BBC plays down Lib Dem MEP's anti-semitism

What a difference a little news exposure makes. And what a difference a little news selection makes.

First here's the story of the news exposure .

The London Jewish News is a freesheet, which rarely carries any exceptional news reporting. It has a companion web site, Totally Jewish

But this week, they exposed some venomous email comments by the leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs, Chris Davies. You can decide for yourself whether they were anti-semitic, Judeophobic or "merely" anti-zionist.

The LJN had published a report of a visit by MEPs to the West Bank, with the remarks of Chris Davies that the people who had suffered in Auschwitz seemed "not to care that they have themselves become oppressors".

A Jewish reader emailed Davies to protest with this somewhat overheated response:

You make the same mistake as many others who call themselves liberals - you seem to equate the situation of the Palestinian people as being exactly the same as the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This belittles the systematic humiliation, torture and subsequent murder by industrial methods of 6,000,000 Jewish men, women and children plus 6,000,000 others including Liberals such as you call yourself.

You obviously need to get your facts right so I will give you a little history lesson. The Jews were exiled from their land, Israel, by the Romans, 2,000 years ago and had to live amongst, at best, people who did not understand them and at worst, people who wanted to murder them. This was all because of a man (who, by the way, was a Jew from Israel) called Jesus, who your ancestors thought was the Son of God.

The Jews suffered exile, persecution and fear of death for these 2,000 culminating in the Holocaust and after that terrible event, they returned to their land. That is a little different to the Palestinian experience, don't you think?

No, Mr Davies, it is not Israel that 'hasn't learnt from Auschwitz' - it is YOU - you and the many well-meaning, misguided people, who, for some reason, support people that are homophobic, mysogynistic and intolerant of other religions, namely muslim extremists and haters of Israel and still consider themselves to be liberals. By the way, Israel give sanctuary to homosexual Arabs, because they certainly do not receive that in their own lands - now, that's what I call liberal.

It is YOU that needs to read up and educate yourself about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in general instead of making comparisons between two subjects that CANNOT be compared.

This was Chris Davies' response:

Sounds like racism to me. I hope you enjoying wallowing in your own filth.

When the reader wrote protesting at this personal attack, Chris Davies' response included these comments:

I answer to the electorate collectively.

I may never seek election again.

If I do, I shall tel them that I have been to the Middle East and I have seen the racist policies of apartheid being put into practice by an Israeli Government that seems to have no understanding of the concept of justice.

I shall tell them that I intend to speak out against this oppression at every opportunity, and I shall denounce the influence of the Jewish lobby that sems to have far too great a say over the political decision-making process in many countries

At this point, the reader passed the correspondence to the London Jewish News. He initially tried to excuse what he'd written by saying he'd received a stream of abusive email and this reader had unjustifiably fallen foul of it. However, he was only prepared to apologise if she made criticisms of the Israeli government's policies towards the Palestinians.

What I saw a fortnight ago was the evidence of great injustice being practised as a result of the policies of the Israeli Government, and the destruction of any hope of creating a viable Palestinian state which is essential if the despair and anger that is the cause of such misery and which inspires such hateful acts is to be calmed. My press release denounced these policies.

I note now that [your reader] makes no criticism whatsoever of them. In fact reading her email again my impression is that she seeks by implication to excuse them. Am I wrong in this?

Perhaps you could ask her to let me know in what ways she disagrees with the policies of the Israeli Government in this respect. If she will do so I will be happy to enter into dialogue and apologise for implying that she was a supporter of the filthy apartheid policies being practiced.

But once the London Jewish News reported the exchanges to the Liberal Democrat Central Office, his tone changed, and he eventually issued this apology

I would like to extend a fulsome apology for my remarks to [this correspondent]. It was wholly unacceptable for me to use the language and tone that I did. I deeply regret the obvious offence that my remarks will have caused. However much I may disagree with someone else’s political views, I accept that there is absolutely no justification for making the comments I did.

That was after the Liberal Democrat foreign policy spokesman had strongly repudiated his earlier comments.

And it may be a coincidence, but it was only after the London Jewish News published the story yesterday, and it was picked up on the BBC news reports in the evening, that Chris Davies resigned as the leader of the European Liberal Democrat MEPs. However, he remains a Liberal Democrat MEP. Clearly, Jenny Tonge is not the only Liberal Democrat still holding representing them in a parliament whose political analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems closer to that of George Galloway and Ken Livingstone than that of their own party.

Which brings me to the difference a little news selection makes.

The report on the BBC web site today completely omits Davies' references to the supposed international power of the Jewish lobby, and his initial refusal to apologise unless the reader first demonstrated her opposition to Israeli policies on the Palestinians. It also fails to report that in his original comments about the oppressed not caring that they had become the oppressers, he was making an explicit link between the Nazi extermination of Jews in Auschwitz and Israel's actions towards the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The brief BBC Radio 4 news report last night did refer to Davies' invoking of a Jewish lobby power behind the scenes. But neither BBC report gave any clue of his initial refusals to apologise, that both his eventual apology was only given after the LJN contacted the Lib DEM leadership, or that his resignation as leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs came only after the London Jewish News report was published.

Since Davies' remarks about the supposed Jewish power behind the scenes are the grossest statement by a serving UK parliamentarian of a Jewish conspiracy since the equivalent notorious remarks of Tam Dalyell about a Jewish cabal, it is surprising that the BBC has played this down so much.

Or perhaps, given the BBC's mind set, it isn't.

Comments

[Huldah]

This is an extraordinary story. And does anyone else feel that if it had been the leader of the Conservative MEPs, the BBC would have made very much more of the story?

[Anna]

Certainly. If this had been the British National Party, we would have heard that they are racists.

[chevalier de st george]

The antisemetism of the LEFT is far more cunningly veiled than that of the right.Antisemetism by proxy based on holocaust guilt is perhaps the correct term.
Based on the demonization of Israel which must be sustained at all costs, it is often an attempt to excise the deep shame of western duplicity in the Holocaust. By equating Jews to Nazis, the shame becomes far more tolerable and by "reducing the Holocaust to just another "non unique" genocide exploited by Jews in a "holocaust industry", the progressives lighten further the burden of guilt.
Western liberalism seeks to deny the existence of evil from human nature. Evil is seen as an "abberation" caused by circumstances outside the control of the perpetrator. It cannot be part of human nature.
Those who defend themselves against aggression are seen as equal to the perpetrators themselves.
Thus it is not only Israel that has no right to self defence , but also the ordinary householder who uses force to defend himself and his family against violent burglary.
It is a form of Nihilism in which the notions of right and wrong are denied.
The perpetrator is equal to the victim.
All cultures are equal regardless of their regards for human rights.
Music from an andean flute is the equal of a Mozart Symphony.
The ideals of democracy are equal to those of totalitarian regimes and so on and so on.

[chevalier de st george]

And another thing-
how many times have i watched the multitidude of Holocaust documentaries put out by the BBC, believing that they would do some good in the education of the general public.
A typical response
'How come the Jews who had suffered so much could act in such barbaric ways towards the Palestinians'
or the cartoon by Michael Luenig, published in MSM australia, depicting a Lone Jew, standing outside gates of a camp full of palestinians . the inscription reading "Arbeit macht frei".
By willingly swallowing BBC and arab propaganda, historical revisionism and falsehoods about Israel ,these liberals relieve themselves from the shame they feel. To cleanse their conscienses Israel must be equated to Nazi Germany.

[Ripper]

More examples of "Londonistan" at work.

[DFH]

Chris Davies was on Monday’s Today programme to discuss the Joffe Bill on terminally ill patients. No attempt was made to raise the above controversy.

Would Ed Stourton have let Davies off the hook if the constituent had been, say, a Muslim? Of course not. In fact, had that been the case I very much doubt that Davies would have been invited on.

[arieh aharoni]

You are totally right that the BBC strangely tried to make out that it was the "wallow in your own filth comments" which forced Davies to resign, even though it seems clear that the biggest problem was his belief in the overpowerful Jewish lobby.
However, one thing i wasnt impressed with was your dismissal of the newspaper as one which "rarely carries any exceptional reporting".
You mistakenly call it the London Jewish News, when the name changed to The Jewish News, more than two years ago.
I think you will find, if you read the paper, that the standards of journalism are consistently high and the paper often breaks important stories.
I am not sure it is good practice to belittle fellow journalists and a well respected publication in this way.
Perhaps an apology would be best.
AA

[Susan]

No one ever suggests that Black Amnericans should know better, because they were slaves. It seems that this argument only applies to Jews. It is a stick used to beat Jews up with. Jews are put on a phony pedestal for the purpose of knocking them off.

I still remember a BBC segment on Reporting Religion. The intrepid BBC reporter went to a liberal synagogue with the expressed purpose of "finding out what American Jews think about Israel." This was during the last election. Apparently, Jews don't have worthwhile opinion on any other issue but Israel. It was funny and sad to hear the interviewees talk about the economy, the environment, helping the poor. They were too offended to even mention Israel, but the BBC reporter was to obtuse to realize it.

[feref]

These Libdems seen to like attacking constituants. Try this one.

http://www.tod.freewebsitehosting.com/southportwitchunt.htm