Brighton Picket of BBC Southern Counties

Throughout the Israel’s War of Terror on Gaza, the BBC has remained a faithful and loyal lapdog of the British Foreign Office. It has never ceased to echo the argument of the pathetic and widely reviled David Miliband that it was Hamas that started the war.

It must therefore be an embarrassment to the BBC that Israel’s smooth and odious spokesman, Mark Regev, has finally admitted that Hamas did not break the ceasefire. For 18 days the Israeli Government has justified to the world their decision to unleash a massive military campaign against the people of Gaza by alleging that it was a reaction to Hamas’ breach of the ceasefire brokered by the Egyptian Government.

Hamas has always stated that between June 2008 and November 2008 they did not fire a single rocket into Israel . Now even Israel has owned up to the truth at last. We await an apology and retraction from the BBC for the lies of its reporters, in particular Jeremy Bowen in Israel, who has repeatedly described Israel's genocide as a 'reaction' to the rockets of Hamas. Bowen has been particularly disgraceful and feels it's more than his life is worth to challenge the PR lies of Israeli spokesperson Regev. On November 4th 2008 an Israeli incursion killed 6 Palestinians in Gaza. The pretext that they were planning to kidnap Israeli soldiers via a tunnel they were building has no credibility. There had been no previous attacks since June. Hamas had kept its word and that was the problem to Israel's gung ho military and political leadership. They wanted to be rid of Hamas not have a ceasefire with them.

The only conclusion to be drawn is that the leaders of Israel wanted a war and were happy to see rockets hit their southern towns in order to provide a pretext. Bowen however starts off from the premise that the Israeli leaders can do no wrong and can tell no lies.

In Brighton today over 50 people attended a picket and the support from the public was absolutely amazing. We had printed 300 leaflets and so fast were we running out of them that we only handed them out to people who asked for one. We still ran out! Cars honked horns, workers on their lunch break joined us.

ISRAEL IS PAYING A VERY HEAVY POLITICAL PRICE FOR ITS BUTCHERY IN GAZA

Below is the leaflet we gave out:

BBC – Complicit in Murder of Palestinians

Throughout Israel’s war against the Palestinians of Gaza, the BBC has been a faithful echo chamber for Israeli war propaganda. Israel has relied on the BBC in particular ‘to get its message across’

At no time has the BBC told the true story. Israel’s murderous attacks on the Palestinians have consistently been portrayed as a reaction to rockets fired from Gaza. Yet the opposite is true. Israel deliberately provoked the firing of rockets in order to provide a pretext for its barbaric bombing and invasion. Israel’s true intentions are to replace the elected government in Gaza with Palestinian stooges

During the 6th month ceasefire, on November 4th 2008, Israel launched an incursion into Gaza killing 6 Palestinians. This is never mentioned by the Biased Broadcasting Corporation. Before November 4th, since the ceasefire began at the end of June 2008, no rockets were fired by Hamas. It was only after Israel broke the ceasefire that rockets were launched.

The BBC continually fail to report that in breach of the ceasefire and international law Israel imposed a siege of Gaza, refusing to allow all but a trickle of food, medicines, fuel and other essentials in.

The BBC has failed to report that for 42 years Gaza has been under Israeli occupation and although its troops withdrew in 2005 Gaza was blockaded by air, land and sea. Fishermen and their boats were regularly fired on and killed. Just recently a boat containing doctors and medical supplies was rammed in international waters by Israeli gun boats. Gaza was transformed into an open air prison.

The BBC has continually downplayed Israeli war crimes, calling the attack on two United Nations schools ‘allegations’. It has consistently failed to report that Israel banned all journalists from Gaza for fear of the truth coming out.

It is little wonder that the media correspondent of the pro-Zionist Jewish Chronicle, Alex Brummer, on January 8th wrote:

‘Full marks in particular to the BBC’s Today programme… for trying to understand the hardships of Israeli communities in range of Hamas rocket fire. That is something new and very creditable.’

The BBC’s ‘understanding’ means equating Hamas rockets which killed 11 people in 3 years with the deaths of 3,000 Palestinians in the same period. That is ‘balance’ but it is a ‘balance’ which has enabled Israel to massacre women and children with impunity. The BBC’s coverage is literally complicity in murder and war crimes.

And on 31st December 2008, as Israel’s barbaric attacks on Gaza’s civilian population began, the Jewish Chronicle’s Anshel Pfeffer crowed that ‘Israel claims success in the PR war’

The BBC has never been friendly to the Palestinians but since the Government and George Bush have given 100% support to Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians, the BBC has followed suit, afraid of another Lord Hutton style confrontation with New Labour.

The Pictures the BBC Won’t Show – the Truth the BBC Dare Not Tell