Fisking 'an Arabic speaker'

Talking about The Critic, I read a striking denunciation there yesterday from Oz Katerji. It was one last fisking, so to speak - of the late Independent foreign correspondent Robert Fisk. 

The piece's headline, Fabricator and fraudster, sums it up what Oz thinks of Mr Fisk - though he later adds "fantasist" as well. 

In a nutshell, Oz Katerji believes that Bob Fisk was an unethical anti-American/anti-Israeli propagandist who built a successful career by making things up and getting away it, and he's aghast at the "veneration" displayed in some of the obituaries of him. 

The BBC was one of those who gave him what Oz would probably regard as a whitewashed obituary, with Jeremy Bowen  - a self-declared "admirer" - leading the eulogy. 

(Anti-Israel Jeremy and anti-Israel Bob always mutually admired each other). 

Oz Katerji puts the "veneration" of Robert Fisk down to the fact that "like him, they preferred to tell a story that was not true, because stories are often far more comforting than the reality."

One passage in the Critic piece struck me in the light of the BBC's obituary. The BBC, while saying how "highly regarded",  says, in passing: "Fisk, an Arabic speaker". Oz regards that as fake news:

So let’s separate the myths from the facts. Fisk did not speak fluent Arabic, not even after living in the Middle East for more than 40 years. Leaving aside the testimony of Arabic speakers who worked alongside him, his lack of basic knowledge of the language is contained multiple times within his own work, such as his inability to tell the difference between the words “mother” and “nation” in a well-known Ba’athist slogan.

One for the BBC's fact checkers?

What time is it?

The BBC isn’t the only broadcasting arena that can propel one to the off-switch with that special, panic-propelled urgency.

The word ‘James O’Brien’ triggers such a response; faster than a missile from a catapult. But as he himself puts it, ‘Even a stopped clock is right once, nay, twice a day.”

Now, there’s something very disturbing about James’s mannerisms and tics. He must have chewed the inside of his mouth to ribbons during that conversation, but on this occasion, the clock has stopped at just the right point.

This little example shows that listening to an interviewee and letting the speaker set out and develop his case can benefit the listener, the interviewee and ultimately, the interviewer himself. By not interrupting, not trying to score some sort of Twitter-friendly gotcha, the audience gets to learn something, and the BBC could learn something too.

I doubt that I’ll be an O’Brien convert from now on, but as time ticks on, you never know. That rigid old clock might coincide with events once again.

Hawks and Doves

Oz Katerji 

No man has more civilian blood on his hands in the Middle East than Qassem Soleimani.

His assassination is an era-defining moment for the region, and will have massive and unforeseen repercussions.

Tonight the only people I keep in my thoughts are the families of his victims.

— Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) January 3, 2020

Melanie Phillips  (extracts)

"Soleimani has been described by some outlets as a terrorist leader. This is vastly to underestimate his importance. The al Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is part of Iran’s hugely powerful proxy army, and Soleimani was the regime’s key military strategist and military commander. 

He launched countless military operations against US, Israel and others. He was responsible for hundreds of American deaths in Iraq. He was the invaluable architect of Iran’s territorial drive for regional incursion and hegemony.

President Trump, who ordered the strike against Soleimani, has already weakened the regime through reimposing sanctions. That in itself has helped inspire the immensely brave Iranian protesters who, despite suffering in their thousands murder, jailing and torture, have continued with their demonstrations aimed at bringing down the regime that has so oppressed them and ruined their country.

Even a mortally wounded serpent, however, can still cause death and destruction through the thrashing of its tail. America and Israel are now braced for Iran to retaliate. Since the middle of last year it has been escalating its aggression in the region, firing rockets at US bases, attacking oil tankers in regional waters and crippling Saudi Arabia’s most critical oil installation through a multiple missile strike

President Jimmy Carter was paralysed by the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. President Clinton vacillated between sanctions against Iran and appeasement. 

Most infamously, President Obama did a deal with the regime which would have allowed it to develop nuclear weapons after at best a ten-year delay, and which opened the way for millions of dollars to be funnelled into Iran to finance its continuing terrorist attacks, regional aggression and genocidal agenda against Israel. 

Faced with attacks on American assets, Carter ran away, Clinton prevaricated, Obama actually helped fund them – but Trump ruthlessly and decisively killed the attacker. America is now back as a force to be reckoned with.

@NikkiHaley

Qassem Soleimani was an arch-terrorist with American blood on his hands.  His demise should be applauded by all who seek peace and justice.  Proud of President Trump for doing the strong and right thing. @realDonaldTrump 🇺🇸

*************

@Keir_Starmer

This is an extremely serious situation. There’s a clear danger of further violence and escalation in the Middle East. We need to engage, not isolate Iran. All sides need to de-escalate tensions and prevent further conflict.

@lisanandy

This is a very dangerous moment. 17 years after the catastrophic decision to go to war in Iraq violence still rages every day. World leaders must stand up to Trump. The last thing we need is another all-out war.

Qasem Soleimani: 'This will escalate an already volatile situation’

The US assassination of Qasem Soleimani is an extremely serious and dangerous escalation of conflict with global significance. The UK government should urge restraint on the part of both Iran and the US, and stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from the US.

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 3, 202

Update: I swear I hadn't looked at Lucy Lips's post on Harry's Place when I chose these tweets and  quotes.  I haven't been plagiarising, honest.