Sky joins BBC in refusing Gaza appeal

Sky News has informed the Disasters Emergency Committee that it will not be broadcasting an appeal for humanitarian aid for Gaza.

John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said: ‘The absolute impartiality of our output is fundamental to Sky News and its journalism. That is why, after very careful consideration, we have concluded that broadcasting an appeal for Gaza at this time is incompatible with our role in providing balanced and objective reporting of this continuing situation to our audiences in the UK and around the world.’
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1. Rajan

   January 26, 2009 at 12:38

   Since its very birth, legitimate or otherwise, as a nation over 60 years ago, Israel’s popularity among the Muslim population in the entire world has remained steady at zero per cent. Even George W Bush failed to achieve this rare distinction in popularity polls throughout his ‘distinguished and illustrious’tenure as the President of the United States! Hence, one may bet his or her farm that the vast majority of the ordinary Israeli citizens and, certainly, the Israeli government leaders are not losing any sleep worrying about their popularity level among the global Muslim population and also, to a great extent, in the rest of the world and let it influence in any way their foreign and defence policies.
   Much is being made of the alleged use of bombs containing white phosphorus and other experimental ordnance by the IDF against even the civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. It does not appear to have dawned on the undeveloped brains of people who make such accusations against Israel that mere possession of thermo-nuclear weapons which can lay flat entire cities and spread radioactive dust far and wide contains the implicit and explicit threat that civilians including women and children and civilian infrastructure like schools, playgrounds, hospitals, etc. will be fair game and will not be shown any quarter in any future full-scale war. All the major powers (and even some minor ones) have these weapons. At least two anong these nations, the US and Russia, boast of possessing a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the entire world and the human civilization in it many times over. Use of white phosphorus is nothing compared to what what will be the aftermath of a nuclear attack. Some may argue that these weapons are being held to act only as a deterrent. Well, if you don’t intend to use them, why have them? Should people protest only after these awesome weapons are actually used against the civilian population of any country? Ironically, there will be no one alive and available to protest in that scenario!
   Additonally, one cardinal fact of history of all wars appears to have escaped the attention of the anti-Israel lobby. Customarily and invariably, since the dawn of history, it has been the exclusive, undisputed privilege of only the victors in any war to slap accusations of committing war crimes against the vanquished. Even the die-hard and the demented among the Hamas will not claim that Israel had been vanquished in the recent conflict!
   The Jews were there practicing their religion and way of life centuries before Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed came on the scene. After all, Jesus himself was a Jew. During these centuries over their entire long and turbulent history, the Jews had been hated, persecuted, reviled, ridiculed, abused, hunted down, tortured, gassed, murdered, slaughtered and massacred but they have managed to survive to this day nonetheless. At long last, they have acquired, by whatever means, a sliver of land which they have embraced as their ‘homeland’. No power on earth will be able to dislodge them from this piece of land which they will defend at any cost and with all the weapons they have at their disposal. If they go down, they will take all their enemies too with them and they have the means to do it; let no one have any doubt about it.
   To set records straight, I am not a Jew.
   There are two major issues (among others) today which divide the Islamic nations from the rest of the world: Palestine and Kashmir.
   The Palestine problem can probably be resolved if the following conditions are faithfully implemented:
   1) All Palestinian factions and the countries which support them morally and materially, without any exception, must recognize the existence of Israel and eschew for ever any idea of waging war to annihilate that nation.
   2) Israel, for its part, must agree to retreat behind its pre-1967 borders. This will include the dismantling of all its settlements, which are any way proscribed under the International Law, and evict, forcibly, if necessary, all its citizens from them.
   3) The disposition of Jerusalem must be settled permanently to mutual satisfaction, either by partition or by a covenant of joint administration.
   But, the tragic reality is that, even if this most unlikely arrangement is agreed to by a majority on both sides of the divide, there will still be hard-core Islamic jihadists who will continue to refuse to recognize Israel and will be satisfied only with its total obliteration from the world map and who will continue to fight on indefinitely regardless of consequences. Hence, there is very little chance for peace to be restored in the Middle East in the near or distant future.
   As for the Kashmir issue, Pakistan will never rest until the entire Kashmir valley is handed over to it on a platter. But India does not appear to be in a mood to oblige. The Indian government bristles at the very mention of Kashmir as a disputed territory by a representative of any foreign government, as witnessed in the extremely violent reaction to the British Foreign Secretary’s unguarded remarks during his visit to the Indian capital a few days ago. Hence, there is absolutely no chance that the Kashmir problem too will achieve a lasting solution any time soon.
   The sum and substance of this brief analysis is that the mind-boggling antipathy between the Muslims and the major part of the non-Muslim world will continue unabated until Kingdom come.
   The alternative solution would be for all the other religious groups like the Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Zorastrians and even Atheists to convert themselves to Muslims, rid themselves of the stigma of being called ‘infidels’ and thereby help creating a religiously unified world. But, again, the tragic reality is that, even after that impossible and improbable Utopia takes shape, Shias and Sunnis will still be killing each other!
   So, one may well ask, how will all this implacable, universal animosity play itelf out in the end? The short answer is: Nuclear Armageddon and total extinction of the human race!!

2. Cannonball Jones

   January 26, 2009 at 12:56

   I saw a fantastic interview with Tony Benn on BBC News 24 on Saturday morning when this topic was raised. He was utterly furious and delivered an inspirational and devastating attack on the BBC, culminating in him almost shouting “people will now die directly because of the BBC’s decision” (paraphrasing but you get the idea).

   The idea that the BBC would be somehow behaving impartially by airing the appeal is ludicrous. Are they refusing to show a similar Israeli appeal? No? Then where is the bias? The fact of the matter is that peoples’ lives are in grave danger and any political horses**t should be laid to one side until that issue is resolved.

   The BBC’s decision is confused, abhorrent and merely a sign of craven cowardice. They should be ashamed and I’d like them to know that I’ve cancelled my direct debit for my TV license. I won’t fund any organisation with that kind of attitude.

   And Rajan – way to go on the rambling nonsense, I needed a laugh and you provided it.

3. Rajan

   January 26, 2009 at 14:45

   And Cannonball Jones:

   I am really happy to note that, in these days of doom and gloom, you have been able to find something to laugh about in my “rambling nonsense”. But, I am afraid that you will have little to laugh (or even live to cry) about, if Iran succeeds in developing nuclear weapons and these weapons ultimately fall – a very strong possibility – into the hands of Islamic jihadists!

4. benjamin

   January 26, 2009 at 19:54

   Hilarious. Mark Thompson subjected himself to a two fingers up humiliation on BBC Breakfast this morning when the journalists showed him exactly what they thought by beaming the appeal up behind him whilst he was explaining exactly why the BBC would never show it! You can see it here: http://www.duckrabbit.info/blog

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