The war against the Jews (10)

Scipio

Did not Israel break off relations with the BBC years ago?

J. Isaacs

Let there be no holding of breath for a BBC retraction or correction.

Austin Barry

On El Beeb's website a Beirut media analyst is reported as saying with respect to its new Arabic TV channel: "The BBC is coming into this market as an outsider, so people will definitely be a bit sceptical as well about the BBC point of view when it comes to very sensitive topics like Hezbollah and Hamas and Fatah". No worries, mate.

D Gray

I phoned the BBC with a complaint about this 20 minutes ago and the denied the story.They are a disgrace and are nothing more than supporters of terrorism against Israel.

Lucy

More drivel from the BBC last night as Mark Urban (or Durban?) from Newsnight filed a pathetic report. He failed to mention that Hamas targets Israeli civilians but that Israel targets military positions that are unfortunately often hidden behind civilian shields. If the BBC wishes to make a play for any sense of credibility at all the reporter Nick Miles must be sacked. If not, it must explain this blood libel - instantly.

George

Avi Dichter (the Israeli Internal Security minister) was quoted today (March 12th) as saying the following: "The demolition of any home, particularly in Jerusalem, requires several legal examinations. I hope that eventually the justice system will allow such a move, but without its authorization we cannot carry it out." For the full article, see here: http://tinyurl.com/28k52z

London Calling

There are always two sides to every story and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is no exception, as we are exhaustingly aware of when listening to both sides. What I want to know is, who was it then that bulldozed the Palestinian grocers shop as witnessed in an interview with the shop owner on Newsnight BBC2 yesterday evening? Why is there only one way traffic for goods into Isreal yet not Palestinians without it first being drip fed in at a different price? who really is profiting from this conflict? my answer would be both sides. The ordinary people on both sides suffer in different ways and although Math was not my strong point, you don't have to be Einstein to work out who really is coming out the worst of from this conflict. Putting this argument to one side, the goal posts have dramatically changed position now that Hamas is now arming itself with more powerful weaponry via Iran whilst its people the Palestinians suffer great hardship, because Palestinians cant eat Rockets or light their homes with them. The Americans will, I am in no doubt about this, go to war with Iran, the drum rolls are already beating in Washington, and the world has not fully woke up to the consequences of such action and neither is it prepared for the devastating threat it poses for all of us. Israel is now more vulnerable than it ever has been in all its history and whilst we continue to discuss attacks against Jews here in these post, we need to look at the bigger picture and not take our eyes of the ball through any stupid biased point of views, otherwise we are all the victims of complacency and ignorance.

Rob

I look forward to the BBC retraction and apology...hah!

Rob

This is the same BBC that send secret coded messages to fascist occupied Eurupe in WW2. Now they send open messages of encouragement to the currect fascist enemy.

Frank Pulley

Yes, Lucy, I saw the characteristic rigged report from Mark Urban too. For those who didn't see it, it's still on line at http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4670000/newsid_4679900/4679986.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1 Despite it's 'view from both sides' claim, the innate bias of the BBC and Urban's oily hypocrisy is plain for all to see and the pictures supplied, given the recently exposed dubious credentials of such footage, can only be suspect at best.

E Perez

While Melanie says that Israel doesn't destroy Arab homes as a form of "collective punishment," Israel has been clear about this for some time. The polices have changes slightly over time in response to public uproar though. Here is a history of Israel's policies and the responses to them on this matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_demolition_in_the_Israeli-Palestinian_conflict I dare say that Melanie herself isn't the most straightforward individual herself on these matters.

Stanislav Koblinski

E Perez; Melanie doesn't say that Israel does not destroy Arabs' homes. She does say that this particular home was not destroyed and the BBC lies when it says it was. Capisci?

Jonathan

E Perez and others should see the report on house demolition published by the Israeli Human Rights organisation B'Tselem - no friend of the Israeli Government or Military. They state that punitive house demolition ceased in 2005. In other words, not only was this house not destroyed but it is isn't going to be destroyed either. http://www.btselem.org/english/Punitive_Demolitions/Statistics.asp

EDWARD BOWMAN

Surely this lie is simply that the BBCprobably USES HAMAS press office FOR ITS NEWS SOURCES

Ellien

How many of you still pay the TV license fee? By doing so you are supporting, and condoning, the BBC in all its treachery. As taxpayers , could we not all get together to demand from the government some action against the BBC? It benefits from public money, but where is its public accountability? It is doing all it can to hasten the next Holocaust against the Jews. I do not agree that my taxes should be used, or, rather, abused in this way.

Adam B.

Ellien, I agree, but unless we all act en masse, the strategy won't work. We need a movement of many people to scrap the licence fee/imposed tax on watching TV. I hate the fact that my money goes to the inflated salaries of these left wing Israel and America haters!

Ian C

ELLIEN - I and millions of others are with you. But I am rather too busy to save £125 pa and have the hassle of fighting it. Would you mind organising it and we can all join in. I am not being rude but makingt the point - that is the problem. Some day it will happen if it carries on as it is.

Andy Gill

Please complain to the BBC about this. Its easy to do, and you can access their complaints page at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/make_complaint_step1.shtml

Ahad Ha'amoratzim

So if I understand London Calling and E. Perez, it's okay for the BBC to use tax payer money to fabricate lies so long as though lies are aimed at portraying Israel as evil. And the reason this is okay is because Israel has done so many evil things that it does not matter whether they have committed the particular evil that the BBC reports. In other words, as long as Israel is the target, truth does not matter. Disgusting. And these are the same types who will instantly and automatically discount any word uttered in Israel's defense.

Ravi

Ravi, it might interest people to know that I made a post on BBC 5Live about the fact that Israel is considering banning Al Jazeera (reported by Haaretz) I then linked to the BBC fabrication over the bulldozing of this terrorists home - linked to CAMRA as my source and guess what? The BBC removed all traces of the criticism!

field

Of course America will go to war with Iran, because Iran is determined to go to war with America. They've said it enough times. An Iranian reformist MP is just about to undergo some judicial process for having talked to "the enemy" (the VOA - about as much an enemy of Iran as the BBC!). It is true the balance of power is changing - and that's what Hamas and Hezbollah know. They aren't stupid. They can see how small Israel is and within Israel how the population is really all compressed into two or three centres. They see that if they are fanatical enough and cruel enough, as their religion teaches, then they can win - they can drive the Jews out and murder those that don't run for their lives. Rockets are the weapon of choice. Eventually they hope to be able to hit the main population centres with rockets armed with chemicals on a daily basis. Israel - tiny Israel - may be forced to go to war with Iran in a desperate battle for survival. And what does the EU - our state - do? It funds Hamas, it funds terrorism (because there is no difference - once the money leaves the EU bank account it can go ANYWHERE). We can do our bit by not sending one penny to any government controlled by people engaged in acts of terrorism. Full stop.

David M

I recall the BBC coverage of the release of Alan Johnson which seemed to heap praise on Hamas. The Beeb went out of its way to stress the bizarre idea Alan would never have been released if Hamas weren't in power in Gaza. Anyone can see Hamas was using this incident as a propaganda coup to solidify their terrorist regime and the BBC acted disgracefully. Yet people are now catching on to this, especially Russia.

davidka

It's a question of accountabilty is it not. The BBC can lie and distort to its haert's delight when it comes to Israel,( and do not forget that house demolitions were the invention of the British themselves) there is no danger there, no prosectutions, no censuring etc. Let them try to claim that British forces buldozed Irish homes and watch the government come down on them like a ton of bricks

Joshua

At what point does a journalist become a terrorist?

Stephen Rothbart

The idea of withholding licence fees to the BBC is a non-starter. Most people care more about East Enders than BBC bias against Israel for God's sake. What planet are you all on? The EU, the UN all spend their time and money supporting the Palestinians and castigating the Israelis, the BBC is a symptom, not a cause. Face it, fellow Zionists, most people are at heart anti-Semitic, and their hatred of Israel is a visible extension of this. We have just watched the sovereignty of Great Britain signed away for ever by a prime Minister who was not even elected, and who is encouraging draconian measures to intrude into every factor of our lives, suspend Habeus Corpus, and what did the people of this once great nation do? They yawned and went back to watching East Enders. If that is not going to get them out into the streets, an ill-informed anti-Semitic news reporter on the BBC certainly is not going to rouse the nation.

M Whitehead

This is typical of the BBC, hope they make an official apology on the 10 o' clock news. BBC should read the promise to Israel in the scriptures, 'those who bless you I (God) will bless and those who curse youi I will curse', sobering words indeed.

Ian C

The report I saw on Newsnight said that the Israelis were considering or trying to get permission from gov't to destroy his proeprty (that sort of thing I cannot remember the exact phrasing) which is 'softer' on the Israelis - but if true this time, not very clever of the Israelis. Their PR handling is atrocious

Ben-Tsiyon

I took the view some time ago that Israel should withdraw foreign press privileges from all sections of the British media (the BBC in particular) and bar their reporters from entering the country. Such privileges should be denied to those who use them for the dissemination of propaganda on behalf of the enemies of the host nation. Oh, and incidentally, davidka is absolutely right about the British policy of house demolition in countering what they themselves called "Arab terrorism" (because it was against them !)in 'Palestine' during the days of the late and unlamented British Empire.

patricia

What is d'Ancona running here - the Israeli Appreciation Society?! CAMERA is a true blue pro Israeli media lobby group!!!! Of course they are going to paint the BBC and anyone else who criticises Israel is in the wrong!!!! We're not all gullible Americans you know...! Mel - stop dredging up these fanatic special interests groups and commentators and pretending they are in some way neutral or objective. You did this continually on the old site, and it just became unreadable. I hoped that when you came here you d be just a teeny bit more balanced. Mel - you re a gifted writer. Stop demeaning your readers in such a crass way. We, and Israel, for that matter, deserve more serious insight at this time than you seem able to give.

g

Patricia, so you don't like the messenger (CAMERA). Who cares? Do you dispute the validity of the report? Did the BBC not fabricate (lie) in its report. What an utterly stupid criticism on your part. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you might be representative of the average Brit.

patricia

g. You're still funny! But your memory is fading... Remember the Church of England? Remember when it chose to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestine? Remember Caterpillar Inc, makers of the infamous D9? Remember when Caterpillar became synonymous with the Israeli military's destruction of thousands of Palestinian homes, and with the crushing to death of Rachel Corrie, the heroic American peace activist, when she tried to stop them in March 2003. Remember that? No, thought not.

g

...no, patricia, I'm always funny. And I remember every incident in the litany of your poor, pathetic string of woeful propaganda. Poor, poor patricia and her always pathetic victims. And what, pray, does any of it have to do with the BBC's fabrication? Nothing? Thought not.

PHIL

Is Patricia referring to the C OF E run by the well known archbishop most famous for his more recent announcements ? she could have also mentioned the NUJ and the nutty professors who also ban contact with Israeli teaching hospitals -where are you situated Patricia on the loony left or the crazy right -in your post you demean the memory of rachel corrie by telling half truths -yes of course she sadly died under a machine and no it wasnt on purpose or would you deny that too? -sadly she was in a place where she should not have been ,where the soldier in the dark could not see her and where he was being fired on and no doubt scared stiff -your post soon changed its tone from literary criticism to propoganda -how you people continue your hatred amazes me ,Perhaps you will enlighten me and tell me why you read Melanies columns if you dislike her views so much -I think I know but please change my mind -G seems to know you too

Ahad Ha'amortatzim

In other words, Patricia, it does not matter if the BBC's report is true or not -- the report attacks Israel, and is therefore justifiable. And any defense of Israel ought to be discounted, simply by virtue of it being a defense of Israel. Thank you for proving my thesis.

BJ

So there appears to be some confusion about whether the house has been demolished yet. Big deal. Apparently as can be seen from their website this pro-Israel outfit CAMERA are also complaining that nobody will run the story that Yassir Arafat died of Aids and had an entourage of boys. Pathetic.

gurbach

The house is not destroyed? Why?

Stray Dingo

I remember listening to BBC Radio 1 soon after this terrible killing took place. The reporter started the link with the expected propaganda fuelled comments about the oppression and killing of Palestinians etc etc (with an emphasis to the young recently killed by Israel’s retaliatory strikes) However, when referring to the murder of these young Israelis she emphasized the fact they were all men under the age 30. There was no mention that those murdered were mere boys in their teens, studying in the library...because this does not sit well with the BBC Ideological view of Palestine.

Helen Oster

Well, what a surprise.............I spend about 1 -2 hours each day, responding to hate-filled diatribes on "Yahoo Answers", from people who apparently believe that ALL the problems in the Middle East are caused by Israel & the Jewish presence. I try in vain to disseminate the facts - that the "Palestinians" as a nation of Moslems, were a creation of Egyptian-born Yasser Arafat, in 1964, with the main goal of destroying the Jewish people living in the Land of Israel. - still the defined goal of Hamas, Hezbollah & the government of Iran today. I offer facts & figures that detail how many disputed pieces of land which are claimed by the "Palestinian" Moslems, were in many cases not owned, but rented from absentee Arab landlords. The land was then purchased by Jewish philanthropists & charitable organisations, piece by piece from these absentee Arab landlords. I try to raise awareness of how the Jewish effort in the 1800s to revitalise the land attracted a large immigration of Arabs from neighbouring areas who were drawn by employment opportunities and healthier living conditions. There was never any attempt to "rid" the area of the few Arabs that there were, or of those Arabs that immigrated into this area along with the Jews. I focus upon how this contrasts with the actions of the governments of Morocco, Egypt, Iran (then Persia), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon Syria & Yemen, who caused thousands of Jewish people to flee the homes that had been owned & lived in by their families for generations. They ended up in pre-State 'Palestine'. (Even a cursory glance at the general Jewish population of Israel today, reveals a majority of dark-skinned Israelis, bearing testimony to their Middle-Eastern roots). Nevertheless, I continue to read the same messages of hate, every single day. Not just from "Palestinians", but from people who ally themselves with the "Palestinian" cause. In Jerusalem, out walking with my children aged 8 & 10, I've had stones thrown at me by Arab youths, but we've come to not only expect that here, but to expect the face of the civilised world to turn against us. The writing is on the wall for Britain, too. I wonder4, will the BBC be there to "record" it, or like so many of the Islamist States it supports through biased reporting, will that final bastion of "Britishness" also fall to the hard-line peddlars of lies & deceit about the Middle East? Maybe in 3 or 4 generations, when ordinary Britons are being accused of having "stolen" a Moslem country, those who are currently blind supporters of Islam & detractors of Israel, will recall how it all began.

Ann

"There are always two sides to every story and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is no exception" -- the usual horse manure from London Grovelling. There are no 'two sides': the mythical 'Palestinians' pursue a Nazi policy of exterminating all the Jews in Israel. The Jews defend themselves. You don't like it? Tough. --- Al Beeb lies. That's what it does. It's an antisemitic organisation. Antisemites lie.

Ann

"Remember when it chose to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestine?" --- ROFL. There is no "illegal" "occupation" of "Palestine". You'd better stop sniffing that glue and copy/pasting from neo-Nazi websites, dear.