The Jewish Chronicle reports:
A BBC journalist allowed into Gaza to help negotiate the release of Alan Johnston was the subject of official Israeli protests six years ago over his alleged support for Hamas.
Fayad Abu Shamala, a senior BBC journalist covering Gaza mainly for the World Service, was allowed to travel from Jordan to Gaza to help free Mr Johnston last month. Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the IDF co-ordinator of activities in the territories, confirmed to the JC on Wednesday that Mr Abu Shamala had been allowed to travel to Gaza, despite being on the Israeli Government’s proscribed list of potential security threats and against the objections of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security organisation.
In May 2001, the Israeli Embassy in London demanded that the BBC investigate comments attributed to Mr Abu Shamala during an event organised by Hamas. According to the Hamas website at the time, a man of that name attended a Hamas ceremony in Gaza for Palestinian and Arab journalists where senior Hamas figures such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab were present. According to contemporary reports, the website quoted Fayad Abu Shamala as thanking “the Hamas movement for holding the exceptional affair, despite the pace of current events and the sensitive circumstances applying to journalists and media organisations, which are waging the campaign shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people”.
Read the full article here.
Abu Shamala’s apparent support for Hamas contributed to the BBC’s winning performance in HonestReporting’s Dishonest Reporter Award as far back as 2001. We are sorry to find out that Abu Shamala is still a trusted BBC employee, described by Jeremy Bowen as “excellent”. Enough said.
ANTI-SEMITISM ON BBC MESSAGEBOARD
Online messageboards offer a valuable forum for discussion and debate on the issues of the day. HonestReporting’s own blog, Backspin offers our readers the chance to comment on a variety of stories. With freedom of speech, however, comes the responsibility not to allow unfettered and unmoderated posts that could be libelous, racist or inciteful.
The BBC appears to have difficulty recognising blatant anti-Semitism when it appears on one of their own messageboards. On a BBC Radio 5 Live messageboard thread discussing the Richard Littlejohn documentary The War On Britain’s Jews?, Harry’s Place blog spotted the following:
Zionism is a racist ideology where jews are given supremacy over all other races and faiths. This is found in the Talmud. There is a law called Baba Mezia which allows jews to lie as long as its to non-jews. many pro jewish supporters will cringe at this being exposed because they know it exists, yet they keep quiet about it, hey frip, jla and co The Law of Baba Mezia!! Tsk tsk tsk! Its in the Talmud.
Demonisation of Zionism and Israel is only too common on such forums. This posting, however, undeniably attacks Jews and Judaism, drawing upon an outright lie employed by neo-Nazis and Islamic extremists. Despite this obvious anti-Semitism, the BBC, following a number of complaints, removed the post, only to replace it with this:
This posting has been temporarily hidden, because a member of our Moderation Team has referred it to the Hosts for a decision as to whether it contravenes the House rules in some way. We will do everything we can to ensure that a decision is made as quickly as possible.
The House Rules state that the BBC reserves the right to fail messages which:
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Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others
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Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable
So why does the BBC even need to make a decision on a posting such as this? Shouldn’t anti-Semitism be treated in the same way as other forms of racism?
Complaints to the BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
If you missed Richard Littlejohn’s The War On Britain’s Jews?, you can view it online in six parts here.
FREE THE THREE
While Alan Johnston was finally set free, Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and and Eldad Regev remain in captivity, having been taken hostage last summer. A full-page advert calling for their release is appearing in Monday’s Times and Tuesday’s Evening Standard. Click here to view the advert online in PDF format.
Only by adding your voice in protest to the United Nations and the leaders of the free world, will enough pressure be exerted to ensure their safe release. Please visit www.FreeTheThree.co.uk and register your support.
One Alan Johnston is out, the others are still counting on us.
to media bias.
