Telling It Like It Is~About Israel

this is a must read from AL-AHRAM written by Stuart Littlewood, I really love his stuff. This is an excellent piece:

Israel insults, again

Having forced another mercy ship to Gaza to turn back, Stuart Littlewood* asks if Israel can do anything to anyone without consequence

On Tuesday, the Israeli navy, in a blatant act of piracy on the high seas, assaulted the vessel "Spirit of Humanity" and abducted six British nationals who were taking part in a voyage of mercy. The tiny unarmed ship was bringing a humanitarian cargo of medicines, children's toys and reconstruction materials to the devastated people of Gaza.

Those on board the "Spirit of Humanity" were acting in accord with donors' pledges of $4.5 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation and US President Barack Obama's request to Israel to let those supplies pass.

The ship had been searched and given security clearance by the port authorities in Cyprus before sailing, and posed no threat.

Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, says the seizing of the "Spirit of Humanity" is unlawful and the continuing blockade of Gaza a crime against humanity. Yes, Mr Falk. But the question, as always, is: what is your paralytic, useless organisation doing about it? Or is handwringing all it's good for?

Many here, including myself, immediately wrote to David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, about the outrage. Two days later I called the Palestine Desk at the Foreign Office in London. The person I spoke to sounded uncomfortable having to trot out the same old gobble-de-gook about "working hard to resolve the problem" and "doing all we can". He said the six Brits were in Israeli custody and nobody was sure where exactly the incident took place. However, the vessel was fitted with a SPOT GPS tracker, so the system should have a record of their position when attacked.

The real problem, as I suggested, is that Israel dares to kidnap Brits on the high seas and doesn't fear the consequences -- no doubt confident there won't be any. I was reminded that Israel had issued warnings (and so had the Foreign Office) not to travel in that area. What area? Mustn't one travel in international waters?

The spokesman assured me that progress was being made. There was "movement" on getting humanitarian supplies into Gaza, but I pointed out that nobody had seen any evidence of Israel conforming to international law and the Geneva Conventions. He claimed there was also "movement" on halting settlements on occupied territory, although I observed that the Israelis had just green lighted more illegal building.

I also reminded him about the ramming of the "Dignity" by an Israeli gunboat while on a similar mission 53 miles from shore, and how people here were still hopping mad that nothing had been done about it. That vessel, with 16 onboard, was badly damaged and had to limp to a safe Lebanese port. As far as I know, there was never an offer of compensation and no demand from London. As usual, somebody else had to pick up the tab for Israel's unbridled destruction.

The "Dignity" had a cargo of 3.5 tonnes of medical supplies, the majority donated by the Cyprus government, and a British skipper and a Greek mate. It carried 14 passengers, one of whom was Cynthia McKinney. There were also two surgeons and a Palestinian physician. A friend of mine was among them and wrote this chilling account of the attack:

"At 04.55 hrs EMT on 30 December, searchlights appeared astern. There were two Israeli gunboats. They came abreast, circled and stayed with us. These boats can do over 45 knots, carry 10 tonnes of fuel and have sophisticated weapon systems including Hellfire missiles. Tracer bullets were fired skywards, forming ellipses, and flares put up. At 05.30 hrs approximately, one gunboat was playing its searchlight on the port side of "Dignity". Suddenly there was a tremendous crash at the bow, and then another almost simultaneously, and another on the port beam... The bow dipped and it seemed the boat was breaking up. It was dark, the wind force was four to five and there was a 10ft sea. The master shouted "We have been rammed". It was feared the boat would sink. He broadcast a mayday distress signal; there was no response.

"Cynthia McKinney and Caoimhe Butterly could not swim; life jackets were rapidly deployed to all. The hull was taking water but bilge pumps were working. The first words from a commander of one of the gunboats came over the radio. First there was the accusation that the ship's company was involved with terrorists and that it was subversive. Then there came the threat to shoot. The master was forbidden from making for Gaza or further south to Arish in Egypt. He was ordered to return to Larnaca -- about 160 miles -- even though the boat was badly damaged and the Israelis did not know whether there was sufficient fuel, which there was not. He set a northerly course and the boat stayed buoyant in a moderating sea. A crewmember arranged with the Lebanese authorities for a safe harbour in Tyre, where jubilant crowds thronged the quays. A UNIFIL ship came out to escort us, and the Israeli gunboats, which were following, fell back.

"Was there lethal intent? A gunboat came out of the black of night with no lights showing whilst a searchlight from the other gunboat displayed our port hull as its target. It would have approached at about 30 degrees to the 'Dignity's' port and at speed. The intention to sink the 'Dignity' and thus to drown its company was clear. If the hull had been GRP (glass reinforced plastic) it would have shattered and the boat would have sunk like a stone 53 nautical miles off Haifa. Fortunately, the hull was constructed of marine ply with timber ribs and survived... The ship's company were repatriated except for a resolute Scot, Theresa McDermott. She was imprisoned in Ramleh gaol. When the British Consulate in Israel was contacted for assistance in finding Teresa, staff refused to help locate her saying they couldn't provide assistance to a UK citizen unless she personally requested it. Teresa was released after six days, her 'crime' probably being a member of the International Solidarity Movement, like Rachel Corrie before her."

My written question to Miliband was simply this: "Why isn't Her Majesty's Government providing the mercy ship 'Spirit of Humanity' with an escort to protect against the unlawful, piratical interference and threat to life by the Israeli navy? There have been repeated incidents of harassment, damage, theft and armed aggression on the high seas or in Palestinian waters by the Israeli regime against unarmed vessels."

The British government has loudly pledged Royal Navy help to stop the "smuggling" of arms to the Gaza resistance but won't protect Gaza's fishermen from being fired on by Israeli marauders while trying to earn their living. And evidently the government can't be bothered to protect its own people going about their lawful business. But, sure enough, they kicked up an almighty fuss when Iran nabbed 15 British sailors two years ago for allegedly straying into Iranian waters.

For our sins we are saddled with a foreign secretary who calls for Israeli tank crewman Gilad Shalit's release but not the release of 11,000 Palestinian civilians -- some of them women and children -- languishing in Israeli jails. On 25 June Miliband said: "Today is the third anniversary of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. Both British ministers and the British ambassador in Israel have had repeated contact with Gilad's family and emphasised our support for Gilad's immediate release. Last September, the ambassador helped to deliver over 2,000 Jewish New Year cards for Gilad to the ICRC as part of a campaign organised by the UK Jewish community. I repeat the UK's call to Hamas for his immediate, unconditional, and safe release. We share the Shalit family's dismay at Hamas's refusal to allow the ICRC access to Gilad."

The British people are waking up to the truth about Israel's lawlessness. In the absence of firm action from the British government they are taking steps of their own, in the form of boycotts, which have driven Miliband to complain that "the government is dismayed that motions calling for boycotts of Israel are being discussed at trade union congresses and conferences this summer". He insists that boycotts "obstruct opportunities for cooperation and dialogue and serve only to polarise debate further. Boycotts would only make it harder to achieve the peace that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve and desire."

Miliband hasn't learned the lesson of the last 61 years. And our prime minister-in-waiting, David Cameron (a Zionist and, like Brown and Blair, a patron of the Jewish National Fund), is no different. He says: "I think there's something else we need to do, which is to say to our academics in this country that boycotts of Israel are completely unacceptable, and I think we also need to say that to the trade unions."

Nowadays you have to carefully pick your way through a veritable obstacle course of pro- Zionists, Chosen Ones and Israeli stooges that inhabit every nook and cranny in the corridors of power and dominate Britain's key defence bodies. These Israeli flag-wavers seem only too happy for the Israelis to insult us -- and the rest of the world -- while rewarding them with more and more trade and scientific cooperation.

* The writer is author of the book Radio Free Palestine , which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.

George Galloway Target of Zionist Attack~AGAIN

Well, the World Order of Nazi Zionists has again targeted George Galloway. Like the Flea Ridden Dogs that they are, they will continue to bite at his ankles as long as they have breath in them. Good for George for speaking the truth and not backing down from the Racist Jihadist Regime of the Rogue State. They filed a complaint with OFCOM regarding his show on PressTV because he called on people to attend a rally against the Holocaust in Gaza. Whilst he may have been “mildly” chastised, what is quite interesting is that OFCOM said this about it;

Making their decision, the media regulator recognized that the issue of Gaza was a “matter of major political controversy” and that Galloway makes no bones about his take on the situation in Gaza, even going so far as to quote the presenter: “I am not impartial on this subject, nor can I be…”

Though, Ofcom did also stipulate that on Galloway’s show on 2 January 2009 he said: “You’re welcome whatever your point of view but you’re especially welcome if you disagree with me…”

Finally concluding that, ‘there was an appropriately wide range of significant views aired on the station and on George Galloway during the period to which these complaints related.

Aside form this, which is basically support for Galloway’s stance and actions, the only “chastise,” if you can even call it that, was this:

However, in encouraging listeners to attend demonstrations with details of dates, times and locations, the programme moved away from legitimate debate and started to campaign on a major matter of controversy resulting in a breach of Rule 5.11.source

Perhaps the Nazi Zionists should pay more attention to what their own bigots say on air. For instance, OFCOM’s response to complaints regarding the UK’s Zionist-mouthpiece from America, Charlie Wolf, who used his show to denigrate, attack and smear Rachel Corrie after she was purposely run over and murdered by the Zionist Racist Israeli Army using an American made army Bulldozer to crush the life out of her:

Charlie Wolf (born Stephen Linskey [1] on 12 April 1959) is a British-based radio talk-show host, disc jockey and neoconservative commentator, originally from Boston, and is currently the Communications Director of Republicans Abroad UK. Wolf was forced to leave talkSPORT by the station's new owners UTV Radio in 2006.

During his talkSPORT show on 4 December 2005, Wolf described Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist who had been killed by an Israeli military bulldozer, as "scum." In its bulletin dated 23 January 2006, Ofcom ruled this comment to be in breach of the "Generally Accepted Standards" section of the Broadcasting Code and stated it was "seriously ill-judged". From WIKI

Check out the EXACT WORDS he used regarding Rachel, then ask yourself why this man is continually on British stations as a talking head commentator on US politics, when #1 He is a member of Republicans Abroad (Which is NEVER mentioned!!), and therefore cannot be counted on for giving an un-biased opinion on US politics when only he is brought on without a US Democrat to counter his propaganda. And #2 After he said such vile remarks about an American Citizen who was clearly murdered:

TalkSPORT accepted that the presenter’s comments were inappropriate. However,in mitigation, it pointed out that he had also expressed compassion for her: “I have a lot of compassion that the poor girl died. What I don’t have compassion for is that she died of her own stupidity.” This was, in the presenter’s view, because she placed herself in danger in what was a war zone. Furthermore, he had allowed a subsequent caller to challenge his comments and put the view that she was a peaceful demonstrator. Nevertheless, the presenter had been told that such intemperate language was not acceptable and he regretted using the word.

We welcome the broadcaster’s comments and the subsequent action it has taken. However, we thought that to use such an extreme term as “scum” to describe the woman was not justified in a discussion focusing on a peaceful demonstration in a war zone and was seriously ill-judged.PDF Ofcom Ruling

All Galloway did was to give the details of a protest against the Gaza Holocaust, whereas Charlie Wolf rejoiced in the death of a young woman and smeared her memory on air. Hmmmmmmmm, the phrase "Glass Houses and stones" comes to mind......

Zionist Pigs At It Again

Despite some gleeful reactions suggesting the contrary, the BBC report does not say its Middle East editor is biased against Israel

Critics who claim the BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, is biased against Israel are delighted with the news that, as the Times put it, he "breached BBC impartiality rules in Middle East coverage". Or if you prefer the Jerusalem Post headline: "Complaints of BBC bias partially upheld". Some of these critics are now baying for his blood. The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland (ZF) said Bowen's "position is untenable".

But even though the "judgment" has been handed down by the BBC Trust, after the publication of a 118-page report (pdf) by its editorial standards committee, the critics are not satisfied. The ZF said their report "fails to offer correctional steps" and "the committee's performance was lackadaisical in processing complaints". Jonathan Turner, a member of the ZF who lodged the complaint together with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Camera), said "it is very difficult to see how he can be trusted to get anything else right in relation to Israel". Referring to Bowen's "chronically biased reporting", Camera said "There's good reason to be sceptical of" what it called Bowen's "chronically biased reporting", "and by extension, the reporting of BBC reporters who are subordinate to him".

All this sound pretty heinous. So what did Bowen do wrong? According to the ESC, he breached accuracy regulations by not properly sourcing an assertion he made in a report for Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent that the settlement of Har Homa, near Jerusalem, was considered illegal by the US. Of two other complaints – about historical interpretations he made when describing the legacy of the 1967 war for a BBC online news report – one was partially upheld on the grounds of impartiality and inaccuracy, the other was upheld with regard to impartiality and partially upheld with regard to accuracy. Still with me?

You might reasonably ask: why 118 pages to rule on three complaints? Well, certainly not in order to reach the conclusion of "bias". Nowhere in the ESC's report is there any admission that Bowen is biased against Israel. >(It seems this minor fact escaped the Jerusalem Post's headline writer.) The report runs to so many pages because, first, contrary to the impression given in most news reports, there were not three single complaints: each complaint consisted of a number of items. The Har Homa complaint consisted of four items. The first online report complaint consisted of 11 items, and the second of nine items. The ESC "guilty" findings referred to three of these 24 items. The second reason for the report's length is because of the incredibly detailed scrutiny to which every single one of the items is subjected. A doctoral thesis would not have been given this much attention. And remember, we're talking about an online report of 1,500 words and a radio "essay" of no more than that.

Step back for a minute and think of just how many words Jeremy Bowen has to produce over any four-week period, and especially during a four-week war; and also frankly note that no journalist is immune from occasional inaccuracies and less than perfect interpretive historical comments – and you'd be forgiven for reading the ESC report as an exoneration of Bowen and utterly removed from the wholesale damnation of him that the partisan media monitor complainants believe it licences.

No one reading the ESC report could reasonably complain that the BBC failed to take the complaints seriously. They acted according to their published guidelines and deserve credit for that. Yet there's something faintly distasteful about the whole exercise. Let such partisan organisations express their views in whatever way they like, but one wonders whether people behaving like vexatious litigants should really be given such credence.

There are plenty of absurd claims in the itemised complaints, but for me, there's one nugget in the report that Camera and the ZF use as ultimate proof of the rightness of their charges, but which only reveals the bankruptcy of their approach. One of the expert academic historians consulted to assess Bowen's historical prowess was Avi Shlaim, Professor of International Relations at Oxford. On one item Professor Shlaim agreed that when Bowen wrote that "the Israeli generals ... had been training to finish the unfinished business of Israel's independence war of 1948 war", it was "not accurate and is a bit misleading". Jonathan Hoffman, co vice-chair of the ZF was clearly pleased at Professor Shlaim's verdict. Professor Shlaim, widely regarded as an internationally respected historical authority on contemporary Middle Eastern history, is, however, vilified by the likes of Camera and ZF supporters for his alleged anti-Israel positions. Suddenly, all his past transgressions and distortions are forgotten, and his judgment is kosher. Hypocritical? Judge for yourself.

And as if we need reminding that such partisan media monitors always have other axes to grind, the complainant Jonathan Turner, in criticising the BBC for taking so long to deal with the complaints, said this allowed "Mr Bowen and his colleagues to continue their biased coverage of Israel, which I believe has been a significant factor in the recent serious rise in antisemitic attacks in the UK." This unfounded slur is sadly typical of many whose undifferentiated support for Israel leads them to lash out so indiscriminately at perceived enemies.

If any of this leads to the curtailment of the role of Jeremy Bowen it will be a sad day for enlightened BBC coverage of the Middle East. If you want a true exemplar of the attempt by the public broadcaster, in very restricted time-slots, to give a sense of what ordinary and extraordinary Israelis and Palestinians feel and think about the conflict, and to convey the complexities and nuances of the political and diplomatic goings on – and anchor the whole thing in some stab at balanced historical references – I don't think you'll find better than Bowen. And judging by his masterly piece on the challenges facing the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell as he was about to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on the day the BBC Trust released its ESC report, it seems that Jeremy Bowen is not cowed and that his professionalism is undimmed. link