My Right Word: Al-Jazeera

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

So, Who Is 'Full of Lies'?

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s speech was "full of lies".

He pointed out that, although Netanyahu spoke about "the moral bankruptcy and dangers of denying the Holocaust", it was in fact Israel that "committed the biggest massacre of the century" when it launched its attack on Gaza that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in December and January of this year.

Lies?

Does Hamas lie?

Al-Jazeera?

Last May, four months later into the century, we read this:

Sri Lankan army accused of massacring 20,000 Tamil civilians in final assault More than 20,000 civilians were killed in the final government onslaught on the Tamil Tigers according to confidential United Nations estimates, it has been reported.

1400 (almost two-thirds of whom were terrorists) vs. 20,000?

You do the math.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

It's The Intention, My Dear

Al-Jazeera on Netanyahu - when a news outlet, even in the guise of commentary, slides into agitprop:

Jacky Rowland Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem said: "He was trying to convince his audience that Iran wasn’t just a problem for Israel but for the rest of the world.

"The only point of applause was when he repeated the formula of 'two states for two people' and I think it reflects the not very high regard that Israel is held in UN circles.

"He was trying to draw an analogy between the very crude small rockets fired from Gaza [into Israel], with the kind of bombs that Nazi Germany was dropping on major British cities and vice versa during the second word war.

"It's rather ludicrous to make those comparisons as the munitions are in no way comparable.

Jacky

is a former BBC Foreign Affairs correspondent so you have to excuse her lack of, well, morals.

Jacky, if a man attempts a sexual assault on you, does it make a difference to you if he can't, er, well, you know (at least that biological bit), but paws a little, getting you disheveled or not? Of course, he can't be tried for rape in court but he really did intend to do the dirty and he probably caused you a slight anxiety attack or whatever.

Now, multiply that by several thousands of rockets, mortars and such over eight years and you might comprehend that your throwaway "crude" and "ludicrous" remarks ares not only intellectually silly but morally corrupt.

Of course there is a comparison: both Nazi Germany and Hamas intended to kill as many civilians and destroy as many homes, factories and schools as possible.

And Gt. Britain, you know, the place you come from, burnt down, leveled and obliterated German towns, et al. in retaliation, something Israel didn't do in Gaza. So, actually, the real comparison is between England and Nazi Germany vs. Israel and Gaza and who do you think performed better from a humanist perspective of all four?

Yep - Israel.

And who displayed ignorance, bias and unfairness if not - Jacky Rowland.

Tsk, tsk.

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And check out Ehud Barak's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.