To tell the truth about Israeli barbarism is a breach of
impartiality. The Guardian
and the Jewish
Chronicle reported yesterday that Ofcom, the UK broadcasting standards
body, has ruled that Iranian-backed Press TV�s coverage of the Gaza flotilla
incident breached guidelines on impartiality.
You ask yourself why?
Their coverage of the Flotilla wasn�t pro-Israeli enough.
The regulator said the station had not shown due
impartiality during a broadcast on June 5 which dealt exclusively with the
events surrounding the interception by Israeli commandos of the pro-Palestinian
convoy off the coast of Gaza.
The Jewish Chronicle reports that during an episode of a
current affairs show, Remembering Palestine, presenter Lauren Booth discussed
the flotilla with studio guests and participants of the convoy. Ofcom said the
show had started with �a pro-Palestinian song set to
anti-Israeli/pro-Palestinian imagery.�
Ofcom is absolutely right, Booth should have thought about
it, and played Hava Nagila along with the images of Israel executing nine peace
activists in international waters. Such an act would bring to light the
cheerful aspect in Israeli murderous zeal. It would also cement the cultural
continuum between the IDF�s crimes and Jewish cultural heritage.
Watch
the Israeli execution on the Mavi Marmara.
The watchdog said comments made by Ms Booth and her guests
�could be interpreted as being highly critical of the actions of the Israeli
government and its military forces.� The comments included: Lauren Booth saying,
�Israeli commandos . . . committed a massacre of innocent civilians sailing aid
ships to the besieged Gaza Strip.�
I am slightly puzzled here, what would Ofcom suggest calling
a deliberate execution of civilians in the middle of the night? Is there a
better word in English to describe the event?
Booth also said, �This was obviously a barbarous attack on
civilians. One thing is certain: As Turkey buries its murdered citizens . . . the
brave men and women on those ships, in one move, have shifted world opinion
against Israeli apartheid.�
Obviously, Booth was very observant, just five days after
the Israeli massacre she gathered that the world has changed. Now we all see
Israel and its supporters for what they are. I guess that the video above shows
clearly a deliberate murderous act. I think that Ofcom should visit Youtube;
they can also wait for the results of the UN fact-finding mission into Israel�s
slaughter on the Mavi Marmara.
On a further note, I just wonder, if the British press is
not allowed to tell the truth about Israel, who exactly is going to stop Israel
from using its nuclear bombs? How should we protest against Israeli war crimes?
Should we count on the Conservative Friends of Israel to do the job? Or even Kenneth
Clark who, under Israeli Lobby pressure, moved quickly to block
war crimes prosecutions in the UK so �the likes of Henry Kissinger, Tzipi
Livni and Ehud Barak could slip a little easier� into the UK.
I would use this opportunity to say thanks to Press TV and
Lauren Booth for being there. I am certain, that such publicity will bring many
more viewers to the one and only broadcaster in the UK that tells the truth
about Israeli crimes and the Israeli
Lobby in Britain.
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli jazz
musician, author and political activist.