A reader, Kevin O'Sullivan, has sent me the following message, which I reproduce here with his permission:
Having just read your very interesting article in the Spectator about anti-Israeli bias in the media, especially the BBC, I thought you might like to see my recent complaint to the BBC, with reference to yet another highly anti-Semitic broadcast.
Alas, I have now become quite blasé about the constant anti-West, pro-Muslim propaganda broadcast by the BBC, but even I just had to respond to the most recent example, transmitted on the Radio 4 program, From Our Own Correspondent. If I stood on any street corner in London, holding anti-Semitic placards vilifying Jewish people, and encouraging hatred towards the most persecuted race in the history of man, I would rightly be arrested and hopefully prosecuted under any number of race hate laws, but the BBC can commit exactly the same crime day after day, and absolutely nothing is done.
The broadcast on March 15th was a complete travesty of the truth, and was provocative in the extreme. It deliberately set out to inflame impressionable young Muslim men, already full of hatred and vitriol towards the West, and especially the Jewish community both here and abroad. This hideously distorted view of events can only serve those vested interests at the BBC, who deliberately fan the flames of anti-Jewish feelings whenever they see the embers of hatred towards Israel dying out. And, to make matters worse, a transcript and recorded download of the programme are now available Worldwide on the BBC website.Complaint to the BBC, sent on 16th March.Subject: From Our Own Correspondent. BBC Radio 4. 15th Match 2008.
Sir.Yet again, the BBC has decided to distort a relatively straightforward news item from Gaza, in order to inflame anti-Israeli sentiment, and to portray Palestinians as innocent grief stricken victims of a war they have no responsibility for. This politically bias nonsense would be laughable if it were not for the serious anti-Semitic repercussions that are felt both in the UK, and throughout the Islamic world after such broadcasts.
Your Palestinian correspondent Aleem Maqbool, stated that Mr. Nael al Kurdi, “ a softly spoken young man” was receiving treatment for cancer at a hospital in Egypt, and that his treatment ceased soon after HAMAS sized control of the Gaza Strip, because Israeli action was to ‘all but seal off the territory. Nael was trapped inside Gaza and his tumor rapidly started to increase in size again. Weak and bedridden, he told us he had applied several times to the Israeli authorities to be allowed to leave but had been denied each time. Less than a week after we spoke to him, Nael died. He was 21’.
Your correspondent Mr. Maqbool, then decided to blame stringent Israeli border controls for the sad plight of this young man, completely ignoring the fact that as Mr. al Kurdi was receiving treatment for his cancer in Egypt not Israel, he would have needed to use the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza at Rafah, which is now closed due to HAMAS inspired violence.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza [the picture above shows Egyptian solders securing the border fence; MP] has been under joint Palestinian Authority and Egyptian control since November 2005; therefore if anyone was responsible for the untimely death of Mr. al Kerdi, it was either HAMAS, the PA and Egypt, or perhaps just fate, but certainly NOT Israel.
The BBC’s dangerous pro Islamic / Palestinian stance is well known and deplored by those of us who remember the days when the BBC was a truly impartial and a totally non-political organization. The fact that Israel has been under constant attack from anti-Semitic Muslim Arabs for over half a centaury is obviously seen by the BBC as well deserved. This distorted and highly inflammatory view of events in the Middle East, seeks only to justify and condone Islamic terrorism against Israel and the West, and can only serve to inspire more young men to seek revenge for what the BBC provocatively proclaims to be an injustice.Kevin O'Sullivan.
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Dhimmier
April 1st, 2008 8:43pm"I would rightly be arrested and hopefully prosecuted under any number of race hate laws..." -- The race hate laws here and in countries like Canada are part of the problem, because they have been very useful to Muslims in their campaign to destroy western freedom. Free speech is central to democracy. See Mark Steyn's comments on this truth, passim.
Bob Gray
April 1st, 2008 9:20pmWhat do we do when the BBC says "So What"?
pete woodhouse
April 1st, 2008 9:32pmhope he's not holding his breath
Stray Dingo
April 1st, 2008 9:34pmI would not hold your breath for a reply that would make you and the rest of us who 'pay' for these lies .
Rob
April 1st, 2008 9:39pmThe BBC license fee should be ended ASAP.
Dan
April 1st, 2008 10:14pmI'm a US citizen and know more about our own laws than those of the British. However, I understand British libel laws to be extremely stringent. Isn't there ANY sort of libelous claim that can be attached to ANY BBC report? If nothing else, a compilation of all of their slanted reporting in one place would certainly show them to be the anti-semites they've proven themselves to be. Or am I more hopeful than realistic?
D Gray
April 1st, 2008 10:55pmYeah you'l wait a long time too.I gave up writing e-mails and now just pick up the phone.
BJ
April 2nd, 2008 12:00am"The fact that Israel has been under constant attack from anti semitic Muslim arabs for over half a century" Statements like that are themselves so one sided and biased it would not be surprising if the BBC binned his complaint.
Dave M
April 2nd, 2008 12:23amIt would be really nice to see the BBC produce an accurate and historical account of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict instead of engaging in bias and political posturing. Modern Jews are in this awkward situation today due to themselves being the victims of ethnic cleansing, chiefly the Roman purge under Hadrian, amongst others.
It's time it was pointed out to BBC viewers that Judaism is actually a more ancient belief system than either Christianity and even more so Islam. Judaism was alive and kicking as far back as 1000 B.C. so why should a claim be made to so much land on the basis of Islam as a religion? Even Hadrian would have recognised Jews had a far reaching history in the Holy Land and Islam didn't arrive till centuries later on.
Jerusalem is really what it's all about as more radical Islamics wish to lay claim to it but the Beeb is supporting this irrational ideology. Also the Beeb should explian why the original polytheistic Canaanites are not the same thing as the Palestinians of today, either ethnically or belief-wise.
phil
April 2nd, 2008 12:37amCant we bin you BJ -although i,m not sure what colour bin-your tune is so boring and repetitious-can you possibly say something interesting?we would love it
John
April 2nd, 2008 1:25amDan, Melanie would know very well what the laws are, her husband is something of an expert. The truth is that the BBC goes the extra mile to be balanced and the truth is often omitted to create an equivalence which simply does not exist. This works both ways and makes both camps wail like babies.
If you want the truth from Israel/Palestine it's probably best to read Haaretz and not bother with the rest. The propaganda dressed up as news is almost endless.
KateA
April 2nd, 2008 1:49amBJ "Statements like that are themselves so one sided and biased it would not be surprising if the BBC binned his complaint."
What a risible and not very bright parrot you are. It IS a complaint dear boy.
It would NOT be a complaint if the complainant did not 'counter' the bias he perceives with a synopsis of the case for the other side. THAT you see, is what it means to 'complain'. Comprehend?
Really! The tedium of your comments on this thread reveals an extremely limited capacity. Why don't you go away and bore some other nice people.
field
April 2nd, 2008 2:48amYeah. I used to favour race hate laws, but now I am not so sure. They have been used to diminish freedom and prevent proper discussion of issues like mass immigration. I think it is probably enough to have a law against incitement to violence against any individual or group of individuals for any reason.
George of Currumbin
April 2nd, 2008 4:08amYOu know- i doubt strongly that the BBC are pro Palestinian.They are anti Israeli and pro Palestinian jihadist thuggery.
Only when it suits them will they interview a moderate- sometimes to illustrate their propagsnda of Israeli inhumanity.
Bur Of course the worst aspect of this is that the BBC in supporting Hammas is betraying the ordinary palestinians who seek some form of freedom and peace from the tyranny these thugs impose upon them.
George of Currumbin
April 2nd, 2008 4:20amBOB Gray
the BBC has proved itself intransigent to perfectly lucid complaints by astute and fair viewers for decades now. They want your taxes without public sanctions on their activities- that is the clear message .
frankly unless you have film star status or a string of academic qualifications they will not even bother to defend themselves.
Even poor old Alistair Campbell whose reports for so many years enhanced the BBC's image greatly throughout the world was ostracised in the latter days of his life. A gentle giant of a man with humanist views who did not follow the BBC path to radicalisation retaining his humanity and decency until the end.
Bo Stenberg
April 2nd, 2008 8:08amI lived in London for 20 years and never once paid the tv licence fee. They monitor payment the same way they report the news. Can't pay, won't pay.
raymond joseph douglas
April 2nd, 2008 9:38amThe day when the BBC is stripped of the poll tax/licence fee,cannot come to soon for me!This is a pity,because much of what the bbc does in terms of drama and chlidrens programmes is valuable.But their current attitude towards israel will lead to the end of the bbc!
J. Isaacs
April 2nd, 2008 9:55amHolding one's breath for the BBC to change its reporting of Israel would be like holding one's breath for Sir Max Moseley (head of the motorsport FIA and accused of involvement in "a sick Nazi-style orgy") to resign or be stripped of his baronetcy.
Joshua
April 2nd, 2008 11:54amIn terms of anti-Israeli and/or anti-Jewish prejudice, three BBC radio programmes stick out in my mind. The first was a book programme hosted by Mr. Matthew Parris. One of his guests brought in a book given to her by a "Jewish friend". The thesis of the book was that the Holocaust had become a major industry exploited by Jews for their own ends. It was unanimously decided by Parris' guests that the Holocaust was just one genocide among many and its importance had been exaggerated by Jews primarily in order to cover up Israel's many and terrible crimes. The second programme was to do with religious affairs and was presented by Roger Bolton on a Sunday morning. It was broadcast at the height of the Second Intifada when Jews were regularly being murdered in large numbers by Palestinian suicide bombers. "Do Israelis value the lives of Palestinian children at all?" asked Bolton of his guest, a prominent UK rabbi. The third programme went out on the BBC World Service also during the Second Intifada. "Everyone knows," said the interviewer to his Israel guest "that the vast majority of Palestinians are firmly opposed to suicide bombing". In actual fact, an opinion poll published by Haaretz the day before had shown that the vast majority of Palestinians were very much in favour of suicide bombing (the utterly incompetent Israeli government spokesman was unaware of this). However, what struck me was not so much the question itself but the interviewer's tone; I really don't think I've ever heard a voice dripping with such hatred and malice.
Barry Larking
April 2nd, 2008 12:46pmThe BBC tacitly endorsed sharia law in Sudan in report on Ceefax I read (with disbelief) three years ago. ("This demonstrates how sharia maintains order ..." describing how plaintiffs had knifed an accused man following a sharia court's endorsement!) Standards of journalism at the BBC are now appalling in nearly all sectors whatever your political views. Every report is now a 'colour piece' and reporting the objective facts and letting the viewer or listener decide is dead. Witness as evidence a recent Canadian Broadcasting System report taken by BBC News 24 from Harare (where the BBC is banned). The CBS showed us how the BBC once did it.
GNO
April 2nd, 2008 1:42pmAnd now that they have started an Arabic service (with tax payers money!), they can incense the Arabs/muslims and fill their minds with wicked anti-Israeli cant and we wouldn't know a thing about it!
Aleem Maqbool? Sounds like a muslim name to me. Yeah very unbiased.
I have always said that bbc is a muslim/islamic propaganda machine, and I have been proved right time and again.
The sooner they slay this behemoth, the better.
BBC Trust? Pull the other one!!
Max Kaye
April 2nd, 2008 5:06pmI refer one again to the BBC's suppressed Balen Report: How do we get to see it?
Michael B
April 2nd, 2008 8:16pmThe morally obtuse and intellectually flacid quality exemplified at the BBC, likely most egregiously when it comes to Israel, is defended by a bulwark of benighted harrumphs. One should never underestimate the vehement staying power of self-regard, self-aggrandizement, self-promotion and the like.
Andy Gill
April 2nd, 2008 10:29pmWell done to Kevin for taking the BBC to task. The more that ordinary viewers write in and complain, and the more that people like Mel expose their biased reporting, the less credible will BBC reporting become. And that would be a great service to the British public - and to the truth.
marc
April 3rd, 2008 11:21amit is time for us all to complain as sites like MPACUK.org mobilise their viewers to complain..This isnt a issue of religion it is an issue of the BBC appeasing muslims for fear of being branded rascist..it takes mins to complain to the BEEB about their slanted coverage..Majority rule..'Great Britain LOVE It or LEAVE it
Hereford
April 4th, 2008 2:59pmThe BBC will totally ignore the complaint or fob it off as coming from a pressure group, as they have countless times with me.
Soreofhing
April 4th, 2008 6:53pmTo paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill's famous statement:
"The BBC is absolutely the worst media company in the whole world, except that is, for all the others".
Funny that nobody cares to analyze Fox News which is grossly biased..... but in favour of Israel, so I suppose that's why Melanie doesn't mention them.
Morgan
April 5th, 2008 10:18amTo Soreofhing and the other hard of understanding readers out there and for the gazillionth time the problem we have with the BBC is this;
1)We are forced to pay for it under threat of imprisonment
2)The BBC claims it is impartial (as stated in its Charter)when it so clearly isn't
Neither of those points apply to FOX or any other news media broadcast or published in the UK
Understood?
Ann
April 5th, 2008 11:47amBJ, you are talking nonsense. Israel HAS been under antisemitic Arab terrorist attack for many decades, and this has been aided and abetted by Al Beeb for decades. And we, the licence payers and tax payers, OWN the BBC. Currently, Al Beeb has the power and the arrogance and the connections to behave illegally. That does NOT mean that it has either the moral justification or the legal right to do so.
Ann
April 5th, 2008 11:51amFox is not financed by tax payers. It is not a statutory organisation. Al Beeb is.
Ross
April 6th, 2008 9:14amThe BBC, like all transnational news agencies, has to be biased against Israel if it wants its reporters to operate safely in the Middle East, have access to certain positions of influence there, and if worst comes to worst and one is kidnapped, they can show they're on side.
Norman Cohen
April 7th, 2008 2:23amThis was a complaint I made to the BBC
Compare and contrast:-
"Israeli raids kill nine in Gaza"
"Israeli killed in suicide bombing"
Active verb when Israel is the actor and Israel named. Passive tense when Israeli is the victim and identity of actor not mentioned.
If you were impartial it would be either "Nine killed in Gaza raids" or "Palestinian bomber kills Israeli in suicide bombing" you can't have it both ways not unless of course you are biased against Israel. So what is it?
This was the reply verbatim as I received it:
Dear Mr C,
Please understand that we try to use neutral language in all our reporting, headlines included. Our writers, sub-editors and editors are required to write headlines that are between 31 and 33 characters long, including spaces, to fit in a Ceefax (teletext) template. It means that some long words, such as Palestinian, are often avoided to get more germane information into a headline. Neither of the suggestions you make
(25 and 51 characters respectively) would fit the template.
With best wishes
BBC News website
So you judge is this really what the BBC is all about?
Ann
April 7th, 2008 12:01pm"It means that some long words, such as Palestinian, are often avoided to get more germane information into a headline" - if any more proof were needed (it is not) that the BBC's ME reporting is motivated and informed by institutionalised anti-Israel bias, this is it. 'Palestinian' is not deemed to be germane to the issue - THAT's Al Beeb's mendacious, cowardly, weasely excuse. Well, you pathetic antisemites, how about using the shorter word 'Arab', which would be factually the correct one anyway? And again, I urge posters to point this out on the Biased BBC site: it's regularly read by beeboids.
Soreofhing
April 8th, 2008 1:25amThe BBC is a regular target for Israeli apologists as is The Guardian.
The reason is that Auntie has not joined the sullied ignoble ranks of mass media companies who drown out any negative news about Israel (and there sure is a lot that needs to be drowned out).
In the US, lobbying is rampant and is spearheaded by organizations such as AIPAC who bend democratic principals to ensure (by means of hard cash, and lots of it) that no negative item regarding Israel is ever thought about let alone reported.
On the other hand we have the BBC which presents things as they are. The only real criticism of the BBC as published in the third party independent audit result, was that the BBC is "somewhat biased for the Israel".
They should correct this at once.
Soreofhing
April 8th, 2008 6:25pmMorgan, Morgan, Morgan
So the first of your objections to the BBC is that you must pay for it. There are many services that are obligatory in most countries--municipal taxes, state taxes, VAT, licence taxes, driving licences...the list is endless. Non payment of one's obligations could certainly end you up in jail. Why pick on the BBC service?
Secondly, you are of the opinion that the BBC is biased. I am under the impression that the BBC is not.
I am under the impression that you are bised.
Ann
April 9th, 2008 7:36pm"On the other hand we have the BBC which presents things as they are" - this piece of bilge really says it all.
Cameron
April 14th, 2008 4:21pmI complained to my then MP about BBC bias, particularly about when it omitted mentioning that an imam visiting the new mosque in london had called the jews "apes and pigs?" - the response i received from the BBC was staggering,they said thta the guy who did the background had never seen any racist language,or knew that the imam had been banned from entering Canada,and its reporting was fair and balanced and as such....."anything that enhanced community cohesion had to be broadcast" after reading this waffle i got my MP to ask the BBC what had politics and communitty cohesion got to do with the fact they omitted from there reports that this imam was banned from canada for certainly not expousing community cohesion etc etc - i never got another response,but certainly felt that the response i got was almost alien. I truly beleive that these journalists genuinley do live in a bubble.
Thats my 2 penneth.