The Reveal

The Reveal

>> WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2010

It’s time the BBC stopped immortalising the theory that settlement building is the obstacle to peace, or should I say to peace talks. There’s a lot more to the settlement issue than meets the eye, and we should be given the complete picture. At present, not renewing the moratorium is viewed by most people as merely defiant and provocative on the part of Israel. So it has come to symbolise Israel’s perceived intransigence. If Israel acquiesced to such demands, say, merely for the sake of occupying the moral high ground in the eyes of the world, the Palestinians would ratchet up the stakes and make more demands. Past experience taught them that. What the BBC needs to explore are the tremendous obstacles to peace, not merely to peace talks, that are put up by the Palestinians. The insistence on the right of return, which would undermine the fundamental animus of Israel, a ‘right’ that is demanded by Palestinians alone. The hatred for Jews, instilled into the population literally from the cradle to the grave. Then there is the matter of their kamikaze attitude to life and death, which is an insurmountable obstacle. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to renew the freeze if the Palestinians recognised Israel as a Jewish state, but the Palestinian Authority dismissed the idea.” says the BBC, towards the end of the article. I would have thought this deserved a little more prominence, and a little more analysis. One thing the BBC is aware of. There is a disturbing development which might make the whole peace process irrelevant. South American countries are backing a unilateral declaration of independence by the Palestinians which would lead to a permanent state of conflict in the Middle East. The BBC must start exploring, impartially, the whole story. Do we have to depend on Wiki to leak certain information? Must we be grateful for the revelations that several Arab leaders desire others to sort out Iran for them? With suspicions about such things confirmed, can people still defend Iran’s right to have nuclear weapons, and talk as though it’s merely Israel’sworry? Can people still talk about fighting Israel’s wars? Let us have the full picture please BBC, then we can decide for ourselves where we want our loyalties to lie.

SOFTBALLS FOR SALMOND

Anyone catch THIS interview with SNP Leader Alex Salmond this morning? Given the SNP's central role in releasing Libyan bomber Al-Megrahi and given the chaos on Scotland's roads and streets, one might have expected a rather more challenging interview from Humphyrs but apart from a few token barks at the beginning, I thought he was rather purring as Salmond was allowed to get away with rhetorical murder, in the same sense that Al-Megrahi got away with actual murder. What is it about the English hating petty socialist SNP that so appeals to the BBC........

A CURIOUS BIAS

>> TUESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2010

BBC Northern Ireland has been running a story today concerning the news that “Former Sinn Fein councillor Mairtin O’Muilleoir is to re-enter politics as a party representative on Belfast City Council” There are a few problems with this. First of all, WHY does the BBC assume that O'Muilleoir will win a seat in a ward that does not currently have a Sinn Fein representative?!! Did they just take a Sinn Fein press release and run it as news without using that vast resource they have at our expense to ascertain the accuracy of what was being claimed? Further, O'Muilleoir is on record stating that he wanted to leave politics in order "to concentrate on being Managing Director" of the Belfast Media Group. The BBC avoids all reference to this and the contradiction it contains. Bias by omission is as egregious a broadcasting sin as any other form of bias and given the fact that the BBC in Northern Ireland dominates local media, shouldn't someone somewhere be asking why such lazy journalism is permitted here? Hat-tip to Pete Baker @ Slugger O'Toole