I’m aware that many of our readers are a lot less obsessed with the BBC’s anti-Israel bias than I am, but I wanted to post this video, which you don’t need to watch if you don’t fancy it.
The reason I chose to show it to you here is that I well remember introducing CifWatch's launch on the Biased-BBC site in the form of a Press Release back in August 2009.
Entering ‘CiFWatch’ into the B-BBC search facility brings up a considerable stash of pre-2012 material, written by me. I remember thinking, at the time (around 2008/9) that it was a good idea for me to join a general blog rather than a dedicated pro-Zionist one, knowing, (as any fule already nose) that pro-Zionist blogs and websites are no-go areas for the steadfast Israel-bashing brigade (whom I fondly hoped to influence) I actually imagined my critical take on the BBC’s anti-Israel reporting might ‘make a difference’. Embarrassingly naive, okay?
Recently the BBC’s left-wing bias has become (more or less) generally accepted, and there’s even some recognition that embedded within the heads and hearts of most of its staff is a default empathy with Israel’s detractors. I take no credit for any of that gradual sea change if that’s what it is. At all. I realise I am preaching to the converted and always was.
Interestingly, my original Press Release post attracted some flak from B-BBC purists who disapproved of advertising in all its forms and accused me of abusing my position. (Like, my privileged position of blogging on a controversial website constantly conscious of my responsibility to scrupulously fact-check for fear of shooting myself in the foot + scoring an own goal for “my cause” unpaid and in my own time.) I’m a lucky son-of-a-gun.
Anyway, I didn’t know Adam Levick from (any other) Adam back then, but now we know what he’s like we can decide whether or not we like the cut of his jib. A nautical term. I think he’s good. Take it or leave it.
He seems OK. It's a bit like putting a finger in a leaking dam...worthwhile and worthy but really you have to look at some of the root causes.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, we see the growth of Leftist influence, largely through the explosion in University attendance. Anti-semitism has always been a strong strand within socialism. People like Henry Hyndman, lauded on the left as founder of the Social Democratic Foundation, was a strong anti-semite, for instance, by no means the only one. Even where there is no overt anti-semitism, anti-colonialism and anti-Americanism often mean that the Left respond enthusiastically to anti-Israeli propaganda.
Secondly, mass immigration has changed the character of the UK. We now have millions of people with strong anti-Jewish traditions - from Pakistan, Egypt, Algeria and elsewhere in the Muslim world but also from Eastern Europe, countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania.