Jane Corbin – the BBC’s Prostitute of the Airwaves

Ken O’Keefe is an ex-marine and one of those are individuals in the military who manage to make sense of the role of the institutions in which they served. They praise you when you are fighting and dying and then incarcerate you or impoverish you for the rest of your life. Remember the ‘heroes’ of the Gulf War? When they had done their duty the military bureaucrats did their best to deny the existence of Gulf War Syndrome, almost certainly a byproduct of either the pills they took to ward of non-existent gas attacks and/or the depleted uranium shells that tanks fire.

Ken O’Keefe was one of those on the Mavi Marmara of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, who saw 9 of his comrades murdered and at least 50 injured by the cowardly naval commandos who boarded the ships. Ken helped disarm the commandos and below is his story of what happened when the despicable Corbin and the rest of the outfit interviewed her.

And incidentally, we should take a step back. There was a time, a long time ago admittedly, and then it was usually the now defunct Granada World in Action when TV ran exposes on government corruption and crimes. The ‘Death in the Med’ programme was one such opportunity. It is clear that the Israeli state decided to ‘teach a lesson’ to those who wished to break the blockade of Gaza. That meant force and going in hard. All else was propaganda. They counted on the initial opening of fire causing resistance to the boarding, as a way of justifying the murders.

This is nothing new. In the Miners’ Strike of 1994-5, there was a famous incident at Orgreave Coke Plant when the Police charged the miners and the miners fought back with what they could throw and use. The BBC, as Tony Benn later showed, reversed the sequences. The miners were shown attacking the police first and then the Police were shown responding. Classic BBC bias. In 1926 Lord Reith, the BBC’s first controller, banned the Archbishop of Canterbury from broadcasting a plea for a compromise. The Tory Government wanted to smash the miners and the BBC always does what the government wants in this respect.

If the BBC didn’t have such lazy and useless ‘journalists’ like Ms Corbin, then it would actually investigate governments, the main source of iniquity in society today. They would have examined who gave the initial orders to the Israeli commandos. Which Ministers took the decision, what they instructed them to do. Where the killing lists came from where it was announced that the head of the Islamic Party in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah. In other words, were these premeditated killings by Israel. And they might also have asked about the other 6 members of the MM who have disappeared and are widely believed now to have been Israeli intelligence agents.

But Jane Corbin doesn’t earn her crust of bread telling the truth but by being a political prostitute to the powers that be.

Ken O'Keefe: An open letter to BBC Panorama's Jane Corbin

An Open Letter to BBC Panorama’s Jane Corbin
by Ken O'Keefe

August 21st 2010

Deep down Jane this is the truth, programs like that give the insanity of blockading and bombing and otherwise terrorising innocent people more time, what you are doing in literal effect is aiding and abetting mass-murder. I could not say that but for the fact that you know as well as I, that you and your Israeli producer, Israel Goldvicht, went out of your way to produce some first class propaganda for the Zionist project known as Israel

Aloha Jane,

As you know Panorama aired ‘Death in the Med’ this week. Well Jane, I have been in the media game long enough to know that moral depravity and lack of integrity are qualities that are rewarded rather than discouraged in your field of work. With such experience it is impossible for me to take commitments from someone like yourself seriously, and that is why I recorded our conversation clandestinely, a conversation in which you confirmed the agreement that was made between the BBC and myself with yourself and Alys as BBC representatives. In that agreement it was clear that I would agree to the interview if only you included the fact that we let the commandos go. Knowing that was the agreement and anticipating that I was going to confirm it once more after the interview you said;

“Well its the point about we didn’t kill the commandos, we had them in… that will be in there don’t worry. (laughing) That’s, that is important for us because obviously they would say they felt their lives were in danger, to which the corollary is, well their lives could have been in danger but we let them go. I think that’s a very strong point.”

So, instead of your team honouring its commitment to me, you instead aired a farcical report with multitudes of half-truths, lies, omissions and importantly, Israeli commandos who escaped rather than being set free. Let us be frank Jane, the reason for that is because it is impossible to square the whole angle that we are “terrorists” and extremists” and killers, if we let them go. It just doesn’t fit. So for BBC in this case, when the facts do not work, you lie. In an attempt to justify this, the BBC has written an insulting letter in defence of your fallacious fairytale; this is due to the torrent of complaints that have resulted from Death in the Med.

I mean what I say here Jane, I feel sorry for you. From what I can tell you do pretty well for yourself financially. BBC lauded you as one of its top journalists and no doubt you have the respect of many influential people, but when you get right down to it, you have become nothing but a propagandist. I would be willing to bet it did not start out that way, I am sure that when you were starting off the idea of selling your soul for the purpose of justifying murder with Orwellian skill was not in the plans. But somehow you have reached this point, and unless you decide to commit career suicide and admit your true role and the pressures that made you what you are today, you will die with the accolades from the powers that be, but your integrity will have died long before. I mean it Jane, I feel for you and hope you find the strength to do the right thing.

I do not expect a response from you, anymore than I expected you to honour your commitment to me, or more importantly, honour the tenants of the profession we call journalism. But if you can speak the truth, I would be happy to get a response from you.

In parting Jane, nine people were murdered on that ship, 8 of them were fathers, the youngest was aiming to become a doctor. The were on that ship for the same reason I was, to help the people of Gaza, people that include over 800,000 children, innocent children. The world largely sees them as bright lights and humanitarians and your program will have done nothing to erase that, instead you have tarnished yourself and the BBC all the more. Deep down Jane this is the truth, programs like that give the insanity of blockading and bombing and otherwise terrorising innocent people more time, what you are doing in literal effect is aiding and abetting mass- murder. I could not say that but for the fact that you know as well as I, that you and your Israeli producer, Israel Goldvicht, went out of your way to produce some first class propaganda for the Zionist project known as Israel. To be blunt, I hope what is left of your conscience pains you to such a degree that the only way to relieve the pressure is to come clean. Not only will you benefit in ways that money can never provide, but you will do a service to the innocent people you currently condemn to further outrage.

It is up to you Jane, make no mistake, there are insiders within the BBC who are so disgusted with what you have done, they are making their moves from within the BBC because the benefits of prostituting themselves has finally reached its breaking point. Think about where you stand, think about the world your children will inherit, think about your legacy, and then act with your heart. That is my advice to you. Either way I wish you the best Jane, I am sorry that I lied by recording you without your knowledge; I do not like doing such things.

TJP
Ken O’Keefe
Aloha Palestine – Managing Director
Original Article on Ken O'Keefe's webblog