Just 50 complaints can stop the BBC's biased reporting on the Israeli Army's attacks on the unarmed civilians in the Freedom Flotilla.
Throughout this entire week when the Flotilla has been getting closer to Gaza, despite the numerous threats by the Israelis, the mainstream media (except the Guardian) in this country have given it barely any air time at all.
Just three simple actions by you can ensure that the crimes being committed by Israel are reported accurately:
1.Call the BBC on 0370-010-0222 (then choose 'Option 1' and then 'Option 3') to ask why they are being biased in their report when it is clear that the Freedom Flotilla has unarmed civilians and that the Israeli Army is the aggressor. Please include the following in your complaint:
- Why do they not provide balanced coverage by giving peace activists equal air time to the Israeli spokesmen?
- Why do they fail to question Israeli claims when Israel has previously been proven to have lied about attacks on peace activists such as Tom Hurndall?
2.Write to your MP via www.writetothem.com demanding your MP condemn Israel for it's actions and call for sanctions against Israel.
3.Tell all your family and friends to do the same
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http://www.tsmy.org
BBC online complaints form.
Saying that, today they were playing the palestinian sympathy card a bit... they were interviewing the sister of one of the activists - she had no information about her and was strugglying to hold back tears in her interview. Cynical, but it shows human emotions.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
LOBBY Today at 5 at the Israeli embassie
36 hours after twenty unarmed civilians on board the international humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza were killed by Israeli naval forces, there has been no clear information of the names of those murdered, what has happened to the British citizens captured on the ship, or what steps our government is taking to ensure t...hey all return to Britain safely.
We demand that the Foreign Secretary immediately asks for the release of all British citizens; for the aid carried on the ships to be sent to Gaza and swift action to end the illegal siege.
Take action:
1) Ring the FCO asking what action is being taken to secure the safe and speedy release of the British citizens on the Gaza flotilla
2) Email Nick Clegg (cleggn@parliament.uk) and your local MP (find via http://www.parliament.uk) to lobby the Foreign Secretary on your behalf calling for a safe and speedy return of those on the flotilla and for an immediate end to the siege on Gaza
Useful numbers
• Foreign office switchboard: 020 7008 1500
• Emergency 24 hour assistance for Britons Abroad: 020 7008 1500
• British Embassy in Tel Aviv 24 hour number for emergencies: 00972 3725 1222
• British Consulate for OPT: East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip: 24 hour switchboard, 00972 02 541 4100
Write to your MP.
I know that sounds petty, and the mass protests around the world are also getting attention. But Israel really does not care who dislikes their actions.
But if enough people wrote to their MP expressing outrage then surely the MPs would back the government to take a tougher stance. Join a facebook group, sign online petitions.. But a word of caution, forget those facebook groups decrying Israel as an enemy state or worse. We need to be forceful but at the same time engage with the Israelis to end the blockade of Gaza.
And Turkey needs to join the EU!
This could have been considered an act of war. Joining the EU would have at least forced the rest of Europe to commit to trade sanctions against an attacker of an EU vessel.
You should also send faxes and emails to Muslim embassies and consulates demanding what they are going to do! They have tens of millions of army personnel just sitting in their barracks - all outraged too by what's happening to their brothers and sisters - our rulers could exert decisive influence on Israel to change her policies. Especially, those policies that are blatantly allowing such tyranny to continue - the politics of demographics - divide the palestinians into multiple states so that in Israel proper, a small minority remain who cannot influence "democratic" elections! This political manipulation doesn't solve anything but creates more suspicion, anger and violent responses!
Why is a one state solution not considered? For over a millenium Muslims, Christians and Jews have lived in peace TOGETHER under Islamic Caliphate rule, but since British intervention and subsequently Zionist governance, we see nothing but bloodshed, hate and killings. Surely the solution is to return to Islamic rule there, that allows all religious communities protection and permission to practice their faiths and culture in peace and harmony and kick out the zionists who are stirring hatred and divisions! Simple elections in the territory (including refugees who were kicked out) will bring in a non-zionist government. Your thoughts would be welcome.
Erm, apart from the Israeli military being far more powerful than their nearest middle east opposition. they also have nuclear and biological weapons and would happily use them. Nobody is going to rise up to them, they would face certain defeat and possibly worse.
Sure, tell the Jews of Israel that they need to get their money ready for the Jizya and the countdown to all out war starts right there. Religious rule is something we should be moving away from, only a secular democracy would allow Jews, Christians and Muslims to live side by side in peace.
Maybe you can explain why they were unable to defeat Hizbullah in Lebanon last year? Why didn't they use nukes on them? Nuclear weapons have fallout and using it in countries immediately surrounding Israel is impossible as the fallout would wipe out Israel too.
You may have not noticed but Pak has nuclear weapons too - they alone could wipe Israel from the map with a few missiles.
Taking on Israel however can be done in a number of ways minimising loss of life - using economic, cultural, transit, media and military styles in combination. Choking trade and transit routes (land and air) makes it very difficult for Israel as does an economic boycott by the middle eastern countries. Applying unified collective pressure on Europe/US for its resources and economic markets can result in them applying pressure on Israel too. Atrocities committed like the recent war on Gaza provides pretexts or military humanitarian intervention or collective war against Israel - which would be difficult to critique on the international stage. The list goes on...
Sure, tell the Jews of Israel that they need to get their money ready for the Jizya and the countdown to all out war starts right there. Religious rule is something we should be moving away from, only a secular democracy would allow Jews, Christians and Muslims to live side by side in peace.
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Maybe you didn't read my point - Under Islamic Caliphate rule peace was achieved as unlike secular systems and other religions, Islam permits multi-religious societies to live together in harmony, each practicing their religions, cultures and religious laws peacefully (security is provided by the state and a basic tax called jizya is paid by these communities who do not have to participate in security). This is not even permitted by secular societies - since when do they let Muslim communities practice sharia? The forced integration of Muslims in Europe through Hijab bans etc is indicative of secular intolerance despite the facade of slogans arguing freedom of religion. The last 6 decades of secular zionist rule in Palestine has resulted in bloodshed and hatred, that over 1300 years of Islamic rule in the same region in its entirety did not experience!
letter sent by MCB:
The only way hou can call their war ahainst hizbollah as unsuccessful is if you compare it against the (unrealistic) objective they set out with which was to eradicate hezbollah.
The war was devastating for hezbollah and the lebanese even if osraels military objectives were not fullt satisfied. I would not call that a loss for Israel.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is today calling for the immediate release of all peace activists illegally taken hostage by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) during their attack on the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza.
Betty Hunter General Secretary of PSC said:
“There is no justification in law for the Israeli Government imprisoning 600 peace activists, without access to legal representatives, for another minute. Those held illegally by the Israeli Government have committed no crime; they have simply attempted to avert a humanitarian disaster by bringing much needed medical supplies into Gaza.”
Speaking specifically on Sarah Colborne, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Director of Campaigns and Operations who was travelling on the Mavi Marmara and is presently being held by the Israeli Government Betty said:
“For over ten years, Sarah has been committed to working for justice for the Palestinian people and bringing peace to the region. In recent years she has led PSC’s Campaign team, a job that she has done with huge success and one that we hope she will be returning to very shortly. The thoughts of all the staff and all PSC members are with Sarah at this time.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Over 600 people are presently being illegally held hostage by the Israeli Government, without access to Lawyers.
There are 28 UK nationals among the hostages
There will be a national demonstration on Saturday 5th June to protest at the deaths of innocent peace activists, the illegal detention of over 600 people travelling on the flotilla and to call for the end of the blockade of Gaza. The march will set off from Downing Street and end in a rally outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington.
I had posed, why could they not defeat Hizbullah? Why didn't they use nukes? They struggle to defeat a rag tag group and they tell us they are indefeatable? Do they think we are stupid?
The US states is the most powerful nation on earth - why couldn't they put down the Iraq insurgency by a small number of people militarily without political deals? Why are they struggling in afghanistan against the most backward and poorest of countries?
Anyone observing these things can see that any nation can be defeated - one simply needs to outthink them! This is what the Prophet(saw) taught us in Badr with his superior strategy of dominating the wells...
Your outlook on war seems to be extremely naive.
Hizbollah did lose. Their only victory was a moral victory of continuing to exist. That they did was mot due to their strength but because the war was bad for Israeli PR. While Israel my not use WMD when attacking a rag tag group of people, there is no certainty it wouldn't if it thought its existence was under threat.
Re the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are mostly killimg each other and not invaders. That the US failed to pacify the refions does not mean they never won the wars decisively. The insurgencies are not a sign of defeating the invaders and comparing these insurgencies to the battle of badr is an insult to all muslims IMO.
Muslims are spilling the blood of muslims and you see that as a success... it is anything but a good thing. It is easy to be jingoistic when we are safely in the UK but people there are being killed while out shopping or trying to earn a living!
If you class these as victories, I wonder what you class as defeats? Blood is not something that should be considered cheap
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
You still have not answered "why could Israel not defeat Hizbullah"! Addressing straw men arguments is not the same as addressing the argument I posed.
You conflate two issues with your argument that Israel would use WMD "if is existence was under threat" thereby negating the argument.
- There is the existence of the civilians of Israel and
- the political regime and the military that supports it
The latter is what Muslims want dismantled and destroyed not the former. For Israel to use WMD the former would have to come under threat of annihilation which noone proposes (including myself as Islam prohibits it). Otherwise the same nukes would wipe out the people it's meant to protect from nuclear fallout - a point you've basic point missed in your analysis.
Insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan could not be put down militarily by the world's super or hyper-power and they had to resort to buying out political leaders. If the leaders had not sold out the Americans would be in a never ending quagmire (resembling Vietnam!)
Muslims need to realise the simple point that victory is ultimately from Allah and we should believe these fantasies that the US or Israel are invincible. It is just propaganda put out by these states to preserve themselves and prevent people rising up against them - they are hardly likely to encourage the opposite! Hizbullah, Afghanistan and Iraq (as well as historically countries like Vietnam) have shown that these powers can be defeated and should be defeated when they come to exploit us, kill our innocent civilians, incite sectarian hatred amongst us and impose puppet governments over us - historically Salahadin, mamluks, the murabitun, muwahidun et al showed how this should be done via jihad fi sabeelillah.
US and Israelis apologists should be condemned and told to have confidence in Islam and Muslim if they call themselves Muslims.
They did defeat hezbollah. They failed to eradicte them and their weapons, but that was not a realistic possibility anyway.
To pretend that hezbollah were not defeated is ludicrous.
You seem to either be ignoring the thousands of muslim lives taken in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, or consider them cheap, expendable. I am not happy with either of those positions.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
//To pretend that hezbollah were not defeated is ludicrous.//
I'm not pretending - I'm stating your conclusion is little more than Israeli and US propaganda which one can adopt if they choose - remmeber Bush stated Hezbollah suffered a defeat at the hands of Israel. (Ref: "President Discusses Foreign Policy During Visit to State Department". White House. August 14, 2006)
The fact Hezbollah were not eradicated and were left standing, with people, weapons and defences intact, meant they were not defeated.
What I say is not pretence but a valid viewpoint even according to other observers though I would not go as far as to say that Hezbollah were victorious - I would be more constrained and say they were not defeated and noone won - imagine Israel taking on a determined state or states:
- The Economist magazine concluded Hezbollah emerged with a military and political victory.
- The Winograd Commission Report said "Israel initiated a long war, which ended without a defined military victory". The report continued to state that "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages". Furthermore, Hezbollah's rocket attacks continued throughout the war and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it."
- The US Congressional Research Service argued Hezbollah's long-term potential as a guerrilla movement remained intact: "Observers note that Hezbollah’s leaders have been able to claim a level of 'victory' simply by virtue of not having decisively 'lost'."
I'm not sure why you bring in the point of "my ignoring innocent lives" or "considering the cheap and expendable" - like many other points and discussions that could be had, they are separate issues which I have not addressed and your conclusions regarding my views on them as such are wrong - and appear more to be seeking a stick to beat me with. My view on loss of innocent lives is that it is unacceptable.
Pakistan could not wipe out Israel and anyone who thinks that is dreaming!
Plus, Pakistan has India to worry about, India has a larger military and also plenty of nuclear weapons. In fact you could say the current situation between the two is a cold war. and Pakistan has internal problems to deal with, they are a slip away from becoming a failed state!
As for Israel not beating Hezbollah. Similar reason for the US not defeating the Taliban. They could do it, if they didn't care about the rest of the world and turned that whole area into a car park. But then the world would look upon them with disgust and would ultimately lead to their downfall.
and then also get nuked. Not exactly a winning scenario. You see to consider Muslim blood cheap.
The place is connected to the sea so the idea of blocking access via the land routes or even the air corridors over that land does not mean anything. Economic, transit and media measures do exist already - turn on Press TV and I am sure they constantly berate Israel. A lot of media does too especially at the moment. But these are not military measures and mentioning military next to the list does not make them any more effective.
(Added note: due to the peace pact with Egypt with which the Sinai was returned to Egypt, there is trade there. but that was not there before and that still did not make a difference.)
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
You missed the point - Israel can threaten all it likes, Muslims can threaten back - Israel could not use nukes in close proximity due to nuclear fall out and even if she did she knows she can be wiped out. Are you suggesting Pak not use nukes if Israel uses them???
In conventional warfare, a military like Pak could destroy Israel - problem is the sell out leaders across the middle east who would never let a pak military through!
Your strategy appears to be let Israel exist and kill Muslims without any military trying to defend them - Muslim blood is cheap seems to be your proposal - and also, let's not forget, we'll send in some plasters from some school kids to help! Interesting...
Nope - Press TV is just a strategy of media attack which is useless.
An integrated strategy is needed of which a vital component is military solution - landlocking Israel and preventing anything going in or out like what she is doing to the Gazzans is possible but Muslim rulers choose not to do it - with a prolonged military attack along with landlocking Israel along with a media response explaining why we are doing this to the world, the problem can be solved!
Maybe you have a solution? Or more likely you don't!
I never suggested I have a solution.
I am just telling you that yours is stupid beyond imagination.
The statuds quo is bad, your solution to it is worse. Nukes are not a clean weapon and your suggesting of their use is... I assume you have some justification that allows Muslims to use nukes and you would use to defend its use... ?
Why do you think Pakistans military is so strong as to be able to fight and win a war thousands of miles away when the situation inside pakistan itself is not too stable?
Your solution results in potentially millions of deaths (and no, people will not stand still where only the enemy is in a single location...).
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.