Sunday, March 23, 2008

US fears peace outbreak

The parties involved in Pakistan's new government have taken western policy makers by surprise by announcing that they would be prepared to talk to the 'militants' and 'extremists' against whom the US has been fighting a war, sometimes directly but largely by proxy.

The army and the politicians for once seem to be reading from the same script by stating the obvious: that you cannot pursue and indefinite war against a large part of your population just because the US doesn't like them. Ironically, by supporting the dictatorship of Musharaff, the US has isolated itself from the parties that maintain the facade of democracy inside Pakistan.

The bloodshed and terror unleashed against these people has been a disaster for Pakistan but also a humanitarian disaster that gets no coverage from media.

Most Pakistanis will not care a jot what the US thinks or wants; they simply want an end to the daily carnage resulting from the internal civil war encouraged by Washington.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

BBC evasion

See below for original complaint:

Thank you for your e-mail.

I understand you feel that our coverage of the Middle East situation has been biased in favour of the Israelis.

However, I assure you that this is not the case, though it is difficult to respond to your main issue and 1st 2 points as you haven't provided any examples of this bias you refer to or where you programme name or website URL, we could research the matter further.

As for your 3rd point, it is difficult to explain the reasoning of either side and it is not our place to do so. We have tried to explain the history of the conflict and the facts though it is not feasible to do this every time we report on the conflict.

Equal representation is not always possible or practical within individual programmes and account also needs to be taken of the way a subject is covered over a period of time. Individual reports may give more time to one particular incident, but we regularly report the suffering felt by both sides. Not every report can include all aspects of the conflict, but this does not constitute bias. Perfect balance is difficult to achieve on every single occasion but overall it is a more achievable goal.

We have registered your comments on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management.

If replying to this e-mail please use the webform which you used for your initial complaint. This can be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

Paul Kettle
BBC Complaints

Friday, March 07, 2008

Bullshit Broadcasting Corporation

The BBC and other media outlets are giving wall-to-wall coverage to the deaths of eight Israelis yesterday. The tears, emotions and grieving are shared intimately with the world.

Unfortunately, the dozens of Palestinian civilians murdered by Israel in the last week have been relegated to the status of statistics and collateral damage. The stark contrast in coverage between the two set of victims, is a reflection of the ingrained racism and bias of these media organisations. They are willing to accept Israeli propaganda and broadcast extended scenes of suffering for 8 victims yet will only mention in passing the deaths of dozens of Palestinian civilians. The BBC in particular go out of their way to demonise Palestinians by referring to them as 'militants' and extremists, whilst portraying the murderous bloody actions of Israel as 'defensive' or in reaction to rockets. They help to shore up the image of Israel in the West keeping the public ignorant about the true nature of the Israeli zionazi occupation of Arabs. They are willing accomplices of the murdering extremists that run Israel. My TV licence money is paying these lying bastards for broadcasting propaganda for mass murderers.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Complaint to the BBC

Another complaint to the BBC about the scandalous coverage of Israeli terrorism against Gaza:

I would like to make an official complaint about the BBC news bulletins on radio and TV regarding the attacks against Gaza by Israel.

The BBC has repeatedly stated in its headlines that: Israel has ended its ‘incursions’ into Gaza, in response to Palestinian rocket ‘attacks'.

This is a blatantly biased statement. The use of 'incursions' to describe attacks that have killed dozens of unarmed bystanders dead including women and children, is a grave distortion. Eye witnesses point to innocent bystanders in Gaza being gunned down by Israeli forces for no reason. This has been acknowledged by B’tselem and other human rights organizations. Please can you reply to the following points:

1. Please could you explain why you believe the Israeli account that the bloody assault in Gaza is simply a response to rockets? Ask any Palestinian and they will tell you that the rockets are reprisals for Israeli killings of Palestinians and attacks on Gaza. Why is the BBC prepared to accept the Israeli version rather than the Palestinian version?

2. Why do your timelines always start with Palestinian rocket attacks? Why do you presume that rocket attacks are not a response to Israeli attacks?

3. How do you explain the fact that despite the absence of rocket fire from the West Bank, Israeli attacks against the West Bank and its citizens have continued?