Israel cuts off ties with BBC

[L@mplighterM]

Israel cuts off ties with BBC

By Anat Balint, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel declared over the weekend that it is cutting off ties with the BBC to protest a repeat broadcast on non-conventional weapons said to be in Israel.




The program was broadcast for the first time in March in Britain, and was rerun Saturday on a BBC channel that is aired all over the world.

The boycott decision was made by Israel's public relations forum, made up of representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Government Press Office.

It was decided that government offices won't assist BBC producers and reporters, that Israeli officials will not give interviews to the British network, and that the Government
Press Office will make it difficult for BBC employees to get press cards and work visas in Israel.

Before the broadcast Saturday, Israeli officials tried to pressure the BBC to cancel the broadcast, saying that the program was biased and presented Israel as an evil dictatorship, ignoring the existential threat it was facing.


The forum members were furious at the trailers to the program, which showed pictures of the Dimona nuclear reactor and the biological institute in Nes Tziona, with the narrator saying, "Which country in the Middle East has not declared the nuclear and biological weapons in its possession?"

The trailer also says that there is no external supervision over Israel, "which is holding in custody for 17 years a man who has leaked its secrets."

The broadcast deals with Israel's attempts to maintain a policy of ambiguity on its nuclear weapons, through the Va'anunu affair, the trial of Brigadier General Yitzhak Ya'akov and the incidents of cancer among the Dimona nuclear reactor workers.

Danny Seaman, the head of the Government Press Office, has been saying for some time that the BBC has a clear anti-Israel policy, bordering on anti-Semitism. Seaman told Army Radio on
Sunday that the BBC broadcast was an attempt to tarnish Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/S...ID=0&listSrc=Y

A good move IMO!

[RichardP]

Originally posted by L@mplighterM
Israel cuts off ties with BBC

By Anat Balint, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel declared over the weekend that it is cutting off ties with the BBC to protest a repeat broadcast on non-conventional weapons said to be in Israel.




The program was broadcast for the first time in March in Britain, and was rerun Saturday on a BBC channel that is aired all over the world.

The boycott decision was made by Israel's public relations forum, made up of representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Government Press Office.

It was decided that government offices won't assist BBC producers and reporters, that Israeli officials will not give interviews to the British network, and that the Government
Press Office will make it difficult for BBC employees to get press cards and work visas in Israel.

Before the broadcast Saturday, Israeli officials tried to pressure the BBC to cancel the broadcast, saying that the program was biased and presented Israel as an evil dictatorship, ignoring the existential threat it was facing.


The forum members were furious at the trailers to the program, which showed pictures of the Dimona nuclear reactor and the biological institute in Nes Tziona, with the narrator saying, "Which country in the Middle East has not declared the nuclear and biological weapons in its possession?"

The trailer also says that there is no external supervision over Israel, "which is holding in custody for 17 years a man who has leaked its secrets."

The broadcast deals with Israel's attempts to maintain a policy of ambiguity on its nuclear weapons, through the Va'anunu affair, the trial of Brigadier General Yitzhak Ya'akov and the incidents of cancer among the Dimona nuclear reactor workers.

Danny Seaman, the head of the Government Press Office, has been saying for some time that the BBC has a clear anti-Israel policy, bordering on anti-Semitism. Seaman told Army Radio on
Sunday that the BBC broadcast was an attempt to tarnish Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/S...ID=0&listSrc=Y

A good move IMO!

BBC is no more than a mouthpiece for "Islam" and anti-Semitic propaganda... it is enough to make one vomit! However, the western-media as a whole is not much better; be it CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and Canada's pretentious CBC, whom all have an anti-Israel agenda. They would make Josef Goebbels and his minions proud - it makes me sick! I'd best go and take an antacid!!

[Isiah 2:4]

I am very intrigued by the notion that all Western media is anti-Semitic and controlled by Islam.

Firstly, extreme pro-pals and Msulims say the opposite. They say that as regards to the conflict, Western Media is biased toward the Arabs and the Muslim world. They say, in a truly anti-Semitic fashion, that Jews control the worlds media.

Hmmmm

Secondly, Why are there Jews in the media then? There is massive over-representation of Jewish ethnicity in American media.. compared to African American or Asian. Theres loads of Jews in the British media as well. Especially the BBC.

[RichardP]

Originally posted by Isiah 2:4
I am very intrigued by the notion that all Western media is anti-Semitic and controlled by Islam.

Firstly, extreme pro-pals and Msulims say the opposite. They say that as regards to the conflict, Western Media is biased toward the Arabs and the Muslim world. They say, in a truly anti-Semitic fashion, that Jews control the worlds media.

Hmmmm

Secondly, Why are there Jews in the media then? There is massive over-representation of Jewish ethnicity in American media.. compared to African American or Asian. Theres loads of Jews in the British media as well. Especially the BBC.

I am trying to figure out what you are getting at... The Western-media is not pro-Israel. There are exceptions but few! Let's presume "Jews" are in the media by the bucketful, everyone of these is not necessarily pro-Israel, as hard as that may be to believe. Nor am I saying that Israel is beyond reproach, that is simply not so: compared to their neighbours from hell, Israel is left very few options but to react, be it in self-defense, or protection of its citizens!

If there is a problem, blame the Jews!! A bar and its patrons are slaughtered, its the Jews own fault! It smacks of Goebbles diatribes in Nazi Germany!

There are Jews for whom being a Jew is not of any consequence, spiritually or ties them to Israel emotionally. As there are many
Christians who feel no ties to the fabric of their faith.

G-d! I am rabbiting on... lastly, the media is biased. It is not the critics words as much as the imbalance of their reporting. Israel is damned if she does or doesn't! After all Terrorists who murder Israelis are "Freedom Fighters"... and when Israel retaliates, she is branded the "Terrorist State"!

Israel is not asking for favouritism from the media, just a fair shake! If there is a diproportinate number of Jews in the media, law, publishing, so what! It truly does not matter as they will be blamed for all the ills which befall mankind! Whether they are wealthy or poor, well educated or not, Jews have been a scapegoat for eons. It's time for those who believe this to be true, to pick up the pen; whether they are a part of the media,a law firm, tailor, or a regular schmuck like me!

[RichardP]

Originally posted by RichardP
I am trying to figure out what you are getting at... The Western-media is not pro-Israel. There are exceptions but few! Let's presume "Jews" are in the media by the bucketful, everyone of these is not necessarily pro-Israel, as hard as that may be to believe. Nor am I saying that Israel is beyond reproach, that is simply not so: compared to their neighbours from hell, Israel is left very few options but to react, be it in self-defense, or protection of its citizens!

If there is a problem, blame the Jews!! A bar and its patrons are slaughtered, its the Jews own fault! It smacks of Goebbles diatribes in Nazi Germany!

There are Jews for whom being a Jew is not of any consequence, spiritually or ties them to Israel emotionally. As there are many
Christians who feel no ties to the fabric of their faith.

G-d! I am rabbiting on... lastly, the media is biased. It is not the critics words as much as the imbalance of their reporting. Israel is damned if she does or doesn't! After all Terrorists who murder Israelis are "Freedom Fighters"... and when Israel retaliates, she is branded the "Terrorist State"!

Israel is not asking for favouritism from the media, just a fair shake! If there is a diproportinate number of Jews in the media, law, publishing, so what! It truly does not matter as they will be blamed for all the ills which befall mankind! Whether they are wealthy or poor, well educated or not, Jews have been a scapegoat for eons. It's time for those who believe this to be true, to pick up the pen; whether they are a part of the media,a law firm, tailor, or a regular schmuck like me!

Just as foot note: I never implied or intended to imply the Western-media was controlled by Islam! However, that does not imply that they have not become political and media-darlings!

[L@mplighterM]

I think it’s difficult to describe events happening in the world without appearing slanted. BBC favors the Arabs/Muslims, I saw a newscaster angrily denounce Israel’s actions in the ME and the other’s there appear to be biased against Israel. Of course news is not limited to BBC there’s CNN, MSNBC, FOX and other stations, then there’s the hundreds of major newspapers and radio stations.

Based on all the evidence that I’ve seen and/or heard I certainly feel that the media is pro Arab/Muslim and there’s much anti Semitism in the news.

If there were bucketfuls (bucketfuls doesn’t mean much) of Jews in the media they all wouldn’t have the same opinion regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

The anchors on BBC (I haven’t watched BBC for about a year now) seemed to have a free reign at what they said. I suspect that there’s someone cracking the whip at the top at the major networks in the US but it still seems that anti Semitic remarks slip through.

[jewbyc]

There many examples of how the media reports news in a way that is biased against Israel, Jews and Israeli leadership.

1. The biggest one I can think of is the fact that when Sharon's name is mentioned the media always mention that he is a hardliner while portraying Arafat as a victim. They never Tell the reader how many people Arafat has killed while committing acts of terrorism. Why haven't the Press demanded that Arafat be tried for crimes against humanity.

2. When the media uses information gathered from Palestinian sources they take it at face value. When the information comes from Jews they say allegedly. I can think of at least five different events that the media reported and blamed on Israel and in each case it turns out the informed Palestinian source lied. CAMERA and Honestreporting.com have documented many of these events.

3. The one that makes me want to chew nails is the militant tag that many news sources put on terrorist groups. When was the last time that AP or Reuters called Islamic jihad or Hamas terrorists. Many of these so called media outlets equate terror groups like HAMAS with Israeli settlers. Many in the media feel that blowing up babies can be equated to wanting to build a home where your ancestors once lived.

4. When the media talks about the road map lately they have been reporting that Israel’s refusal to release all the Palestinian prisoners is jeopardizing the peace process. What they like to do is say all this and then at the very bottom of the article they say oo by the way releasing prisoners is not part of the road map.

5. Many media outlets like to use the first paragraph in an article to attack Israel. That allows them to hide the facts at the bottom of the article. They do this with the full knowledge that a lot of people don’t read past the first paragraph.

6 when a terrorist act occurs the media makes it sound as if the victim did something to deserve it. The names of the terrorist are almost always released while they hardly ever give out the names of the victim. This allows the media to dehumanize the victims.

The media outlets that use these practices the most are AP, Reuters, ABC, BBC and public radio.


Anybody who claims that the media is pro Israel needs to learn how to read between the lines. Sometime what they dont say tells the whole story

[Isiah 2:4]

Originally posted by jewbyc
Sometime what they dont say tells the whole story

I completely agree

[IndianSummer]

Media everywhere is guilty of misrepresentation of 'facts' and/or being lap-dogs of those in power.

The most stark examples can be seen on our television screens when the United States goes to war. From the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the 'War against Terror', american media has sucessively served as chained lap-dogs to the leader of the 'free' world. Forget the rabidly right-wing Fox News, tune in to the supposedly liberal CNN. and you'll see really how 'independent' american news media is.

The BBC has been guilty too. How many of us remember the BBC's coverage of the NATO-serbian war, when the BBC unquestioningly ran the lines of NATO spokesman speaking from brussels even as the end of the war brought out most of the spokesman's assertions as war-propaganda.

Nobody, especially people here in India, denies that Israel is one of the world's foremost democracies, especially when considered against the multitude of hostile forces it contends with on a day-to-day basis.

But really, shouldn't we ask ourselves, must TRUTH be a surrogate to 'national-interest' allways?

if there ARE nuclear and biological weapons in Israel's posession, and if the BBC reports it, then must the reporting of a fact be punished, only because it might harm Israel's foreign/strategic policy?

the BBC's Tehran correspondent, Jim Muir reports frequently about the intent of Iranian authorities to posess a nuclear weapon. Has Iran expelled BBC correspondents or even threatened to expell them? No.

The BBC's New Delhi correspondents, Jill McGivering and Daniel Lak persistently filed decidedly negative reports on BBC World about India's efforts to arm it's armed forces with tactical nuclear weapons. These reports surely caused some damage to India's foreign policy. But did India expell the BBC correspondents or reacted in ANY way? No.

I beleive that while national security is important, the Truth must not allways be sacrificed on the altar of national interests.

To do so would make us something less than human. And our nations would lose something that we were trying to preserve: our democracy.

[Mil]

if there ARE nuclear and biological weapons in Israel's posession, and if the BBC reports it, then must the reporting of a fact be punished, only because it might harm Israel's foreign/strategic policy?


The problem is that it's about professionalism rather then honest reporting. BBC screwed up in how and what they reported rather then the material it was based on. And there is a difference.

[Mediocrates]

The problem is that they did not and cannot report FACTS. They do report vague impressions and accusations w/o attribution or any of the independent verification used for any other normal journalistic standards.

[RichardP]

Originally posted by Mediocrates
The problem is that they did not and cannot report FACTS. They do report vague impressions and accusations w/o attribution or any of the independent verification used for any other normal journalistic standards.

The BBC is not alone reporting vague impressions and verifications... so many mainstream news services appear to have forgotten that rating numbers do not necessarily makr great journalism... Much of the media today has the same credibility as the "sensationalist" rags sold at the check outs in supermarkets!

[peacelover]

This BBC stuff is utter rubbish .

Sure, you can write individual incidents of where you think they have ben biased, but that's because of your perspective.

You show me any news channel you feel to be impartial, and I will write you a critique on how it is anti-Arab. I could equally write you one on ways in which that station was anti-Israel. Because when people watch the news, they watch it looking to hear their own point of view, and anything which does not conform can be argued as bias. When you go straight down the middle, you offend both sides.

So as for Israel cutting ties because a program was shown on the BBC... basically, all you people are advocating Israel being allowed to censor the World media?
Now that, Goebbels would be proud of.

[cerulean]

Israel is not prohibiting the BBC from broadcasting. Lack of association does not translate into a prohibition.

Now that, Goebbels would be proud of.

What a brilliant, original comparison. (This is sarcastic, in case it doesn't come through.)

[peacelover]

Originally posted by cerulean
Israel is not prohibiting the BBC from broadcasting. Lack of association does not translate into a prohibition.


What a brilliant, original comparison. (This is sarcastic, in case it doesn't come through.)

Cerulean, I am assuming you were tired, or you simply did not read the thread - the only reason I mentioned Goebels is because of Richard's P's many insinuations on this thread that Goebels would be proud of the BBC - strangely enough, his comments went unchallenged by you.

Have your opinion by all means, but at least be consistent.

I agree that the Goebels comparison is hardly rational, and I used it in a tongue in cheek manner to respond to RichardP's use of it. I am therefore a little puzzled as to why you object to my mocking use of it, and not to Richard's genuine use of it

As for the lack of association/censorship, what I understood from the original post was that Israel tried to get the programme banned, and the fact that Israel was not able to prevent this program being shown led to the lack of association. This has been justified by many posters on this thread. Therefore, the insinuation is clearly that Israel ought to have been able to get the program banned.