Is this the right time to try it? Part 2

The BBC has spoken. Marco Silva, the corporation's Climate Change Disinformation Specialist, has ruled that claims on social media and from “various right-wing US and UK outlets that green policies” - in the form of the Rajapaksa government's 2021 seven-month ban on imports of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides - caused the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy are FALSE. 

If put like that, it's obviously false. Lots of factors contributed to the collapse. The question is did this move to promote organic farming play its significant part too?

It's a peculiar article. As well as its line-up of experts, claiming it wasn't a sincere policy and that the problem with it was that it was brought in too quickly, you get those little words like 'just' doing their work of nudging:

The government dropped the policy, just seven months after introducing it, following widespread protests.

But seven months of a complete ban on the imports of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides is hardly a short period of time for such a drastic policy, is it? And note the use of the word 'old' here:

But this week, as the presidential palace was stormed, many were quick to blame this old policy.

It's not that old. It ended just over half a year ago and had a major impact on the entire growing season in 2021. And half way through you get this:

And while banning chemical fertilisers indisputably hurt the economy, experts say several other factors contributed.

So if the ban indisputably hurt the economy and was a factor that contributed to the collapse, then how much did it contribute?

Isn't this Reality Check a spot of BBC greenwashing?

Here's what the BBC wrote about it in May under the headline Sri Lanka: Why is the country in an economic crisis?:

Causes

The BBC, as was to be expected, swiftly moved its focus onto the 'fears of a backlash against Muslims' angle this week in the wake of Easter Sunday's terror attacks targeting Christians and foreigners. Given the volatility of Sri Lankan society, of course, that's a far from unreasonable fear. Still, the corporation's account of 'What led to [the] carnage?' presents a markedly different one to that given by the Associated Press.

According to the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan, the attacks need to be seen in the context of Muslim suffering in Sri Lanka, first at the hands of the Tamil Tigers, then at the hands of Buddhist mobs and neglectful Sri Lankan governments. Such grievances, especially a mob attack last year, may have turned some Sri Lanka Muslims towards National Towheed Jamaat (the Muslim terrorist group accused of the killings).

According to AP's Foster Klug, however, there are deeper, longer-term problems within the Muslim community there. National Towheed Jamaat had been causing concern in the country since at least 2014 by "making mosque attendance compulsory, forcing a strict implementation of Islamic law and making women cover their faces and wear long robes" and its leader had also "been known for several years because of his incendiary online speeches lashing out against all non-Muslims and calling for their elimination":

The Easter explosions may have seemed sudden, but experts point to a long period of gradual radicalization among some Sri Lankan Muslims. 

Muslims in the country were once a “model community” that supported the government in the fight against the Tamil Tiger rebels in the civil war that ended in 2009, terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said. It was only after the 2001 attacks in the United States and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Iraq, he said, that radical preachers began coming to Sri Lanka, often from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and extremists began more regularly posting online hate. 

“This type of Islam started to replace the local and traditional type, which is a very beautiful form of Islam because it accommodated other religions. There had been space for other religious groups to operate, but the type that came from the Middle East was very hard line, more political, more anti-Western,” he said. 

Now, he said, “The floodgates have been opened.”

Words

After disappearing this morning, Sri Lanka has returned to the top of the BBC News website tonight: 

Though still significantly higher than the number of victims of the Christchurch attacks (not that the BBC points that out), the Sri Lanka attack death toll has - thankfully - been "revised down" (as the BBC puts it).

In light of recent criticisms of the BBC I searched the article to see if the piece used the words 'Christian' or 'Christians' or 'Catholic' or 'Catholics' to describe the principal targets/victims of the attack. 

No such words appeared.

Headline news

Sunday's attacks on Christians and tourists in Sri Lanka (359 dead) are no longer being reported on the BBC News website's home page. The story is no longer among the main headlines, nor anywhere else on the page. Meanwhile, the attack on Muslims in Christchurch over a month ago (50 dead) has returned to the top six BBC headline stories (via Prince William's visit to New Zealand). 

Click to enlarge

Thread: Questions about the BBC's coverage of the Sri Lanka attacks

Kathy at The Conservative Woman has penned a fine piece describing her experience of listening to the BBC's coverage of the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka: Terror attack on Christians – BBC looks the other way. "Why such flaky and incomplete reporting of this devastating attack aimed at Christian places of worship and designed to kill Christians? What exactly does the BBC have to be so coy about?"

A thoughful reply to her on Twitter made the case for the BBC's defence, "The BBC has extensively reported the events. It has not ignored Christians. But they have not attributed responsibility to Muslims, not least because there is as yet no proof. Perhaps in such a charged atmosphere that might be responsible?

But is there "as yet no proof"? And does 'acting responsibly' by censoring parts of a story actually risk doing more harm than good?

Thread in the comments below....

Social media v mainstream media

Mohamad Tawhidi, the Australia-based 'Imam of Peace', has been tweeting updates on the Sri Lanka terrorist attacks ever since news of them broke, and I've been following him ever since. 

Why? Because he's been telling the story of the attacks in a very different way to mainstream media outlets like the BBC. 

It feels like he's been reporting what actually happened, straight and without covering-up information. 

Has he though? 

Well, maybe we can use him as an example: 

If it turns out that he's been wrong throughout then it will prove the danger of following 'irresponsible' social media accounts and I must learn to be much more careful. However, if it turns out that he's been right throughout then it shows the utter unreliability of the 'responsible' mainstream media who won't provide anything like the full, unfiltered story when attacks like this happen.

Here then, in chronological order, are a selection of Imam Mohamed Tawhidi's tweets:  

• At least 138 people killed and hundreds hospitalized from injuries in near simultaneous blasts that rocked three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, in the biggest violence in Sri Lanka since its civil war ended a decade ago.
• Imam Mohamad Tawhidi Retweeted, CNN News 18: NewsAlert – "At least 2 blasts carried out by suicide bombers. Suicide bombers behind attack at Shangri La Hotel and Batticaloa Church. The suicide bombers has been identified as Zahran Hashim and Abu Mohammed". 
• New terrorist attacks are shaking Sri Lanka. This might require international interference. These terrorists seem to be well organised and we don’t know what else is going to happen. Perhaps they’re trying to divert security attention away from a main target. We don’t know.
• The lack of media interest in what’s happening in Sri Lanka is both disgusting and disgraceful.
• Imam Mohamad Tawhidi Retweeted, Tarek Fatah: "Two Muslim Suicide Bombers identified in  Sri Lanka attacks. Meet Zahran Hashim and Abu Mohammed aa death toll rises over 150."
• You know that you are not simply ‘Far-Left’, but an actual apologist for terrorists, when even CNN India names them as Islamic Extremists and you are insisting on acting as a lawyer for suicide bomber.
• Compare the level of outrage with what happened in Sri Lanka with Christchurch, NZ. Triple the amount of casualties and triple the amount of injured people. It offends me and other likeminded Muslims that we get special treatment and other equal humans don’t.
• Pakistani state-sponsored media is covering the tragedy in Sri Lanka by attacking President Trump over a typo in a deleted and corrected tweet. Let’s visit some Pakistani online forums to find them rejoicing over the attack just like they did when Notre Dame Cathedral was burning.
• Thank you Theresa May for showing concern over the buildings. I’m sure the hotel managers will appreciate this.
• Islamist terrorists targeted the Christians of Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Zahran Hashim and Abu Mohammad killed at least 140 people and injured more than 560 others; these numbers are rapidly rising. This act of terror must be condemned internationally, by all of us.
• Truly sad to see Sri Lanka’s defence minister calling this an “unfortunate terrorist incident”. It is not only an “unfortunate incident” but an attack on your country and nation, causing the biggest attack since the civil war (which ended 10 years ago).
• The attacks in Sri Lanka are continuing and the deaths are rising. Sri Lanka should ask India to send in the black cats.
• JUST IN: Intelligence officials in Sri Lanka warned that terrorist elements, including the radical Islamic organization NTJ, would carry out a suicide attack in certain churches during Easter.
• Sri Lanka has seen a spike in Jihadi activity since 2017. The Parliament was told that 32 Muslims from elite families had joined ISIS.
• 7 terrorists arrested, 2 of the terrorists have been identified as Zahran Hashim and Abu Mohammed; BBC doesn’t mention their names. We don’t know yet if the 2 identified were suicide bombers, which makes them 9, or if they are 7 terrorists using planted bombs.
• Breaking: Local news channels are reporting that this is the image of Zahran Hashim, one of the terrorists responsible for the Sri Lanka attacks. Trust, but verify. It’s still too early to confirm, but do expect other moustache-less handsome faces to surface soon.
• Thread on statements of one of the terrorists responsible for Sri Lanka attacks identified as Zahran Hashim: ["Islam doesn't permit standing up for National flag. Hindus, Xtians, Budhdhas are Kafirs. Allah created this land for Muslims; Kafirs have the right to live, only Muslims have the right to rule. Loyalty of Muslims should only be for the Nation ruled by Muslims."]
• If you are silent about Sri Lanka attacks, know that this is an Islamist war against Jesus. Pick a side. I am standing with Jesus.
• “Sri Lanka Jihadi bomber waited in line at hotel buffet then unleashed devastation”.
• If you were wondering how 72 virgins were going to be enough for all these Jihadists, Einstein here has the solution: “Allah will transform the Non-Muslims into heavenly female virgins and the inhabitants of Paradise (all Muslims of course) will be ordered to penetrate them”.
• If you’re wondering why I’m not appearing on any media channels/radio to talk about recent events, that’s because I no longer give interviews to the media. I don’t have time for them. I’ll reach out to the journalists I trust (2-3) to get my message/perspective across. Thank You.
• We spend hours exposing extremists every day. This video & its background went unnoticed due to language barriers. If he was exposed & brought to the attention of the authorities, he could’ve been stopped. Sri Lanka terrorist: “Anyone who disagrees with Muslims should be killed”.
• The terrorist behind one of the bombings in Sri Lanka was an Islamist Extremist Imam and preacher by the name of Moulvi Zahran Hashim (with many lectures online and YouTube - makes you wonder why YT never banned him for his terrorist ideology). Anyway, here’s part of the report.
• Thank you to everyone retweeting what I share: articles, findings, research, news, videos and pictures exposing extremists. You are not doing me a favour. We are in this together, and we are fighting many battles to get the truth out (censorship/mass reporting/etc). Thank you.

Who to believe?

Who to believe, the BBC or Agence France-Presse (AFP)?

According to the BBC:

According to AFP: 

The nature of the blasts was not immediately clear and there were no immediate claims of responsibility.

But documents seen by AFP show that Sri Lanka's police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit "prominent churches". 

"A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo," the alert said. 

The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.

Easter

I've never been to the British Museum, oddly. But I learn today, Easter Sunday, that it contains a series of ivory plaques from a casket which comprise the earliest surviving narrative depiction of the Easter story. Here's the one showing the scene of the empty tomb, with two snoozing soldiers and two rapt women:

It's believed to come from a Roman workshop and was made in around 420-30 AD and is rather lovely.

Alas, as I was reading this first thing today, I saw the horrific news from Sri Lanka. 

Easter does seem to have been become a particular target for Islamic terrorists in recent years, from Egypt to Nigeria, from Pakistan to Kenya, etc. And here we are again on the most joyous day of the year for Christians, with Christian worshippers being specifically targeted for massacre. 

When will this end?