Britannia Radio

October 29, 2010

The Wire Double standards on extremists UPDATE: The BBC responds to Just Journalism. Umm al-Fahm riots trigger lopsided characterisation of extremist movements in Israel. The respective depictions of Israel's Jewish and Arab extremist movements in today's reporting of yesterday's riots in Umm al-Fahm reveal a striking double standard. While Jewish protesters were 'far-right,' 'racist' and 'ultranationalists' the northern branch of the Islamic movement was at worst 'fairly hardline'. The Independent described 'far-right Israeli extremists' 'led by two of the country's most extreme right-wing activists' marching in Israel's largest Arab town 'chanting "death to terrorists"'. As a prelude to the potted history entitled, 'Rabbi Meir Kahane: The Ultranationalist' which appeared at the end of the article, Donald Macintyre provided the following cultural context for the protest: 'The leaders of the march are the admirers of Meir Kahane, an overtly racist US-born rabbi who demanded that Palestinians should be expelled from Israel and the West Bank.' The sole reference to the Islamic Movement, against which the right-wingers were marching was this: '[march leader] Mr Marzel said that the activists had come to demand that Israel's government should ban the Islamic Movement, which dominates the local council here, as it had Kahane's Kach Party. "If the Kach Party was outlawed, then the Islamic Movement deserves to be outlawed 1,000 times over," he said.' Read more >> Nigerian authorities seize weapons bound for Gaza Nigerian security authorities have seized 13 containers in Lagos from Iran, filled with weaponry that was bound for Gaza. Rocket launchers, grenades and other explosives, marked as building materials were all intended to be smuggled into Gaza. As reported in Haaretz, the bill of lading for the shipment said that the containers consisted of building materials. The spokeswoman for the Nigerian State Security Service, Marilyn Ogar, said that "On opening the first container, the service operatives discovered rocket launchers, grenades and other explosives." She added that the weaponry was hidden among crates of floor tiles... Read more >> Hamas leader denounces homosexuality Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, has criticised the West for telling Hamas how to govern, and openly denounced homosexuality. Both the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz posted articles based on Zahar's interview with Reuters. Zahar made his comments in the context of his criticism of Europe for giving support to Israel. Zahar said that Europe "promotes promiscuity and political hypocrisy", and in a further attack against Western culture said: "You do not live like human beings. You do not [even] live like animals. You accept homosexuality. And now you criticize us?" Zahar has previously said that murdering Jewish children around the world was legitimate in the wake of Israel's war against Hamas last year: "They have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine," Mahmoud Zahar said in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location. "They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people." Read more >> Comment is free errs on pro peace textbook UPDATE: Daphna Baram responds in Comment is Free comment thread; Guardian amends article. Comment is free's latest Middle East instalment incorrectly claims that Palestinian Authority schools use a pluralistic text book banned in Israeli schools. 'Learning the Historical Narrative of the Other' offers both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the foundation of the State of Israel. Daphna Baram says: 'The current administration in the Israeli ministry of education, headed by the Likud minister Gideon Sa'ar, was less than sympathetic to this liberal endeavour. The book was not authorised for use in schools and the staff of schools that decided to use it were admonished.' She later links to a Haaretz report, published on 11 October which reported that the Palestinian Authority was allowing the book to be used in its schools: 'In this sense, Sa'ar is struggling to shut the barns doors after the horses are already out and roaming all over the field. One cannot indoctrinate a generation using North Korean methods when the world is wide open to them. In Palestinian Authority schools, by the way, the book is being used.' However, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education publicly denied allowing use of the book on the same day, as reported by the Ma'an News Agency... Read more >> Special Event and invite you to a panel discussion on 'How to Stop the De-legitimisation of Israel' sponsored by Click here for more information.