Sharon shuns BBC over documentary

[tinnypriv]

Sharon shuns BBC over documentary
The Guardian, July 11 2003

Ariel Sharon has barred the BBC from his meeting with the British press during a visit to London next week amid accusations that the corporation made false allegations against Israel in a report on weapons of mass destruction.

The bar follows a decision made by Mr Sharon's office a fortnight ago to "withdraw cooperation" from the BBC in protest at a documentary that looked at the lack of international scrutiny of Israel's nuclear and biological weapons programmes and the double standard compared with Iraq.

...

Danny Seaman, the director of the Israeli government's press office, who has made similar accusations of anti-Israeli coverage against the Guardian, accused the BBC of putting Israel in the same camp as Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

"The BBC didn't raise anything that has not already been on Israeli television," he said.

"It's the tone not the facts we're worried about. This is not an organisation that is there to get the truth. It's there to level every real or imagined accusation against Israel."

"We're used to journalistic garbage as a cover for anti-Israeli propaganda. But it was not only this programme. We feel this was the culmination of a decision by the BBC to show Israel as some kind of criminal country, a rogue police state. There's an insensitivity to the state of Israel and the Jewish people, and their history".

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,995987,00.html


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Comment: "It's the tone not the facts we're worried about". Says it all really :D

[Classical_Liberal]

1. Israel is being run by faux news loving republicans

.

[Resistance]

2. More lies, deception and slander by Israeli officials

when will it end?

[eablair3]

3. when will this be braodcast in U.S. -- worldlink tv?

anyone know if this will be broadcast in the U.S.? worldlink tv, perhaps?

[Gimel]

7. Welcome to DU, eablair3

Some of the BBC has no doubt been boradcast in the US, documentaries on Israel. However, I have an impression that by and large, the complaints are about past documentaries, and the recent reports on nuclear capacity of Israel defenses. That was already shown, to my knowledge, on various networks.

The future boycott only refers to official government interviews. The BBC will still be covering events in Israel, unless they choose not to. The GOI decision not to give direct interviews is obviously a result of the treatment and distortions of the material from past interviews. Tone in presentation is very important.

[Gimel]

4. Most readers

get the tone while forgetting the facts. It's how the news is processed and presented that is equally as important as the events.

[fla nocount]

5. Putrid Pig-Boy picks up his ball and goes home. Good.

Who needs him? Someday all the ugly old f*cks along with their narrow beliefs and crappy ancient maps with be dead.........we must be patient and wait. That and pray for the victims and their children.

[Gimel]

6. uhh...He is in London

Sharon just spent the night at 10 Downing in Blair's private residence.

07:04Sharon to meet Blair on Monday evening at 10 Downing Street, will ask him to rethink support for Arafat (Haaretz)

He's not so unpopular there. The BBC won't be visiting Sharon any time soon.

[bemildred]

8. I just realized ...

This puts Jabba in the company of Robert Mugabe,
down in Zimbabwe, who also won't allow BBC because
it won't kiss his ass.

[Gimel]

9. Or is it...

the BBC which want's Israel to kiss it's ass.

[Poll_Blind]

10. Yeah, that crazy BBC always trying to get governments to kiss their ass.

That's an awesome explanation for the situation, Gimel!

PB

[Gimel]

11. Right

It suits the envirnoment. Why should they take up the time of officials they just plan to smear. Who wants to kiss their anything?

[bemildred]

12. De Nile is not just a river in Egypt. nt

[papau]

13. Today the BBC did another dump on Israel over "fake" evil

There is a real problem - about a hundred Romanians who were hired in 1995 and worked for a year in Israel for a contracter were cheated by him out of half their wages.

The BBC structured the story into the Israeli government owes them money and will not pay - not until the end, in an interview with the Israeli minister, do we find that the wage and hour violation costs no money to file in Israeli courts - does not require a lawyer - and these folks still have the right to file, and that Romanian gov folks told them to file, and they have still not filed (they write letters instead). And that there are 300,000 EU temps working in Israel who seem to have no problem - indeed as folks are rotated in and out, it amounts to quite a few million who jump at the chance to go back to work in Israel

So there is no story.

Of course if Israel has US anti-labor laws, they will find the contractor hired them through a company that now has no assets so the contractor can not be touched. But from what I have seen, Israel has a better sense of justice to workers than the US right wing, and they will be able to go to Court, win but lose because of the corporate shield, and submit the facts to the Labor ministry and get satisfaction.

The BBC set it up as Israel can not screw Pal's because of the West Bank lock down, so they screw EU temp workers. This is the only topic - Israel - the the BBC seems to be biased about - all the time

[newyorican]

14. To save some from themselves...

I believe it is utter futility (and a sign of desperation) to attempt to place the BBC into the same catagory as EI or Whatreallyhappened?.

Attempts do do so are really sad to see, and quite embarrassing.

[newyorican]

15. Darned

.

[newyorican]

16. duplicate posts!

:hangover:

I thought *I* was slow in the morning...