The massacre at Camp Ashraf

 While we’re on the subject of the baffling incoherence of western attitudes towards the uprisings in the Islamic world, we must not overlook the massacre that took place earlier this month of members of the Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), at their base in Ashraf in Iraq.

Despite the fact that the PMOI are ‘protected persons’ under the 4th Geneva Convention, on April 8 they were the victims of an unprovoked attack which was apparently carried out on the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki. The unarmed civilian residents of Ashraf were fired at with machine-gun rounds, as a result of which 35 of them were killed and some 350 injured.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the Iraqi Army used 2,500 troops equipped with armoured vehicles...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (27)

So why not target him too?

The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has said that Britain and Europe will push for sanctions against Syria if it continues to use violence to try to stop the protests against President Assad’s regime.

Golly.

So far, it is estimated that some 400 people have been killed in Syria during six weeks of protests.

Can anyone explain why Britain, America and Europe are trying to remove and even kill Col Gaddafy on the grounds that they have a moral duty to intervene to protect innocent life against a brutal regime, while they are only now thinking about maybe perhaps pushing for sanctions against Assad whose brutal regime mowed down more than 100 people last Friday alone?

Of course, the western world has form when it comes to Syrian brutality. In 1982, the regime of Assad the father massacred between 10,000 and 40,000 people, mainly civilians,...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (99)

Intermission

This blog is going off now for a few days to celebrate the festival of Passover, which commemorates the exodus from Egypt when the Jews became a nation and a free people. I wish readers chag sameach and a happy Easter, as appropriate.

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (39)

This Britain

The Daily Mail reports:

Criminals must be treated as customers – not offenders, a probation service boss has insisted. They should be invited to speak about their needs and asked how they feel about the treatment they receive, London probation chief Heather Munro added. And these people should not have to spend time in shabby waiting rooms or be sent to dingy offices to be interviewed.

Giving criminals the same consideration a company gives its customers will steer them away from committing future crimes, according to Mrs Munro. ‘It’s a bit like running a business,’ she said. ‘Any business would ask its customers how it can improve its service. It just doesn’t make sense not to.’

Indeed, why stop there? The police should provide aromatherapy and reflexology to reduce the stress of interrogation. The courts should offer a menu of sentences from which...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (93)

An open letter to the Culture Secretary

To the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport

Dear Secretary of State,

I am addressing this letter to you because of a matter of public concern so great that I believe it must be tackled by you personally. The issue is the BBC, and its coverage of Israel and the Middle East.

As you know, this has been the subject of considerable controversy for many years, with repeated concerns about a perceived institutionalised hostility towards Israel in BBC reporting – so much so that the BBC itself commissioned an inquiry by Malcolm Balen into whether the BBC’s coverage had fallen short of the necessary standards of objectivity and truthfulness. The BBC has not only chosen to keep Balen’s report secret, but has even spent thousands of pounds of licence-fee payers’ money...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (320)

Oh dear

This is quite some mistake:

Oxford University has hit back at claims by David Cameron that it was "disgraceful" that only one black student was admitted to Oxford last year.

A spokesperson from the university said: ‘The figure quoted by the Prime Minister is incorrect and highly misleading – and we have been in touch with Downing Street to correct the figures the Prime Minister cites.

‘The figure quoted only refers to UK undergraduates of black Caribbean origin for a single year of entry, when in fact that year Oxford admitted 41 UK undergraduates with black backgrounds. In that year a full 22% of Oxford’s total student population came from ethnic minority backgrounds

‘In fact, the ‘only one black student at Oxford’ story is a misleading one from last year, and refers specifically to ONLY UK undergraduates of

Continue reading...

Email to a friend  |   Permalink   |   Comments (47)