THERE IS LITTLE LOVE in much of the West for the Jewish settlers of Israel. They are seen as the main obstacle to any Middle East settlement involving Jews and Palestinians - and even many Israelis’ wish they would just somehow disappear. Even the present Right-wing government finds them an embarrassment on occasions. For the settlers are doing what their ancestors did in 1947 after Germany had done its worst. They retreated back to a land that was once ancient Judea long before the Romans’ re-christened (excuse the pun) it Palestine. Once settled on this land they sought to widen its boundaries, especially after the Six Day War in 1967, which brought victory and more land to Israel.
Now settlements are mushrooming over the West Bank, much to the consternation of the international community. The Palestinians want this stopped and the Israeli government to oversee the settlers departure.
ON FRIDAY MARCH 11 in the West bank settlement of Itamar near Nablus a 12 year-old girl returned home to find that her family had become the victims of a terrorist attack. This in itself would be considered bad enough; but the nature of her family’s homicide was like something out of slasher movie.
What Tamar Fogel came across were the bodies of her parents, both stabbed to death; the throat of her 11-year old brother, Yoav, had been slit; while her four year-old brother , Elad’s throat had also been cut but was still, barely, alive. He died later. But perhaps the most shocking discovery this 12 year-old made was that of her sister, Hadas, just three months old, who had had her head sawn off.
But perhaps from a ‘newsworthy’ perspective, the most shocking feature of this terrible terrorist attack, was that it received the minimal of coverage in this country’s media. In particular the one news outlet that we are all taxed to watch – the BBC.
I am no friend of this institution and resent having to make a financial contribution to its existence; so I declare my prejudice now.
The reason I abjure this organization is because of its political bias, that, under threat of prosecution, takes taxes from those of us who do not share its predisposition toward a liberal agenda.
The events that occurred at the Itamar settlement should have been within in the first three or four items of any news broadcast, even if Japan and Libya were hogging the headlines. But according to Louise Bagshawe, the MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, and writing in the Daily Telegraph, the BBC mentioned this act of terrorism just once – on the Today programme.
There has been no other reference to it in other news bulletins on that day or since. This from a supposedly world trusted news organisation that is continually blowing its own trumpet as the most reliable news organisation on the planet.
I WAS SHOCKED WHEN I read Louise Bagshawe’s account. It was the first time I had heard of this crime, and her description was based upon her own investigation via Twitter, where she came across a piece written by Mark Steyn.
The BBC supports the Palestinian cause to the point where they have, or did have, a Gaza correspondent, on hand to report upon the latest Israeli ‘massacre’.
It is shameful that such an incident that occurred in Itamar could not be reported upon (not because of its newsworthiness) but because to have done so would have thrown into bad odour the very Palestinian cause and its people, that the BBC unashamedly support.
THERE WAS HOWEVER, one place where these appalling events did not go ignored. In New York, members of the Jewish community gathered to pay tribute to those who perished at Itamar. Almost 1,000 people gathered at the Orthodox synagogue, while at least 2,000 followed on line. This memorial service was sponsored by various Jewish organisations including the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
Among those attending were the Conference of Presidents Executive Vice Chairman, Malcolm Hoenlein who had played a part in organizing the memorial and spoke during the proceedings.
In all probability there were more people attending this gathering in New York and tuning in on line who were aware of the tragic events, than there were British citizens outside of our Jewish community. It is only so because the BBC, the nations prime broadcaster, chose not to advertise what would have been an anti-Palestinian storey of the most pitiless kind.
THE JEWISH SETTLERS believe in recovering land taken from the Hebrew race. They see this part of the Middle East as their homeland and have every historical and moral right to lay claim to it.
The international community represented by the UN say that the Jewish state has a right to exist. But how many of its members believe in such a right? The settlements now under construction will continue in order to advance the boundaries of the state of Israel. But these boundaries cannot be never-ending, despite the justice of the claim of the Jewish people to have a nation state.
But even so, this does not mean that a three month old baby can have her head decapitated in a terrorist attack.
It takes something more than an ideal to decapitate a three month old baby. It requires a psychopathic personality with a sense of injustice to do such a thing. Those who carried out this abomination against this family were cowardly in their actions and a curse to their cause; and it was up to the BBC to point this out to its listeners and viewers.
But this they never did; preferring instead to ignore the whole wretched business apart from the merest of mentions that could waylay charges of bias.
THE NEXT CHAIRMAN OF the BBC Trust is one Lord Patten of Barnes. Louise Bagshawe asked him about political neutrality. As a member of a Palestinian aid organisation, he promised to give up his membership and he denied any BBC bias against Israel. Asked what he would do if such bias was indeed proven, the noble Lord promised to refer such evidence to the very BBC Trust of which he is chairman.
Now Louise Bradshaw regards the BBC as a national treasure. She is not a BBC basher. But if the likes of Ms Bradshaw feels uncomfortable with the BBC’s Palestinian bias (at least as far as the events in Itamar are concerned) should we not also feel the same distrust, if not outright contempt, for those who treated human beings as animals to be slaughtered and salivated over by their assassins?
No comments:
Post a Comment