is just that Iranian officials often use the word Zionists to mean Israel or Israelis. Some readers may not be familiar with this.

        One would also hope the national broadcaster of Great Britain might be a bit more cautious on what it ‘means’ and how it articulates what is ‘meant’.

        And whatever it is that is ‘just what’ Iranians or any other officials call anyone, that makes it all the more crucial to clarify correctly and in context, especially for those readers lacking in ‘familiarity’.

        The means opted for seems hardly adequate: ”the work of the Zionists [Israelis],” deputy Tehran governor Safarali Baratloo said.’
        [by way of postscript, on a quick scope it appears what was written remains]

           2 likes

  6. As I See It says:

    I notice that although Israel certainly features negatively in their ludicrous poll – the BBC actually headlines the heap of home-cobbled twaddle by agonising over the lack of respect for the EU nations.

    Never mind. The BBC are soon to be finacing a similar scientific international opinion poll in which Britain will be seen to fair very badly. It is call the Eurovision Song Contest.

       8 likes

    • Jon In Norway says:

      My house is ON the E39. It’s the Norwegian equivalent of a motorway. I think you’ll find anyone walking down any main road with any flag of any nation who is disrupting traffic will get hassle from the police especially if they’ve already told you to stop twice. Surely you’re not trying to use this as a way of depicting the Norwegians as anti-semites? As if the guy could have walked down the road with a Palestinian flag and everything would have been fine with a mile of held-up traffic behind him? It sounds a bit of a desperate argument to me …

      I’m not even allowed to put up a sign near the road advertising my free range eggs or rooms to rent. How many times would the police in the UK have warned this guy if he was wandering up the M1 with an Israeli flag?

      The fact the flag was Israeli is completely irrelevant and I really don’t think Israel needs “friends” like that.

         0 likes

      • Biodegradable says:

        Surely you’re not trying to use this as a way of depicting the Norwegians as anti-semites?

        No, there’s plenty more here:
        http://www.israelwhat.com/

        Surely you’re not trying to say that Norway isn’t among the most antisemitic countries in Europe?

           5 likes

        • Jon In Norway says:

          I would say, on the whole they, like many countries, support the cause of The Palestinians and The Palestinian State. It seems you seem to think that makes them anti-semitic. Are Iranians anti-semitic because they oppose the existence of The Zionist Entity? Can you be against the existence of the State of Israel yet not an anti-semite?

             0 likes

          • ltwf 1964 says:

            can you be anti Obama and not be a “racist”

            the bbc don’t seem to think so

            but they can rip the back out of Israel,but never be jew haters apparently

            a curious distinction,don’t you think?

            or maybe not……..

               3 likes

          • Biodegradable says:

            There’s a huge difference between “supporting The Palestinians” (there is no “Palestinian State and never has been one) and hating Jews and calling for the destruction of Israel – which is basically what “the Palestinian cause” is.

            “Zionist Entity”? Nice choice of words. Wherever did you pick that up?

               0 likes

            • Biodegradable says:

              I meant to say that there is no difference between “supporting The Palestinian cause” and hating Jews.

              “The Palestinian cause”, after all, is the destruction of the State of Israel and death to Jews.

              Have you ever read the Hamas charter Jon?

                 1 likes

        • Jon In Norway says:

          Amazing how anyone can “like” this twisted piece of garbage writing. I’ve worked in Norway for years and have some very serious issues with the Norwegian state and how it has treated me and others but I also know what other countries get up to.

          For all it’s faults, this piece of writing is no reflection of the Norway I know and criticise or the Norwegians I know, most of whom I would say are lovely people.

          You can’t blame people for failing and Norwegians DO fail but by CHRIST they try hard to do the right thing and that is more than enough for me.

             0 likes

          • Biodegradable says:

            Israelis get blamed for failing even though they try hard to do the right thing.

            They evidently don’t do enough for you and many, if not most Norwegians.

               1 likes

  7. chrisH says:

    I thought that the World Service were strapped for cash-in grotesque BBC terms at least.
    Given then, the Tories threats to their very being due to their cuts…who paid for this?…how many trees will need to be planted to replenish the rainforest?
    And-is there ANYBODY there who can recall even a modicum of statistical sampling techniques? This is just quantitative rationale for bigotry and ignorance.
    They say Russia and South Africa are “more popular” countries-really?
    Put any BBC grunt in the Cape Flats or a Leningrad/St Petersburg block at the end of the Metroline…then let them say that Israel has something to learn about democracy, freedom, compassion from the likes of these places.
    Where`s that f***in` Balen Report ,then you sly pondlife there at the Beeb?…and until you publishit, nothing you can say about Israel will be believed by anybody but your Guardian chums!

       10 likes

  8. The Highland Rebel says:

    To Jon in Norway.

    Regarding the recent massacre on Oyet island you will be aware in Norway, although it was not generally reported here, that the kids camp was organised by the left wing Socialist party.
    A good part of the indoctrination of these kids was a call to kill Jews and fight to destroy Israel.
    Some of the Norwegian papers carried photos of the kids waving ‘death to Jews’ and ‘death to Israel’ banners.

    If a political group openly calls for genocide and mass murder then they shouldn’t be too surprised if their own policies backfire on themselves.

    I would imagine that you are a member of the Norwegian Socialist party. If so then this clip should cheer you up.

       9 likes

    • Jon In Norway says:

      ha ha ha I know enough about the media not to believe everything is what people say it is. I have no idea what this clip is about except it looks like some people demonstrating and when the person filming had a chance to zoom in on a placard, they messed it up. I’d have thought you’d have made your point better if you’d included links to the pictures you allege exist of picture shown in the Norwegian papers saying “kill Jews” and so on but that seems to be beyond you. I imagine that if you actually believe the Norwegian Socialist Party told their youngsters to kill Jews, the BBC might seem a bit biased unless, you’re just having a laugh.

      You display your own prejudices magnificently. I have never been a member of any political party so, like many things you imagine, that idea of yours is wrong.

         0 likes

      • ltwf 1964 says:

        is this funny then Jon?

        http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/03/norwegian-socialists-to-vote-on-bombing-israel/

        The Norwegian socialist party announced that they will vote to bomb Israel at their convention.
        Tundra Tabloids reported on this, via ROP:

        The junior partner in the Norwegian government, the Socialist Left Party of Kristin Halvorsen, (Sosialistisk Venstreparti), plans to vote on a measure calling for military action against Israel if it decides to act against the Hamas in Gaza. Norway, Israel and the Jews blog informs the Tundra Tabloids of the following:

        The SV annual convention goes to vote. The deranged junior partner in the current government coalition will among other proposals vote on a motion to use armed force against Israel should it attack Gaza.

        The motion is the blood money required to pay off SV card carrying members who find it hard to accept that they have taken the nation to war, again. Last time it did so was back in 1999, when the party backed the NATO bombing of Serbia. As a result, we got ourselves involved in a war crimes probe because of high number of civilian casualties and bombing illegal targets.

        Therefore, the only way it can be palatable to bomb Libya for these morally deranged people is if Israel can be bombed too.

        Here is the less than lucid reasoning behind the motion:

        – The credibility of the world community in its confrontation with the Gadafi regime is undermined when there is no reaction against other states in the region who commit injustices against civil population. The greater world community must therefore also react against Israeli air attacks on the Gaza strip.

        “Oslo” is jewish for toilet seat,I’m told

        how very apt

           7 likes

        • ltwf 1964 says:

          http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/07/summer-camp-indoctrination-training-center.html

          Sunday, July 31, 2011

          SUMMER CAMP? ANTISEMITIC INDOCTRINATION TRAINING CENTER

          “Some of my friends tried to stop him by talking to him. Many people thought that it was a test … comparing it to how it is to live in Gaza.” Eyewitness statement the day of the shooting. (ABC News)

          The day of the Norway shooting, I was blindsided by one of the survivor’s statements to the press immediately after the shooting (see above). It was so outside the box, I thought it was the kneejerk response of an anti-semite in shock. I didn’t blog on it because I thought it anecdotal, badly anecdotal. But the more that is revealed about that youth indoctrination center, the more grotesque the whole story becomes. Of course, the genocidal leftists will twist what I write here; I am not condoning the slaughter in Norway or anywhere. I abhor violence (except in regard to self defense). But the jihad-loving media never told us what antisemitic war games they were playing on that island. Utoya Island is a Communist/Socialist campground, and they clearly had a pro-Islamic agenda.

          Only the malevolent media could use the euphemism summer camp and get away with it.

          The slaughter was horrific. What these kids were being taught and instructed to do was a different kind of grotesque. There is no justification for Breivik’s actions whatsoever. There is also no justification for Norway’s antisemitism and demonization of Israel.

          Here is what the Anti-Mullah has on the conference:

          ANOTHER LOOK AT THE NORWAY LABOR PARTY PALESTINIAN AFFILIATION posted by The Anti-Mullah

          http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oEbsJX38abo/TjSXLyLiX0I/AAAAAAAADgI/0uN4om-krMs/s1600/island+youths+2.jpg

          Labour Youth League summer camp at Utøya got the Labour Party’s young hopefuls a visit by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

          The Palestinians “must have their own state, the occupation must end, the wall must be demolished and it must happen now,” said the Norwegian Foreign Minister to cheers from the audience.

          http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TzA2ly2HvDs/TjSYf4Cs5VI/AAAAAAAADgM/bm2aIZpb1Fk/s1600/island+youths+3.jpg

          The main activity at the Utoya Island Meeting were mock “Break the Israel blockade” games. One event was Palestinian aide boats would try to break the Israel blockage.The sign says “defeat the blockade” (opphev blokkaden – Gaza)

          Utoya camp was not Islamist but it WAS something not much more wholesome (by our standards, at any rate).

          It was a summer indoctrination camp run by Norway’s ruling Labor Party for up-and-coming children of the ruling elite.

          Glen Beck was not far off when he compared it to the Hitlerjugend or Young Pioneers.

          It’s so the junior members of the aristocracy can be properly told what to think and can network with each other in preparation for their brilliant careers ruling over the peasants.

             10 likes

          • dez says:

            ltwf 1964 says:
            “http://atlasshrugs….”

            Hey ltwf/Andrew/GaryK do you still go around calling people “Mudslime Dune Coons”? Or are you still the sad, lonely bigoted racist you’ve always been?

               0 likes

            • ltwf 1964 says:

              and are you still visiting your nazi forums and posting links to them like you did here?

              never quite seem to be able to answer that one eh dezzie?

                 1 likes

              • dez says:

                I visit Nazi sites and I visit Biased BBC and I find sad, lonely people such as yourself on all of them.

                That should give you a clue – you’re looking for friends in the wrong places.

                You might have to change your racist “dune-coon” opinions though; but I doubt that will be a problem for someone as shallow and facile (look it up) as yourself.

                You can thank me later.

                   0 likes

                • ltwf 1964 says:

                  Ok

                  I thank you for being our resident idiot troll 😉

                  posting links to nazi forums in support of your crap attempts to disguise bbc jew hating bias does not strike me as an attempt to play neutral

                  you are a total waste of oxygen:)

                     3 likes

        • Jon In Norway says:

          Er, Venstre, as far as I know, are not socialists. I really think you need to get away from the fringes of the media. You seem to be placing as much credibility in the web sites you read as Breivik did in the web sites HE read. If I sent you a link to a web site that said Elvis was eaten by flesh eating butterflies, would it be any kind of proof of anything?

          Norway definitely has it’s problems but promoting rubbish like this (as I said, Venstre see themselves as “Liberals” as far as I know so whoever wrote this needs to up their medication) makes anyone who reads and believes it seem deranged.

          I’m finding this site really enlightening though perhaps not in the way you might imagine.

          I may save this page and forward it to the Norwegian tabloids.

             0 likes

          • ltwf 1964 says:

            is that supposed to make us worried or something? 🙂

               6 likes

          • ltwf 1964 says:

            venstre see themsleves as “liberals”

            well in this country,”liberals” are almost invariably “socialists/leftists”

               7 likes

    • Jon In Norway says:

      This video is interesting. It says these are Leftists and Muslims rioting. Who knows? How can you tell which are which? I’m not prepared to take your word for it or that of whoever titled the video.

      Going on my own experiences of meeting and talking to real people, I know left wing Christians born in Goa who could LOOK like Muslims in a video and white, caucasions born in the UK who happily now regard themselves as Muslims.

      I’m not sure what this video, if it was properly titled and believable is supposed to achieve …

         0 likes

    • dez says:

      “Some of the Norwegian papers carried photos of the kids waving ‘death to Jews’ and ‘death to Israel’ banners.”

      Do you have links to any of these photos Highland Rebel?

         0 likes

    • Jon In Norway says:

      Question 1. Which Scandinavian country has souvenir shops selling t shirts with swastikas on them alongside cuddly Elk and other tat?

      Question 2. Which Scandinavian country is the one where you really shouldn’t wear a t-shirt with a Swastika on it?

         0 likes

  9. The Highland Rebel says:

    PS The comment by Don Laird from Canada at the bottom of the page is worth repeating –

    ‘More and more truth comes to the surface regarding those moments on Utoya Island…….it seems the parents of these youth had decided to place their very own flesh and blood into the murderous crucible of international politics………it seems that Utoya, at first glance an idyllic Norwegian playground, was little more than a training ground for the cannon fodder of Hamas and Hezbollah as young men and women were readied, through brain-washing and a steady diet of propaganda, to be placed into the breech of islamic terrorism………

    Utoya Island, a sort of Ikea-esque version of the madrassas of Pakistan where the very finest of suicide bombers are moulded……….

    So, I thought I would share my thoughts with you on parents who throw their children to lions………

    Here lays the truth….

    There is no difference between the muslim who whispers the blackest of lies in the ears of the unloved, the easily impressed and the dull witted and then, for the sake of political agenda, ignites these same lost souls in a blinding flash of light in the marketplace….where in a symphony of carnage and the sweetest of agony, the innocent are borne away on rivers of blood………this Middle Eastern creation, the work of madmen, the pride of Lucifer himself….. yet greatly admired by some as so too the Norwegian politicians and academia who whisper lies into the ears of their own children as they set out to the island of Utoya…….these so called educated and enlightened men and women who champion the cause of psychopathic, terroristic murderers…..these Norwegian men and women, closet national socialists, who seek the murder and annihilation of all Jewry on a global scale….these monstrous Norwegian men and women who whisper lies into their children’s ears and then set these children loose into the political arena to, in seeking, as all children do, the approving eye of that which gave them life, willingly act as little more than cannon fodder for their parents vicious agenda………

    How incredibly sick……..how incredibly demented, these Norwegians who use their children as pawns in a game that they themselves are loathe to play……..wretched bloody cowards the lot……and now they stand on the world stage and, tears flowing down cheeks, with hand on heart, with refrains of melodramatic background music as their flesh and blood is lowered into the ground…..and now……with obscene hypocrisy……….they seek our solace and our sympathy…..what wretched souls these sick Norwegian psychopaths…….now, having offered up their very own children to the cause and conflict of islam and terrorism they will be accorded, with admiring deference by their fellow media luminaries, academics and politicians, the very best seats in cafes and bistros…..where, noshing on exotic cuisine, sipping expensive wines, dressed in shemaghs and wrapped in the Palestinian flag, the haute couture of media, mass murders and academia everywhere, they will be treated as celebrities for murdering their very own children…..how utterly vile………..

    In the darkened doorways lurk the omnipresent leering muslim vultures, Hamas and Hezbollah…….they sit quietly and marvel at a job well done…..for the slaughter of these deluded youth was a win/win massacre for muslims…….you find evidence of that in their immediate reaction to the bombing as every Jihadist group, muslim and islamist with an axe to grind didn’t just rush to the Norwegian river of blood….no, they jumped in and, splashing and frolicking about, claiming responsibility…..revelling, as they love to do, in the death and misery of innocents and children…….

    But as events unfolded and it became apparent that Anders Breivik was responsible……….these muslims faded away quietly as here was something beyond their wildest dreams…..and the academia smiled………..and the media was delighted…….and the band played on………..

    How utterly bloody wretched…….’

    Regards, Don Laird
    Edson, Alberta, Canada

       8 likes

    • dez says:

      “what wretched souls these sick Norwegian psychopaths… now, having offered up their very own children to the cause”

      Of course it wasn’t Anders Breivik who was the psychopath; IT WAS THE PARENTS OF THE MURDERED CHILDREN.

      Highland Rebel, “Don Laird from Canada” is [Here lays the truth]………. quite………. obviously………. insane……….

      What’s your excuse?

         0 likes

    • Don Laird says:

      Thank you very much Highland Rebel….

      Events are changing the set design of the World Stage rapidly……I expect Leftists and the pawns of a 7th century lunatic are feeling decidedly uncomfortable lately………let us move forward.

      Regards, Don Laird
      Edson, Alberta, Canada

         0 likes

  10. Jon In Norway says:

    Yes. Very mainstream. No bias there!! I can see why you think the BBC is biased.

       0 likes

  11. Demon says:

    Stop feeding this troll. He is becoming very tedious.

       4 likes

    • ltwf 1964 says:

      I was thinking that myself,demon

         1 likes

    • The Highland Rebel says:

      It’s a warning to us all about the effects of brainwashing, Demon.

      We should be thankful that we’re immune.

         3 likes

  12. Jon In Norway says:

    Off to bed now. I’ll be emailed any replies! Good luck all but remember, bias is relative!

       0 likes

  13. Seamus says:

    The BBC is riddled with Jews. Compared to other minorities in the UK they are vastly over-represented, and in this day of age of equality I find it quite offensive that the Jews who makes up less than 0.9% of the population always find their way into the top jobs.

       1 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      Yes you racist bigot, you probably find it offensive that with so few Jews, so many have achieved Nobel prizes, or excelled in so many areas.

      You pronounce your name – Shame us?

         4 likes

    • Doyle says:

      Probably more accurate to say that the BBC is riddled with ‘self-loathing’ Jews.

         3 likes

      • dez says:

        Yes Doyle, and there is hardly a more pathetic name-calling epithet than to describe someone as a “self-loathing Jew” simply because they don’t share the same political opinions as yourself.

           0 likes

        • Dave s says:

          “Self loathing Jew” is in common use.
          Shorthand if you like for those amongst us who cannot be relied upon to defend the right of Israel to exist.

             4 likes

    • ltwf 1964 says:

      finished reading Protocols of the elders of Zion yet Seamus?

      has to be on your reading list……

         3 likes

  14. Teddy Bear says:

    A Norwegian suddenly appears on the site and decides to spend most of the day debating how fair, or even pro-Israel the BBC is in its reporting on the subject.

    Hmmmm :roll
    Well given the history of Norway to Jews, and also more recent relationship problems between Israel and Norway, he might be right that to THEM – the BBC appears biased towards it.

    So what’s his agenda here?

       7 likes

    • Dave s says:

      Norway has a case to answer. Like most European nations there is a history of anti Semitism.
      It may be a good occasion to remind ourselves that during the war Norway helped raise the Viking division of the SS. Hardly an insignificant unit if one looks at it’s battle history. But the volunteer divisions of the SS are best never mentioned these days lest it casts a shadow over the new Europe.
      It is much better to concentrate on the resistance fighters. So much more healthy and uplifting.
      As a Pole once scornfully said to me
      “If you want to know about real resistance go to Warsaw.”

         4 likes

      • Jon in Norway says:

        You’re missing a trick here. You could find Norway a very useful ally though it’s probably too late now. I’ve had a few Israelis staying at my house on holiday so, if they were Jewish, Norway’s alleged anti-semitic reputation didn’t put them off coming.

           0 likes

    • Jon in Norway says:

      “Jon in Norway must be Norwegian because he’s in Norway”

      I hope, one day, you manage to work out things less complicated than this.

      I’m British. Hence my interest in the BBC and their bias. Why didn’t you think “Jon in Norway might be British because he’s interested in BBC bias?”

         0 likes

  15. Teddy Bear says:

    🙄
    This was :roll

       1 likes

  16. Biodegradable says:

    Jon in Norway, and Norway itself, proves the truth in the adage that “Europe has not forgiven the Jews for the Holocaust.”

       6 likes

    • Jon in Norway says:

      I reckon 99% of people in Europe spend 99% of their time not thinking about The Holocaust. I can’t remember the last time The Holocaust was a news item. There may, somewhere, be a media monitoring group that can say exactly how much the topics in which you are interested actually appear in the news. The state of most economies has dominated the news since 2008

         0 likes

  17. Guest Who says:

    I am always cautious about what constitutes and hence paves the way for TTW (the troll word).
    There have been some who could spin an argument worth reading and then debating, such as Mr. Dandy (whose volume seems to been a candle that burned so bright that it then self-extinguished – one can only hope in repetition with certain heirs), but who often, too often, could not resist a very silly dig (at best) or snark (at worst) that reduced the quality of the argument by association.
    Another feature is this the swerve. What was being discussed gets dropped or distracted from when things start to fall off the rails of the narrative desired.
    More than ever, this can be often identified by the innocent question, more often than not completely off topic, and designed to seduce those keen to engage in epic wastes of time.
    Given the thread topic, it is worth assessing some posts on this basis where the intent appears more heat than light.
    If I may quote from a current conversation with some others such folk seem to identify with:
    It appears that your focus is on pursuing [comment] through the process rather than seeking genuine resolution. Examination of recent [comment] suggests a desire to escalate them without fully considering the responses you are given.
    As with these, there appears to be a unique multiplicity of standards at play, in who can say what to whom, and when.

       5 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      Given the thread topic, it is worth assessing some posts on this basis where the intent appears more heat than light.

      Great line Guest Who

         1 likes

  18. Jon in Norway says:

    As I said, whatever happens to Israel / The Zionist Entity won’t affect me. I don’t know anyone there and only ended up here because a google search for “BBC”+”bias” brings you here.

    I am fascinated by so many people being so pre-occupied with how the BBC reports on Israel. I have never given a second thought to how the entire Israeli media reports on the UK.

       0 likes

  19. Jon in Norwa says:

    Taking everything off on a tangent, is this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Israelism#Criticism trying to make out many people in the UK are descended from one of the “lost tribes of Israel”?

    One could argue that since Israel is in that part of the world regarded as the “cradle of humanity” and much migration of human kind northwards was by land through this part of the world, the idea is not completely implausible.

       0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘Another feature is the swerve. What was being discussed gets dropped or distracted from when things start to fall off the rails of the narrative desired.’
      Have to admire the heads up honesty of ‘Taking everything off on a tangent..’ mind. Kudos.
      I presume by the same person, but the ‘y’ seems to have dropped off the monicker. Maybe exhausted at all the toddler-attrition questions?

         1 likes

  20. Biodegradable says:

    Which is why I use the phrase (Zionist Entity) because predictable replies like yours come.

    The mark of a true troll. Hardly surprising really as Trolls originated in Norway.

       0 likes

  21. troll says:

    I’m not sure the way the Norwegian state treats others gives them any right to deide who’s worthy of any Nobel Prizes. http://www.gleniswillmott.eu/dream-shattered-as-result-of-%E2%80%9Cdisgraceful%E2%80%9D-behaviour-from-the-norwegian-authorities/

    and this from “Thinking of Working Abroad?” by”Warren Davis”

    “The EFTA Surveillance unit says Norway discriminates against foreign workers http://www.eftasurv.int/press–publications/press-releases/internal-market/nr/1476 and doesn’t prosecute Norwegians who steal the taxes and wages of foreign workers instead demanding the robbed workers pay taxes on the wages they never received”

    Norway’s getting a spectacular reputation fort his kind of behaviour which will eventually cost it dearly and be very hard to get rid of. Illegally denying foreign workers benefits in Greece is bad enough but making people destitute illegally in fatally cold temperatures is murderous.

       0 likes

  22. JohnnyIsrael says:

    “troll” is right here … I’ll never forget hearing someone in Fredrikstad, Norway around 1990 when telling me he needed to pee say “jeg ma ga strupe jorden” or something like that. I asked what it meant and he said “strangle a jew” … that was 1990’s … a phrase you drop into conversation with a foreign acquaintance … I still feel ill thinking about it …. but the Norwegians, because they’re under the impression they’re so rich can pretty much look down their noses at just about everyone except Qataris …. actually, I feel sorry for them …

       0 likes