Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Friday 29 April 2011

While Fatah and Hamas Cosy Up, Al Beeb's Man Suggests to Bibi's that Israel Abandon "Old Nostrums" Regarding Hamas

BBC News 24 anchor Clive Myrie is a lawyer by training, and, pleasant though he seems, his interviewing style tends to be adversarial.  So I did not bristle unduly when, in Wednesday evening's 9'oclock bulletin  he appeared somewhat hectoring when interviewing Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev on the new-found friendship between Fatah and Hamas.

Nevertheless, Myrie interrupted a tad too readily and sounded distinctly too emotively involved in his argument when in strident, passionate tones he suggested to Regev that Israel should cease to "follow old nostrums" and take Hamas to its bosom now that Fatah has accepted Hamas "as a partner for peace".

Determined to stand his ground, the stolid Regev managed to state that Israel does seek peace and is willing to negotiate but that Hamas is an authoritarian oppressive organisation that wants Israel destroyed, that advocates the killing not only of Israelis but of Jews worldwide, that tramples human rights in Gaza, including those of women and gays, and is hardly trustworthy as a negotiating partner.

But , as usual,what was lacking was any background to the interview that laid out firmly for the viewer the terrorist nature of Hamas and the antisemitic, murderous terms of its Charter.  It's conceivable that Myrie himself is unware of this, because it's not something on which Al Beeb has ever reported.  And until it states the nature of the Hamas Charter explicitly, especially on its website, the most watched news website in the world, Al Beeb is committing a sin of omission, misleading the public, and doing Israel's case an outrageous disservice.

That's the same Al Beeb, of course, which is presently on the defensive over Wikileaks information which appears to show that certain pro-Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay were found to be in possession of the telephone number of Bush House, headquarters of the BBC World Service, leading to speculation that someone at Al Beeb is rather partial to Al Qaeda: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2011/04/bbc_world_service_and_afghanistan.html

It would be too much to ask, of course, that Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen and his henchmen also educate themselves - and by extension viewers and listeners - regarding the devious nature of Fatah, and ventilate the entire question of whether the Arab-Israeli conflict really revolves around a fight for territory - or whether Arab rejectionism and Palestinian intransigence is in fact rooted in something that might in fact prove insoluble short of Israel's destruction.

As an article by Yonatan Silverman states:
'The PA's nationalistic hate promotion also includes Islamic messages. It seems to have adopted what was once thought to be only Hamas ideology, that the conflict with Israel is a Ribat – an uncomprising religious war....
The fact is the Palestinian national ethos is brazen malicious deceit and Jew-hatred. Their aim is not peace with Israel but Israel's resting in peace or Israel piece by piece.This is the reality, but the world’s governments have agreed en masse to vote for recognition of a Palestinian State in the UN in September.
Abbas’s appointed minister of religion, Mahmoud Habbash, has taught repeatedly that the conflict with Israel is not territorial but is in accordance with Islamic law: “Allah has preordained for us the Ribat on this blessed land. We are committed to it by Allah’s command. Let no one be mistaken or under the illusion that Ribat is a choice and nothing more. It is a commandment.”
He has also preached that the conflict against Israel – over all of Israel – is cited in the Koran: “The catastrophe, in truth, did not begin in 1948, but began perhaps in 1917 with the cursed [Balfour] Declaration, which gave a promise to those who did not deserve it... Since that date, resolute people, fighters and Ribat fighters have not ceased upon our blessed land... This conflict is explicit in the Koran and our obligation with regard to it is clarified by the Koran.”
In short, the PA, like Hamas, is telling its people that Islam does not allow for reconciliation with Israel.
Let’s stop pretending.'  (See more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10178)

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