A Begrudging BBC

Maybe it's the BBC that stinks?

The BBC, even when Israel does something right, reports it begrudgingly, on a new Israeli non-violent method of crowd dispersal:-

The beauty of Skunk - if beauty is the right word - is that it is said to be completely organic.

No illegal chemicals, no proscribed substances - just a thoroughly disgusting mix of yeast, baking powder and a few other "secret" ingredients.

The Israeli police force has high hopes of turning Skunk into a commercial venture and selling it to law-enforcement agencies overseas.

Superintendent David Ben Harosh treats Skunk as something of a pet project. The way he hugged the litre bottle of dirty, green liquid close to his chest as we talked was odd - most people would surely keep it at arm's length.

"It's totally harmless, you can even drink it," boasted Superintendent Harosh - as though encouraging me to swallow a mouthful.

Reporters will sometimes go the "extra mile" to add authenticity to their story, but not this time. No way.

For human rights groups, the jury is still out on Skunk. They object to the arbitrary way in which innocent bystanders can be soaked with the stuff - having to suffer for days afterwards. [er, what innocent bystanders? if you are near a demo that gets violent and the police announce it's illegal and plan to break it up and ypu're still there - you're not innocent although you may be an idiot]

Then again, protestors and villagers are still being killed and seriously injured in the West Bank by more conventional weapons.

As unpleasant and as disgusting as it is, being sprayed with Skunk may ultimately be preferable to being hit by a rubber-coated bullet or choking and vomiting under the effects of tear-gas or pepper-spray.

And they did it some two months after I did (see here)!