BBC pays £200,000 to 'COVER UP' report on ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS
By
Paul Revoir
[Daily Mail-TV Correspondent]
THE BBC is spending £200,000 [of
taxpayers' money] to prevent publication of a report on alleged bias in
its Middle East reporting.
It will fight a landmark High Court
action next week appealing against a ruling under the
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
-that the findings should be
revealed.
last night it faced the twin accusation
that it was wasting licence payers money and that it was guilty of
GROSS HYPOCRISY
-having used the
Freedom of Information
-legislation itself to break news
stories.
The Balen report was compiled in 2004
by BBC editorial advisor Malcolm Balen after allegations of
pro-Palestinian bias in BBC reporting.
London solicitor Steven Sugar, who is
Jewish, has been fighting ever since to have its findings made public.
The report is believed to run to 20,000
words and to be critical of the corporation's coverage in the region.
BBC bosses have faced repeated claims
that their reporting of the Arab-Israeli conflict has been skewed
towards the Palestine cause.
One particularly controversial incident
came when Middle East correspondent Barbara Plett revealed that she had
cried as Yasser Arafat was close to death in 2004.
But politicians say the corporation's
decision to pursue the case - appealing against a ruling by the
Freedom of Information adjudicator
-is 'absolutely indefensible' on an is
of clear public interest.
They say it also flies in the face of
the stated BBC policy of
OPENNESS and TRANSPARENCY
The Corporation has hired one of the
country's top public law barristers to fight the case, which has the
potential to run all the way to the
EUROPEAN COURT in STRASBOURG
It claims it is defending a principle,
that public broadcasters should not have to disclose material that is
held for purposes of
'Journalism, art or literature.'
-and that it should be allowed to
protect the integrity of its journalists.
But its determination to fight has only
served to intensify suspicions that Balen was damning in his assessment.
Conservative MP David Davis said:
'An organisation which is funded partly
to scrutinize governments and other institutions in Britain appears to
be using taxpayers' money to prevent its customers from finding out how
it is operating.
THAT IS INDEFENSIBLE.
'I think the BBC is guilty of shameful
hypocrisy. What could possibly be in the report that could be worth
£200,000 to bury?
'WHAT IS IT THEY FEEL IS SO AWFUL IN
THIS REPORT?'
The Corporation was accused of
anti-Israeli bias last year when it wrongly reported that a Lebanese
town had been wiped out. It received a string of complaints but stood by
the dispatch , arguing that anyone who had seen the pictures would have
found it hard to contest the scale of destruction.
In 2004 the Israeli Government wrote to
the BBC accusing its then Middle East correspondent Oria Guerin of anti-Semitism
and 'total identification with the goals and methods of the Palestinian
terror groups' in a report on a would -be suicide bomber.
She was moved from her role as Middle
East correspondent at the end of 2005
The Israeli Government also imposed a
boycott on the Corporation in 2003 following a documentary about the
country's weapons of mass destruction.
While the BBC did not publish the Balen
Report., it did last year make public the findings of an independent
panel report into report into the issue of impartiality on the
Middle East.
That report said that the BBC's
approach had at times been
'INCONSISTENT'
-but that many viewers felt that if
there was any bias at all, it was pro-Israel.
Critics , however, claimed that the
independent panel report only took a snapshot of the BBC's activities
and should have looked more deeply at the reporting of the worst moments
of the conflict.
Mr Sugar said he was prepared to take
the case all the way to Europe.
'This is an important document which
will give us an insight into what the BBC thinks of its own performance,
he said.'
I would like to see the BBC facing up
to its professed interest in
TRANSPARENCY and OPENNESS.'
*
*
[SO
WOULD WE]
[Each separate word has a bulletin]
-on our Front Page we have listed the
monthly coverage by the BBC in respect of the
Anti-EU contributors
*
[Font Altered-Bolding & Underlining
Used-Comments in Brackets]
MARCH/07
*
*
THE PEOPLE HAVE
SPOKEN-IS THE EU COMMISSION LISTENING?
*
Ditch the EU
TREATY after IRISH REJECTION
SAY VOTERS
by
Daniel
Martin
Political
Reporter
[Daily Mail-Wednesday, June
18,2008]
MORE THAN HALF of voters believe Britain should
drop the controversial European Treaty in the wake of its
rejection in last week's
IRISH REFERENDUM'
The poll comes as the Tories launch a last-ditch
bid in the
HOUSE of LORDS
today to delay the
RATIFICATION OF
THE TREATY.
And
10,000 people
have signed a
PETITION
on the
DOWNING STREET-
WEBSITE
within the past few days
JUNE16-2008
, calling on the
GOVERNMENT
NOT TO RATIFY THE BILL
[WHY DON'T YOU?]
Downing Street
website is
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Abandon-Lisbon/
*
JUNE 18-2008
|
*
13th October,2007
So You Want Out
Of The EU
THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE
RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout
Details from petition creator
With the signing of the Maastricht
Treaty the people of Britain were given
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
-both
EUROPEAN and BRITISH
The extra tier of citizenship was
thrust upon the people without their consent -and in many cases
knowledge.
The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be
allowed the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so
wish. The GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted
out with
BRITISH DOCUMENTATION
-only such as British (not EU)
passports, driving licences and other national documents.
EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who
HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP
[PETITION OPEN UNTIL
OCTOBER 08]
*
Let the people speak!
www.makeitanissue.org.uk
*
www.noliberties.com
[Latest Addition - June07]
*
www.eutruth.org.uk
*
www.thewestminsternews.co.uk
*
www.speakout.co.uk
*
Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION
to the EU
www.telegraph.co.uk.blogs
*
GORDON BROWN WANTS TRUST-BUT WHY WON'T
HE TRUST YOU?
HELL ON EARTH IN IRAQ
*
67% want powers back from
EU-ICM poll-June 21-2007-95%
of British people want a
REFERENDUM
*
PETITION
FOR A
REFERENDUM
SIGN TODAY ON LINE
telegraph.co.uk/eureferendum
*
July 18-2007
VOTE
-2007
TO
LEAVE
THE
EUROPEAN
UNION
WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE
TO SET YOU
FREE
THE
UK
INDEPENDENCE PARTY
www.ukip.org
THE QUESTION THAT THE
VOTER MUST ANSWER
‘DO
YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAW AND CUSTOM OR BY THE
CORRUPT ,EXPENSIVE UNACCOUNTABLE AND CORRUPT ALIEN BUSYBODY BRUSSELS’
-SIMPLE IS IT NOT?
TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T VOTE
FOR THE TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER
BUT
SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR MINDS
WITHOUT SPIN AND LIES.
*
ONLY
PRO-PORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION
WILL
BRING
DEMOCRACY
BACK
TO
THE
ENGLISH
PEOPLE
*
SCOTLAND
-ITS PARLIAMENT -WALES-ITS
ASSEMBLY-ENGLAND-STILL
AWAITS ITS PARLIAMENT-WHY?
*
Home
Rule
for
Scotland
WHY
NOT
HOME
RULE
for
ENGLAND
*
[All underlined words have a
separate bulletin]
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