This is a guest post from Margie in Tel Aviv
Even when Julie Burchill is being serious, her articles are delightful, filled with anecdote and personality . In an article last week in the Jerusalem Post assessing the attitude of the UK media to Israel I learned that “some of the broadsheet newspapers only really get excited – really excited, parasexual excited – about one thing: Israel behaving badly!”
Since the British media have taken the most negative possible view of the happenings in this part of the world since we defended our civilians from the Gazan missiles, I expect that they have spent the time being considerably excited which might explain the huge amount of time and space that the Guardian for one, has devoted to a negative take on Israel. The documenting of the ballyhooed voyage of the Mavi Marmara was given royal Guardian treatment until the evidence mounted up overwhelmingly that Israel was (as usual) telling the truth. This included an hour-long video which was released by the NYTimes where a bit of careful listening proved that the attack on the Israeli soldiers was pre-planned. Watch and listen to it here where AKUS has highlighted the voices and transcribed the dialogue. The Guardian, it seems, doesn’t ‘’do’’ apologies. Neither does it ‘’do’’ approval of Israel. It reverted to the subject with an accusation made only in print though not officially to Israel’s police that Israeli soldiers used some flotilla dupes’ debit cards.
I wonder whether anybody important approved Greenslade’s blog where once again the photographs discussed make it clear that it was Israel telling the truth and not Turkey or the media-struck dupes who gave interviews about the bad bad bad Israelis. Turks were angered to see what these photographs revealed about the jihadis on board, as Greenslade says
“Pro-government newspapers immediately accused the Dogan group of playing into Israel’s hands by publishing the photos.”
Watch this video of Mark Regev being interviewed by Jon Snow, also discussed by Ms Burchill.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b06gRN_tL74]
Snow (‘’a rather strange man”), completely convinced of Israel’s guilt though the only information he had was what was in the public domain spiced generously by his own adherence to the UK media’s assessment of Israel, asks Regev in schoolmasterly hectoring tones whether Israel will behave as Snow would wish in the future.
Do yourself a favour and read Burchill’s description of the background to the interview. The whole article is at the same time refreshing common sense about the situation and an exposure of the ridiculous lengths to which the UK media will go in pursuit of their goal of the demonising of Israel.
