Interestingly the word Panorama is defined in the concise Oxford English Dictionary as: “An unbroken view of a surrounding region” or “A complete survey of a subject or sequence of events”.
Now anybody who viewed the Panorama programme titled Death in the Med, would I think agree that the BBC need to change the title of its documentary series to “A blinkered view” or even ”A linear view of .........”.
The self proclaimed expert on the Al-Qaeda network and the so called Islamist threat Jane Corbin, only served to cheapen the art of journalism by presenting what amounted to a propaganda project on behalf of the State of Israel and more notably the IDF.
What seems to have been ignored with great effort, was the fact that Israeli Navy / IDF attacked a civilian vessel IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, they had NO jurisdiction whatsoever. Secondly, nine people lost their lives, Yet this documentary ignored the loss of life in favour of dedicating their time to the Israeli Military view.
Regarding the Panorama documentary, It was ill conceived, poorly presented and very heavily biased in favour of the State of Israel and the IDF in particular.
Frankly, to give anymore time or space in this blog to this so called documentary will only serve to give it a form of credibility, that it clearly does not deserve.
100% Palestine blogger
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Israel: A rare breed of democracy
Netanyahu tells Turkel Committee that the attack on the Mavi Marmara was the fault of Hamas and Turkey.
The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court justice, Jacob Turkel, and the alleged purpose was to find out if the so called incident was legal under international law. Despite the fact that this hearing is being held, it has actually very limited powers and in the end will only serve as a way to protect Netanyahu and his government and negate any possibility of an International investigation.
Netanyahu, almost at nausea, repeated that the incident was within the bounds of International law. He then went further by blaming Hamas and telling the hearing that Turkey needs to also take their share of the blame for allowing the vessel to set sail for Gaza in the first place. (And Israel claims to be a democracy).
When it appeared to Netanyahu that the blame might be pointing directly at him, he pointed out that he was not even in the country at the time and had left Defence Minister Ehud Barak in charge of the flotilla takeover operation. He went further by stating that during the ministers' meetings before the Turkish flotilla arrived; the ministers did not discuss taking action, but focused on the media's reaction to it. Despite the fact that several IDF soldiers who stormed the Mavi Marmara, were found to have laminated “picture hit lists” as were shown to international TV viewers live at the time. Netanyahu insisted that there were no pre-agreed plans to storm the vessel at the Ministers meeting.
Later in the day Mark Regev backed Netanyahu, by further stating that all democracies have a similar system of appointing another member of government to look after a situation in their absence.
At this point it was beginning to turn into a he said, she said situation, not unlike what would be seen in any children's playground, however the outcome has enraged a lot of people in Israel, as they feel that Netanyahu was simply dumping this problem on their beloved IDF.
The rest of the hearing was held behind closed doors, because of so called Israeli security concerns.
Anybody who has observed the situation in the Middle East (M.E.) would be able to come to the same conclusion as I will on this whole so called hearing. That conclusion is, the Israeli government are uncomfortable with what happened on the Mavi Marmara and don’t really know how to deal with the fall out, however Israel MUST keep its people in fear of the whole world and totally dependent on the IDF and the right wing government for their collective protection. Even school children are taught to fear and hate others, (as shown in Defamation by Yoav Shamir), thus Mr Netanyahu and his crew can never be seen to be softening on any situation, and especially not on a situation where the Israeli government have hailed their beloved IDF as heroes.
In fact Netanyahu also expressed this in his statement that “the IDF commandos on the Mavi Marmara exhibited "unusual courage" in defending themselves against a clear and present danger to their lives”, you can also bet that the words Self Defence were used time and again in justification.
Netanyahu finished the public debate by declaring the following: Israel is a "rare breed" of democracy in the Middle East, and said "there is no state or army that investigates itself more than Israel and the IDF."
This is likely to be the only true statement you will ever hear from any leader of the state of Israel, the fact that Israel has had to investigate its Army (IDF) so many times in its short history would be a great concern to any civilised society, yet to Netanyahu and his cronies this seems to be a thing of great pride.
The Israeli government is either so out of touch that it really thinks that the greater world believes the outcomes of these Kangaroo court hearings with the IDF, or they have become so bloody minded and arrogant that they don’t care.
To use Netanyahu own words, it is indeed a RARE breed of democracy!
The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court justice, Jacob Turkel, and the alleged purpose was to find out if the so called incident was legal under international law. Despite the fact that this hearing is being held, it has actually very limited powers and in the end will only serve as a way to protect Netanyahu and his government and negate any possibility of an International investigation.
Netanyahu, almost at nausea, repeated that the incident was within the bounds of International law. He then went further by blaming Hamas and telling the hearing that Turkey needs to also take their share of the blame for allowing the vessel to set sail for Gaza in the first place. (And Israel claims to be a democracy).
When it appeared to Netanyahu that the blame might be pointing directly at him, he pointed out that he was not even in the country at the time and had left Defence Minister Ehud Barak in charge of the flotilla takeover operation. He went further by stating that during the ministers' meetings before the Turkish flotilla arrived; the ministers did not discuss taking action, but focused on the media's reaction to it. Despite the fact that several IDF soldiers who stormed the Mavi Marmara, were found to have laminated “picture hit lists” as were shown to international TV viewers live at the time. Netanyahu insisted that there were no pre-agreed plans to storm the vessel at the Ministers meeting.
Later in the day Mark Regev backed Netanyahu, by further stating that all democracies have a similar system of appointing another member of government to look after a situation in their absence.
At this point it was beginning to turn into a he said, she said situation, not unlike what would be seen in any children's playground, however the outcome has enraged a lot of people in Israel, as they feel that Netanyahu was simply dumping this problem on their beloved IDF.
The rest of the hearing was held behind closed doors, because of so called Israeli security concerns.
Anybody who has observed the situation in the Middle East (M.E.) would be able to come to the same conclusion as I will on this whole so called hearing. That conclusion is, the Israeli government are uncomfortable with what happened on the Mavi Marmara and don’t really know how to deal with the fall out, however Israel MUST keep its people in fear of the whole world and totally dependent on the IDF and the right wing government for their collective protection. Even school children are taught to fear and hate others, (as shown in Defamation by Yoav Shamir), thus Mr Netanyahu and his crew can never be seen to be softening on any situation, and especially not on a situation where the Israeli government have hailed their beloved IDF as heroes.
In fact Netanyahu also expressed this in his statement that “the IDF commandos on the Mavi Marmara exhibited "unusual courage" in defending themselves against a clear and present danger to their lives”, you can also bet that the words Self Defence were used time and again in justification.
Netanyahu finished the public debate by declaring the following: Israel is a "rare breed" of democracy in the Middle East, and said "there is no state or army that investigates itself more than Israel and the IDF."
This is likely to be the only true statement you will ever hear from any leader of the state of Israel, the fact that Israel has had to investigate its Army (IDF) so many times in its short history would be a great concern to any civilised society, yet to Netanyahu and his cronies this seems to be a thing of great pride.
The Israeli government is either so out of touch that it really thinks that the greater world believes the outcomes of these Kangaroo court hearings with the IDF, or they have become so bloody minded and arrogant that they don’t care.
To use Netanyahu own words, it is indeed a RARE breed of democracy!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Lebanon & Israel the blue line conflict!
Well it’s finally happened, for a very long time now, Lebanon has been holding her temper and hoping that the UN or someone would do something about Israel’s constant taunting.
Like the old reliable school yard bully, Israel has been doing everything to get a reaction from Lebanon (the school victim). Everything from constant fly overs which almost happen on a daily basis to increased activity on the southern Lebanon border, in or around the disputed blue line areas.
Israel has never fully gotten over the bloody nose that Hezbollah gave them in 2006; in the past 4 years Israel has done everything possible to get a reaction from either the government of Lebanon or directly from Hezbollah. There has been constant claims from Israel that Hezbollah were importing arms from Syria (never proven), that they were planning an attack on Israel with the assistance of Iran (never proven), in fact despite all the untruths which the Israeli propaganda machine has almost become totally synonymous with, not a thing has been proved beyond the word of the well-oiled and totally untrustworthy Israeli ministry.
What was different this time was the fact that it was the Army of Lebanon who reacted first. Ok, the debate as to whether Israel or Lebanon were at fault will go on for a long time, however what we all witnessed was the school yard bully getting a reaction they never expected. Chances are that it was a total mistake, it happens when a border is not totally set in stone, but the point is when Lebanon were almost on a daily basis pleading with the UN to do something about the fly over violations, nothing was done! When Israel (the school bully) was posturing and insulting towards Lebanon openly and in the world’s media, nobody would stand up and say, that’s enough! Just like all victims of bullies, Lebanon took it for as long as she could, yesterday was the last straw.
If the US and the UN are really interested in keeping the peace in the Middle East (M.E.), then they BOTH need to pull the reins hard when Israel steps out of line, If they are NOT then they need not be surprised when something like this happens.
The current situation in the middle East is a little like a piece of clear plastic sheeting, sure, It will bend and you can to a certain extent abuse it, however just like glass it will eventually break.
If the USA is serious about peace in the M.E. then it needs to at least be seen to be fair. Right now most M.E. experts would agree that in trying to play the Policeman or peace maker, America is failing badly because of the so called special relationship. They will openly and vehemently defend Israel, even when they know Israel is wrong, whilst at the same time they expect the rest of the M.E. to follow their rules, adhere to their requests and accept their openly biased criticism.
Would America have stayed silent about the passport situation if it were Iran, Turkey, Lebanon or Syria that had used false European and Australian passports?
Would they have stayed quiet if Iran had attacked the open concentration camp we call Gaza?
We all know the answer is NO!
Like the old reliable school yard bully, Israel has been doing everything to get a reaction from Lebanon (the school victim). Everything from constant fly overs which almost happen on a daily basis to increased activity on the southern Lebanon border, in or around the disputed blue line areas.
Israel has never fully gotten over the bloody nose that Hezbollah gave them in 2006; in the past 4 years Israel has done everything possible to get a reaction from either the government of Lebanon or directly from Hezbollah. There has been constant claims from Israel that Hezbollah were importing arms from Syria (never proven), that they were planning an attack on Israel with the assistance of Iran (never proven), in fact despite all the untruths which the Israeli propaganda machine has almost become totally synonymous with, not a thing has been proved beyond the word of the well-oiled and totally untrustworthy Israeli ministry.
What was different this time was the fact that it was the Army of Lebanon who reacted first. Ok, the debate as to whether Israel or Lebanon were at fault will go on for a long time, however what we all witnessed was the school yard bully getting a reaction they never expected. Chances are that it was a total mistake, it happens when a border is not totally set in stone, but the point is when Lebanon were almost on a daily basis pleading with the UN to do something about the fly over violations, nothing was done! When Israel (the school bully) was posturing and insulting towards Lebanon openly and in the world’s media, nobody would stand up and say, that’s enough! Just like all victims of bullies, Lebanon took it for as long as she could, yesterday was the last straw.
If the US and the UN are really interested in keeping the peace in the Middle East (M.E.), then they BOTH need to pull the reins hard when Israel steps out of line, If they are NOT then they need not be surprised when something like this happens.
The current situation in the middle East is a little like a piece of clear plastic sheeting, sure, It will bend and you can to a certain extent abuse it, however just like glass it will eventually break.
If the USA is serious about peace in the M.E. then it needs to at least be seen to be fair. Right now most M.E. experts would agree that in trying to play the Policeman or peace maker, America is failing badly because of the so called special relationship. They will openly and vehemently defend Israel, even when they know Israel is wrong, whilst at the same time they expect the rest of the M.E. to follow their rules, adhere to their requests and accept their openly biased criticism.
Would America have stayed silent about the passport situation if it were Iran, Turkey, Lebanon or Syria that had used false European and Australian passports?
Would they have stayed quiet if Iran had attacked the open concentration camp we call Gaza?
We all know the answer is NO!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Rape or Racism?
An Arab-Israeli man was accused of rape despite the fact that the act was consensual.
The man in question is Sabbar Kashur, aged 30, an Arab-Israeli resident of Jerusalem, Mr Kashur told the Jewish-Israeli woman that he was a Jewish bachelor and the couple proceeded to have consensual sex. After the woman found out that Mr Kashur was in fact Arab and called the Israeli Police accusing the man of rape on grounds of deception.
Guys, be honest here, how many times have you told some young woman that you were a Pilot, Jockey or TV star, just to impress her?
Ladies, how many times have you told some guy that you were a model or a business executive or just simply fibbed about your age?
It happens,and we all did it at one time or another, maybe innocently trying to impress someone you really liked or maybe in the hope of a one night stand.
It has also been alleged by a UK newspaper that the Israeli woman first accused Mr Kashur of rape and indecent assault after finding out he was Arab, but later admitted that the sex was consensual.
Either way Kashur is now facing a prison term of 18 months and the stigma of being a rapist for the rest of his life.
This reminded me of a man I met in the southern United States in the early ‘90’s, he was a very happy, pleasant gentleman, who was at one time in his early 20’s, accused of rape by a white woman (despite it being consensual), he explained that the woman was married and they were discovered by her family. Anyway her husband told her to say she was raped, because a black man couldn’t have consensual sex with a white woman, you see no self-respecting white woman would have anything to do with a black man.
This fine well-mannered man in his 70’s was sent to prison for several years for a rape he did not commit.
This was in the dark ages of the 1940’s and thankfully things have changed for the better. However here we are in 2010 and an Arab is being sent to prison for raping a Jewish Israeli woman, not because she refused to have sex with him and he forced himself on her, not because she asked him to stop half way, but because he was an Arab.
It’s a simple case of RACISM, nothing more nothing less. Israel has again proved herself to be an openly racist state (that can get away with anything).
I have always believed that should a man be accused and proved beyond a doubt, to have raped a woman, then that man must face the harshest penalty. Equally if a woman accuses an innocent man of rape, then she must face the harshest penalty. Simply because so many women suffer this terrible crime every day, very often they don’t report the crime or it doesn’t even make it to court for lack of evidence. Worst of all victims of rape are made to relive the actual rape in the presence of the man accused of the crime, in court.
It is without doubt the most heinous, degrading and disabling crime, as victims often spend the rest of their lives living and reliving the original rape.
As someone who was raped as a very young boy several decades ago now, I find the cheapening of the crime of rape by the Israeli judicial system to be morally offensive and a belittling of the pain and anguish that ALL rape victims suffer all of their lives.
Every Rape Crisis Center and agency should unite in condemnation of this abuse of all rape victims by the Israeli judicial system, simply to hide their racist motives.
The man in question is Sabbar Kashur, aged 30, an Arab-Israeli resident of Jerusalem, Mr Kashur told the Jewish-Israeli woman that he was a Jewish bachelor and the couple proceeded to have consensual sex. After the woman found out that Mr Kashur was in fact Arab and called the Israeli Police accusing the man of rape on grounds of deception.
Guys, be honest here, how many times have you told some young woman that you were a Pilot, Jockey or TV star, just to impress her?
Ladies, how many times have you told some guy that you were a model or a business executive or just simply fibbed about your age?
It happens,and we all did it at one time or another, maybe innocently trying to impress someone you really liked or maybe in the hope of a one night stand.
It has also been alleged by a UK newspaper that the Israeli woman first accused Mr Kashur of rape and indecent assault after finding out he was Arab, but later admitted that the sex was consensual.
Either way Kashur is now facing a prison term of 18 months and the stigma of being a rapist for the rest of his life.
This reminded me of a man I met in the southern United States in the early ‘90’s, he was a very happy, pleasant gentleman, who was at one time in his early 20’s, accused of rape by a white woman (despite it being consensual), he explained that the woman was married and they were discovered by her family. Anyway her husband told her to say she was raped, because a black man couldn’t have consensual sex with a white woman, you see no self-respecting white woman would have anything to do with a black man.
This fine well-mannered man in his 70’s was sent to prison for several years for a rape he did not commit.
This was in the dark ages of the 1940’s and thankfully things have changed for the better. However here we are in 2010 and an Arab is being sent to prison for raping a Jewish Israeli woman, not because she refused to have sex with him and he forced himself on her, not because she asked him to stop half way, but because he was an Arab.
It’s a simple case of RACISM, nothing more nothing less. Israel has again proved herself to be an openly racist state (that can get away with anything).
I have always believed that should a man be accused and proved beyond a doubt, to have raped a woman, then that man must face the harshest penalty. Equally if a woman accuses an innocent man of rape, then she must face the harshest penalty. Simply because so many women suffer this terrible crime every day, very often they don’t report the crime or it doesn’t even make it to court for lack of evidence. Worst of all victims of rape are made to relive the actual rape in the presence of the man accused of the crime, in court.
It is without doubt the most heinous, degrading and disabling crime, as victims often spend the rest of their lives living and reliving the original rape.
As someone who was raped as a very young boy several decades ago now, I find the cheapening of the crime of rape by the Israeli judicial system to be morally offensive and a belittling of the pain and anguish that ALL rape victims suffer all of their lives.
Every Rape Crisis Center and agency should unite in condemnation of this abuse of all rape victims by the Israeli judicial system, simply to hide their racist motives.
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Great Israeli cover up begins
Well as predicted, it has happened. The great Israeli cover up has begun.
Despite the MURDER of 9 innocent Turkish people on the Freedom flotilla by State sponsored Israeli pirates. The first investigation sponsored by our friends in the USA, has proved yet again to be NOTHING more than a complete COVER UP!
Guess what? Sky News, BBC and Fox are lining up to tell the sorry tale, Israeli got their intelligence wrong (hard to say Intelligence and Israel in the same sentence) but their media buddies in the UK and the USA are doing EVERYTHING possible to come to their defense. Sky goes even further by showing the following headlines together:
Israeli Raid On Gaza Aid Flotilla 'Flawed' AND (wait for it) Israel will relax Gaza blockade further....
Can Mr Murdoch actually go any lower on this issue? and has HE never wondered, why he and the BBC lost their real journalists to ALJAZEERA ??
The good old BBC goes one step further in assisting Israel spread their lies, with their report, which claims that those MURDERED on the Mavi Marmara were killed in self defense, you see those armed hit men of the IDF, the BBC claims had to deal with bad people who had bars and knives (on a vessel imagine that) and a gun??
This despite the fact that NOT one piece of evidence has been produced to show that even a single shot was fired by the pro-Palestinian, human rights activists on the vessel. OK, I will admit the BBC go on to cover their collective Arses by adding the following near this report: "The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites" Which is like saying we report lies but it not our fault if they are indeed lies.
It looks like the decent, even handed reporting has been AGAIN, left to the Guardian. Simply because the Guardian have not prostituted themselves to the great USA and their war mongering best buddies Israel.
Throughout the War on Gaza and the Flotilla Murders, the Guardian has lived up to it's name The GUARDIAN.
Below is their link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/12/gaza-flotilla-report-israeli-military.
Unlike others media groups mentioned, who act as the only testicle of an impotent Israel, the Guardian has shown clearly what free press means.
Despite the MURDER of 9 innocent Turkish people on the Freedom flotilla by State sponsored Israeli pirates. The first investigation sponsored by our friends in the USA, has proved yet again to be NOTHING more than a complete COVER UP!
Guess what? Sky News, BBC and Fox are lining up to tell the sorry tale, Israeli got their intelligence wrong (hard to say Intelligence and Israel in the same sentence) but their media buddies in the UK and the USA are doing EVERYTHING possible to come to their defense. Sky goes even further by showing the following headlines together:
Israeli Raid On Gaza Aid Flotilla 'Flawed' AND (wait for it) Israel will relax Gaza blockade further....
Can Mr Murdoch actually go any lower on this issue? and has HE never wondered, why he and the BBC lost their real journalists to ALJAZEERA ??
The good old BBC goes one step further in assisting Israel spread their lies, with their report, which claims that those MURDERED on the Mavi Marmara were killed in self defense, you see those armed hit men of the IDF, the BBC claims had to deal with bad people who had bars and knives (on a vessel imagine that) and a gun??
This despite the fact that NOT one piece of evidence has been produced to show that even a single shot was fired by the pro-Palestinian, human rights activists on the vessel. OK, I will admit the BBC go on to cover their collective Arses by adding the following near this report: "The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites" Which is like saying we report lies but it not our fault if they are indeed lies.
It looks like the decent, even handed reporting has been AGAIN, left to the Guardian. Simply because the Guardian have not prostituted themselves to the great USA and their war mongering best buddies Israel.
Throughout the War on Gaza and the Flotilla Murders, the Guardian has lived up to it's name The GUARDIAN.
Below is their link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/12/gaza-flotilla-report-israeli-military.
Unlike others media groups mentioned, who act as the only testicle of an impotent Israel, the Guardian has shown clearly what free press means.
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