This is a heartrending documentary from Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC. The terrible fate of the Palestinians at the hands of a world which has accepted the ludicrous claim to a religious Israeli right to their land is incomprehensible in a rational world. The brutality of Israeli soldiers, motivated by views of racial and religious superiority, towards children is sickening.
But it is also deeply sad that it is now impossible that the BBC would ever make a documentary like this, or indeed that anybody in the BBC would ever dare to consider doing it. It must be twenty years since I saw anything remotely as honest on British mainstream television. I am not sure if I will ever live to do so again.
That is why when we must never allow Muslims to act arrogantly in our schools and in our society, cultivating ancient hatreds and religious-related racism because of the actions of people who have died decades or hundreds of years ago in more ignorant times than these.
I remember honesty in both TV and newspaper articles more than 20 years ago. When the UK government admits that it paid Irish terrorists to foment the troubles you will see the BBC unlocking honesty in its reporting of foreign affairs. We have to tidy up own house before we have the honesty to talk about others.
Trang whoever you are – disgusting [Mod: Post this refers to now deleted as spam]
Meanwhile, instead of being a piriah, Israel gets unique EU privileges…
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/eu-israel-agree-controversial-research-201466124027220970.html
Craig, thank you for bringing this to public attention. You are right, very little criticism of Apartheid Israel gets into the mainstream media, the BBC seems like a toothless mongrel.
Judging by the tone of the comments you seem to have upset some people.
More Pal-Arab lies & propaganda. Sucked up by a non-think lib.. Sad.
Craig
Yet again you are stuck in some lala land where not so long ago things were far better, leading to the conclusion that we can, with a tinker, get back to some place that never actually existed.
The BBC has always been state propaganda. 20 years ago they made propaganda. Now they make propaganda. 20 years ago they also showed dissident documentaries. Now they show dissident documentaries. The propaganda is in the weight of establishment narrative vs dissident narrative. News at 6 will be consistently pro Israel and BBC4 will occasionally show a pro-Palestinian documentary late at night.
Your analysis leads you to believe that the BBC is merely broken at the moment and can again. So you are not revolutionary.
Obviously my point is analogous to the nation state.
[comment lacking anger and sarcasm courtesy of ANode]
TV and most print news investigations are now constructed along narrower lines of permitted inquiry, Phil. They are essentially appraisals of managerial competence. Once upon a time, you DID get documentaries and the like which actually exposed how state power works. The BBC has always been an arm of the state, but the state DID allow a more incisive level of commentary. Journalists are trained (and I mean that in the sense of training a dog) to stick to human interest – that’s what gets them prizes now.
The other day, Habbakuk ended his usual dismissal of some valid point with “Against fascism, racism and sexism”.
You mean you let women kill Palestinian civilians, Mr H? How noble of you. Maybe that’s what MC Drone King means when he rhapsodises about human rights.
MLK must be spinning in his grave. The chief executive of War Inc. is black. What a victory for peace, love and understanding.
Mike
I was saying the idea that the BBC once showed dissident docs and no longer does is false and leads to a misguided reformist mindset.
Saying that there was once a marginally less propagandist BBC does not diminish my point.
Phil, I’m not sure the BBC can be reformed, but the point I was making concerned narrowing the parameters of what qualifies as dissent. That’s always a very dangerous process, even within the confines of the corporate media.
The BBC is practically run by Zionist fanatics – many of whom are Jewish – so it’s hardly surprising the biased stance the organization takes over the Palestinian/Israel issue.
Link to official website for documentary
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/02/10/3939266.htm
Naturally enough there’s been criticism of Four Corners for taking the children’s stories at face value.
It’s unlikely such a programme would appear on the BBC or indeed any British TV channel not because of bias but because coverage of current affairs generally has become almost non-existant. The only strand left on the BBC is Panorama and whilst that continues to do some good work it’s a shadow of it’s former self; a truncated series of 30 minute programmes which I doubt has the budget to film in the middle east even if it wanted to.
C4’s Despatches series is no better and even the last series of Unreported World wasn’t as good as previous ones. As for ITV, C5 and the rest, forget it.
Worth noting that Abbott’s gang have it in for the ABC, and job cuts are on the way. Doubtless it’s doco’s like this that cause their ire. It’s the usual ‘left wing’ bias trope, which is just so wrong-headed and dull. Left Wing = Something We Don’t Like.
Politics in Oz is pretty much the same as everywhere else, suspiciously enough. Ignorant mediocrities spouting glib soundbites and protecting the interests of the 1%. Any deviation from the script is punished accordingly, as doubtless we’ll see when Turnbull loses his job in the reshuffle. All very depressing.
Donk:
“More Pal-Arab lies & propaganda. Sucked up by a non-think lib.. Sad.”
I’m afraid you’re in for a lot more pain to come when the Apartheid system collapses. I am told that many Germans still refer to themselves as Europeans because of the shame of their Nationalist history.
The Israeli officer in charge of the progrom appeared to have a London accent. He seemed extremely relaxed in his current occupation, like he believed in the respect of the community for sacrificing the safety of London for a tough job – someone has to do it – enforcing the Apartheid Law on innocent children.
And the whistleblower: when you are out there, it’s not a matter of adults or kids, it’s they are the enemy. All Israeli citizens male and female, have to live that dilemma between humanity and nationality on a daily basis.
Why is Mr Gove stirring up racial/religious confrontation here in the UK while simultaneously ordering water cannon from Germany? Can it be that the Thatcher pup, Cameron, needs a patriotic Falklands victory over “un-British activity” in Birmingham in order to win the looming General Election?
The people who have demanded Islamic values in schools are the same people who are paid to implement Prevent for the government. Same as the people who have now taken over the Iraqi city of Mosul, are fulfilling the US promise of a united Kurdistan, and Islamic state in Eastern Syria.
We humans have got to finally understand that every trouble in the world is created by politicians in order to give them an excuse for intervention, which in turn allows them to control the affairs of other nations, from whom in turn they can steal resources.
Our politicians are not toothless onlookers of Israeli violence against children as Craig suggests. They acquired Israel, they fund Israel by allowing the bankster City of London on our soil. They are responsible for the violence on this video as if they had done it with their own hands.
Thanks Craig. I had actually seen the video before. Quite shocking and good on ABC for making it. The words of the female settler still resonate. Something about God having promised them their land.
The BBC should be dismantled as I have said before. Someone was suggesting turning it into a subscription service which would be costly (£300m?) as TV sets would need modifying. That would see the end of it and its propaganda output.
ABC does harbour the likes of Jon Faine. See what he said verbatim about the Israel hit on USS Liberty in a interview with Malcolm Fraser. http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-truth-will-out-first-carr-now-fraser.html
There are also videos that reveal the extent of Faine’s support for the Jewish lobby in Australia.
Jake Lynch of Sydney Univeraity is having a hard time of it from the Australian Zionists.
Israeli boycott case: Sydney academic’s lawyers say claims are pumped up
University director Jake Lynch is accused by legal centre Shurat HaDin of unlawful discrimination
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/25/israeli-boycott-case-sydney-academics-lawyers-say-claims-are-pumped-up
Israeli boycott case: court strikes out part of racial discrimination lawsuit
Sydney academic Jake Lynch says judge’s decision a ‘blow’ to legal centre Shurat HaDin’s ‘aim of outlawing BDS in Australia’
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/24/israeli-boycott-case-court-strikes-out-part-of-racial-discrimination-lawsuit
Abbott went on to Canada after the D-Day events. Will Harper enrol him into the Great Britain Colonial Prime Ministers Friends of Israel Club?
http://www.canada.com/Stephen+Harper+will+find+much+common+with+visiting+Australian/9918997/story.html
He already seems to be in it.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-rage-behind-australias-amplified-pro-israel-stance/
Abbott then went on to Washington.
I think he is enjoying the attention he is receiving. An ambitious type.
Does anyone remember that excellent series on ITV, This Week, when television was broadcast terrestrially? That meant we all watched the same programmes and could discuss them with workmates and colleagues the next day. We were therefore probably more cohesive politically.
‘This Week was a weekly current affairs series first produced for ITV in January 1956 by Associated-Rediffusion (later Thames Television), running until 1978, when it was replaced by TV Eye. In 1986, the earlier name was revived and This Week continued until Thames lost its franchise at the end of 1992.
However, its most influential episode was an expose on the National Front in 1974, which led to the party’s members firing their Chairman John Tyndall and National Activities Organiser Martin Webster two weeks later as a result of the revelations on the show from former NF Chairman John O’Brien of their neo-Nazi paramilitary pasts and continued links.
The most controversial edition was “Death on the Rock”, a 1988 documentary which questioned the official account of the Gibraltar shootings. It is commonly believed this programme was responsible for Thames losing their broadcast franchise.
During its run, the series’ presenters included Ludovic Kennedy, James Cameron, Jonathan Dimbleby, Robert Kee, Dan Farson, Jeremy Thorpe (who became leader of the Liberal Party), Kenneth Harris, Desmond Wilcox, Llew Gardner, Bryan Magee, Peter Taylor (noted for his coverage of Northern Ireland), Denis Tuohy, John Morgan, Peter Williams, Yvonne Roberts and John Edwards. The programme used the Intermezzo from Sibelius’s Karelia Suite as a signature tune.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Week_(ITV_TV_series)
I loved that exciting music when it built to its crescendo.
Nothing like it on now. It’s all soaps, slebs and dancing. The BBC’s Newsnight is a joke. They are paying Ms Kunnesberg £200k a year following Paxman’s reported £1m so there’s not much left in the budget and there has been no permanent editor since the Savile affair until recently, when Ian Katz, ex deputy editor Guardian, was appointed. The media is incestuous and a closed shop.
Rothermere and Murdoch are slogging it out in Oz. Daily Mail Australia is a new arrival.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jun/09/news-corp-accuses-daily-mail-australia-of-plagiarism
Naturally enough there’s been criticism of Four Corners for taking the children’s stories at face value.
Of course there has. Well-organised criticism, too. OTOH, when smirking Mark Regev pops up on our media to assure us that all is well with the humanitarian and compassionate IDF which is just conducting routine target practice on Gaza, this is rightly accepted at face value by everyone.
Nor is it just Four Corners. Read these if you need to feel better about your G-d – given Jewish identity…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/22/palestinian-children-detained-jail-israel
(detailed, with affidavits)
http://www.wvi.org/jerusalem-west-bank-gaza/video/alone-palestinian-children-israeli-military-detention-system
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/UN-Israel-tortures-detained-Palestinian-children-317210
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_70666.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45291
http://decoalitie.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/report-palestinian-children-and-military-detention-english.pdf
I could go on.
Unfortunately.
“On 26 May 2014, the Istanbul Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for four former Israel military officials who ordered the 2010 deadly commando raid.
They are:
Israel’s former Military Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi,
former Navy Chief, Eliezer Marom,
former Military Intelligence Chief, Amos Yadlin,
former Naval Intelligence Chief, Avishai Levy.
These arrest warrants are historic – the first time a criminal court has sought to hold Israeli officials accountable for their criminal acts against civilians.”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Mavi-Marmara-Israel–by-Greta-Berlin-Israel-Attacks-Gaza_Israel-Killing-With-U-S-Weapons_Israel-Lobby_Israel-Samson-Option-140610-748.html
—
From
Greta Berlin, Co-Founder, the Free Gaza movement
Editor, Freedom Sailors
~~~~~
Do I think that they will get to court? No.
Nevermind their output, the hacks working for the Beeb are mostly happy at work.
‘Last month, Press Gazette delved through employee reviews website Glassdoor.co.uk to see what staff make of working at the BBC. The answer, in a nutshell, was that a lot of people enjoy working there (it scored an average 3.4 stars out of five from employees), but that over-management and bureacracy are common bugbears.
National newspaper publishers generally scored a lower satisfaction rating than the BBC, allbeit with fewer reviews to go on.’
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/lions-led-donkeys-online-employee-reviews-lift-lid-life-national-newspapers
There is a link within the quote above to:
A poorly managed Orwellian holiday camp? Employer reviews website provides insight into life at the BBC
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/poorly-managed-orwellian-holiday-camp-anonymous-reviews-provide-insight-working-bbc
Craig, while the ABC is to be applauded for this documentary, it has to be set against the announcement last week by the Attorney General and the Foreign Minister that Australia will no longer refers to Palestine land seized by the Israelis over the past half century or more a “occupied territory” least it be seen as “prejudging” the situation.
Sadly, that reflects the true colours of our neanderthal government that almost on a daily basis is setting new low levels in public policy.
It’s territory. It was occupied. There are witnesses. What’s to prejudge?
Better get used to calling it Judea and Samaria – I don’t suppose the UK will be far behind.
Fuckers.
Thanks for that James O’Neill. Good to hear your view.
There seems to be some confusion in the minds of the Australian government. From the Times of Israel link I gave earlier.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-rage-behind-australias-amplified-pro-israel-stance/
‘However, there is more to Australia’s new approach to the Israeli-Palestinian issue: A similar policy is in place regarding all other unresolved core issues of the conflict, meaning that Canberra does not take any position on them, unlike almost any other government in the world.
In practice, what follows is that Australia will not make any on-record statements on future borders or on the Palestinians’ demand for a “right of return.” Most noteworthy is that Canberra, uniquely, does not have any position on the legality or illegality of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contrast to the legal position of the United Nations, the European Union and almost any other government in the world, including those of Canada and the United States.
“I would like to see which international law has declared them illegal,” Bishop told The Times of Israel in January, drawing fierce criticism from senior Palestinian officials, who aired their frustration at her position in several harshly worded opinion pieces in the Australian press.
In May, Australia’s ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, met Housing Minister Uri Ariel in the latter’s East Jerusalem office. Most envoys avoid meeting Israeli officials anywhere beyond the Green Line lest it be seen as tacit approval of Israeli claims to the territory. Furious about Sharma’s move, Palestinian chief peace negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote an angry letter to Bishop, which was leaked to Haaretz on the same day it was sent.
“It should be noted that diplomatic recognition of the situation created by the attempted annexation of our capital is a flagrant violation of international law,” Erekat wrote to the Australian foreign minister. “I should also take a moment to kindly remind you that Australia is under a clear obligation to respect and ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Person in Time of War and that a State which knowingly assists another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act bears responsibility for the violation.”’
Yet they send funds to the Palestinians.
‘Australia is one of the top 10 donors to the Palestinians. In 2013, the government gave about $50 million in aid to the PA, much of it unbound, which means the Palestinians can spend the funds however they see fit. Despite the current diplomatic row, and amid cuts to development aid to other countries, Canberra does not currently plan to reduce its contributions to the PA.’
Dave Sharma and his cohort are out of line.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Sharma
Whatevz. Angelina and William will sort it out.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/worlds-governments-must-turn-back-tide-sexual-violence-global-summit-2014-06-10
But probably not here:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/report-every-third-israeli-woman-falls-victim-to-sexual-assault-1.476888
Just a tiny ray of hope here:
http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/119647/reuven-rivlin-elected-new-president-israel
In an interview with the JC, the 74-year-old said it is the “destiny” of Israelis and Palestinians to live together side by side, “unfortunately this is not understood by many Jews and Palestinians”.
Even better, Netanyahu did his level best to prevent Rivlin’s election.
However (ibid) Rivin’s opinion that Reform Judaism is ‘idolatry’ suggests that he is with those who regard even the utterance of Christ’s name as idolatry – Reform Jews being of the contrary opinion. Hardly a model of tolerance, perhaps.
Big up the Ceausescu of Connaught Square here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/chinas-censorship-of-tiananmen-square-isnt-oppression–its-just-a-new-kind-of-extreme-counselling-9494939.html
Given the Chinese government’s record, the most surprising thing is that Tony Blair hasn’t been revealed as its advisor. We’ll know it’s happened when the President says “Look, I know some people disagree with the shooting, but it’s important now to draw a line under the issue and move on.”
Mr. Blair is currently in Beijing.
How much would his annual expenditure for hiring the Jetstream be? I suppose it goes into the Windrush books as an allowable expense in addition to the bills from the luxury hotels he uses. Then again he might get it all paid up front by his those sponsoring him. Can you imagine that people pay to listen to him?
~~
btw Rivlin was Sharon’s Minister of Communications so I can’t see any improvements for the Palestinians coming from his direction.
How pathetic that Australian government Israeli poodle, Tony Abbott, has refused to recognize East Jerusalem as an Occupied City. Even Israel’s staunch allies like the US, EU, UK, etc. have not accepted East Jerusalem being part of Israel.
http://rehmat1.com/2013/09/08/tony-abbott-new-pro-israel-australian-pm/