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Democracy for the Middle East

 February 19, 2004

Bunker Hill

There is a lack of diversity of thinking... Those who don't agree with the conventional [..] view are subjected to enormous peer pressure. They feel cowed by the organisational mindset. They are reluctant to speak out. They are scared to air their own point of view."

If you think the writer is describing National Public Radio, the BBC or for that matter a typical boarding school, well think again. The quote is from a new report by Tim Blair and James Morrow on the ABC - Australia's equally dysfunctional national broadcaster. The following should also sound familiar:

Blair said a memo written by ABC head of international operations John Tulloh illustrated the ABC's perverse attitude to Australian interests.

In the memo Tulloh told staffers: "Please be careful with Middle Eastern references. Several recent slip-ups have attracted justified complaints. The ABC follows UN guidelines on proscribed groups: Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad are NOT included in the UN's list of terrorist organisations and therefore must not be described as such."

The three terrorist groups are all listed among the 16 proscribed terrorist organisations on Federal Government websites.

Things are same old, of course, at the post-Dyke BBC. After British MP Jenny Tonge said she might consider becoming a suicide bomber (echoing Cherie Blair's sentiments), the always keen for an anti-Western human interest story BBC invited her to travel to Israel to meet the families of the suicide bombers. Ms. Tonge writes:

The stories of indoctrination of little children right through their schooldays didn't seem to apply here. The brothers of Mohamed showed no signs of this and his mother claimed she had no idea her son was planning this until the al-Aqsa Brigade delivered his "memorial" picture taken before the mission. It is certainly true that suicide bombers are regarded as national heroes here, but what else do they have - born out of despair and the desire to resist occupation, laced with religious belief. Civilian targets are chosen because there is no way of getting at military targets... The next day back in Israel, I couldn't find anyone who was willing to see why the Palestinians resorted to suicide attacks.

For those who share the BBC's broadmindedness about terrorism as a war-fighting tool, but find themselves on the other side of the question concerning the Euro-Islamic kulture of genocide against the Jews, here is a tube map (you're heading for the White City stop) and a street map showing the offices and studios of the BBC. If you are sufficiently "hopeless" about the destruction of your children and forbears (please contact Mses. Tonge and Blair for specifics), you are apparently welcome to take out your wrath on the BBC whose propaganda on behalf of the Arabs has been unparalleled.

DFME is, of course, against the murder of innocents for any cause. Nevertheless, the BBC case in support of terrorism under duress is undoubtedly compelling and makes us wonder whether there is more than one way to cast off the yoke of oppression.

Home . Posted by Editor at February 19, 2004 12:43 PM . DFME's new internet address is www.dfme.org

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