Protests against BBC coverage of Israeli military operation against the Palestinian refugee population in the Gaza strip are erupting across the UK, with thousands joining a call for fair, unbiased and contextual reporting of the events on the ground.
London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle saw marches to "protest at the BBC's biased reporting" as well as to gather signatures for an open letter to the BBC Director General. London took the main stage of the protest movement.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Campaign against Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and many other organizations, in the letter to the publicly funded broadcaster, say that the company is "duty-bound to provide balanced reporting without bias."
Instead, the organizers argue, the BBC's reporting of Israel's assault on Palestinians in the operation Protective Edge, fails to mention the years of occupation, deportations and siege Palestinians have lived through. "BBC's reporting of these assaults is entirely devoid of context or background," the organizers write.
Puppet Masters
Yet in 2011, alleged air strikes by Libyan government forces against its opponents were used as a reason for the imposition of a 'no-fly zone' which was followed by a NATO-led military intervention against Libya. We were told that the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was 'killing his own people' and had to be stopped. The deaths of over 200 people in Libya was, according to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 'unacceptable'. But the Ukrainian government is killing its own people today, and despite more than 200 people being killed (as of 10th July the number of civilian deaths was 478, including seven children), western leaders do not say that the Ukrainian leader, Petro Poroshenko, has to be stopped, or that the bloodshed is 'unacceptable' and nor are there any calls for a 'no-fly zone' to be imposed. Why is it acceptable for the Ukrainian government to launch a military offensive, including air strikes against its own people, but unacceptable for the Libyan government in 2011 to do likewise? I'm confused. Can anyone help me?
© REX
A number of allegations of child sex abuse emerged after MP Cyril Smith's death.
A number of allegations of child sex abuse emerged after MP Cyril Smith's death.
The former civil servant has told detectives investigating the activities of paedophiles in national politics that the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch was orchestrating the child-sex lobbying group in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The whistleblower, who has spoken exclusively to the Sunday Express, says he was also warned off asking why such a notorious group was being handed government money.
It emerged late last year that PIE was twice gave amounts of £35,000 in Home Office funding between 1977 and 1980, the £70,000 total equivalent to over £400,000 in today's money.
Those details surfaced only after the whistleblower highlighted his concerns to campaigning Labour MP Tom Watson and his revelations have triggered an ongoing Home Office inquiry into why the cash was given to PIE which was abolished in 1985 after a number of prosecutions.
Until now, speculation about the grant has centred on Clifford Hindley, the late Home Office manager who approved the payments. However, the whistleblower told the Sunday Express he thought higher and more sinister powers were at play.
He has given a formal statement to that effect to detectives from Operation Fernbridge, which is looking into allegations of historic sex abuse at the Elm Guest House in south-west London.
Until now, the U.S. has insisted on hitting Russia with penalties in concert with Europe in order to maximize the impact and present a united Western front. The European Union has a far stronger economic relationship with Russia, making the 28-nation bloc's participation key to ensuring sanctions packages have enough teeth to deter Russia.
But those same economic ties have made Europe fearful that tougher penalties against Russia could boomerang and hurt their own economies. After weeks of inaction, the officials say the U.S. is now prepared to move forward alone if EU officials fail to enact strong sanctions during a meeting Wednesday in Brussels.
The U.S. official cautioned that no final decisions would be made until after the European meeting and said the administration's preference was still to coordinate punishments with Russia. The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name.
Comment: The current sanctions do not appear to be working, yet the neocons controlling US policy continue to think they can create their own reality.
US failing to push economic sanctions against Russia through EU allies
Anti-Russian unity crumbling: 9 EU countries ready to block economic sanctions against Russia
Russia may impose retaliatory sanctions against West if third wave of isolation measures is introduced
Russian sanctions? You Must be Joking! Russia Holds All the Cards!
© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 14, 2014.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 14, 2014.
More than one reporter during Monday's press briefing referred to a front-page Wall Street Journal article highlighting some of those crises, and citing security strategists as saying "the breadth of global instability now unfolding hasn't been seen since the late 1970s."
"How does the White House react to the notion that the president is a bystander to all these crises?" asked Fox News' Ed Henry, citing the widening gaps between the sides in the Iranian nuclear talks, the conflict in and around Gaza, and the Syrian civil war.
"I think that there have been a number of situations in which you've seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way, that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the, uh, you know, the - the tranquility of the global community," Earnest replied.
Comment: What planet is this man living on? There are so many countries and entire regions in complete upheaval due to the US machinations, that it almost defies belief! Here are just a few current examples:
U.S. responsible for Ukraine crisis after investing $5bn in destabilization and regime change
VIDEO: U.S. fighting alongside ISIS, playing both sides of the conflict
Western powers now compete to carve up Libya for themselves
Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction?
© Reuters/Mohammed Salem
A woman walks past a mural in Gaza City
A woman walks past a mural in Gaza City
And Congress - indeed almost all of official Washington - is speaking with almost one voice: we stand with Israel. Israel has the right to "defend" itself. No country would stand by and allow this. But something is different this time. And not only that the assault is different, and worse.
The difference is the political environment in which this attack is happening, especially the political environment here in the United States. For those of us who've been working on changing US policy in the Middle East for decades, the bad news is in front of us every day: that policy hasn't changed, and billions of dollars in aid money and uncritical political, diplomatic and military support for Israel remains constant.
Comment: There may be change in public opinion regarding Israel, but unfortunately the mainstream media is still controlled and the reports are horrifically biased in favor of Israel.
What the media isn't telling you about Israel's attack on Gaza
Zionist ABC airs Gaza bombing devastation images - says it's in Israel
Psychopathic 'Morality': The Truth Behind the Kidnapping and Murder of 3 Israeli Teens
© GCHQ via CNET
GCHQ in Cheltenham
GCHQ in Cheltenham
GCHQ has developed a toolkit of software programs used to manipulate online traffic, infiltrate users' computers and spread select messages across social media sites including Facebook and YouTube.
The UK spy agency's dark arts were revealed in documents first published by The Intercept, and each piece of software is described in a wiki document written up by GCHQ's Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG). The document, which reads like a software inventory, calls the tools part of the agency's "weaponised capability."
Some of the most interesting capabilities of the tools on the list include the ability to seed the web with false information - such as tweaking the results of online polls - inflating pageview counts, censoring video content deemed "extremist" and the use of psychological manipulation on targets - something similar to a research project conducted with Facebook's approval, which resulted in heavy criticism and outrage levied at the social media site.
© AP
Pro Palestinian protest, Paris. July 13 2014.
Pro Palestinian protest, Paris. July 13 2014.
There have been numerous protests in Europe and North America, which though still relatively small, reflect the growth of popular understanding of the criminal character of the one-sided "war" against Gaza.
Since the non-stop air strikes began on Gaza July 7, Israel has carried out more than 1,300 bomb and missile attacks on the Gaza Strip, an average of one massive explosion every nine minutes, 24 hours a day.
Amid reports that Israel's security cabinet was to meet early Tuesday morning to consider a cease-fire proposal advanced by the Egyptian regime, there was no letup in this onslaught, and Israeli troops and tanks remained poised on the border of Gaza for a potential ground invasion.
Hamas and other Palestinian groups have fired more than 900 rockets, but there is no comparison in terms of the damage inflicted. The rockets are primitive and unguided, most hit open land; not one Israeli has been killed. Every Israeli bomb and missile finds some human target in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on the planet, with more than 10,000 people in each square mile.
The death toll among Palestinians in Gaza stood at over 185, as of this writing Monday. The vast majority of these are civilians, not fighters in any of the Palestinian armed groups, and a significant number, at least 50, are children. At least 1,200 more Gazans have been wounded.
© AP photo
A man brings a wounded Palestinian into the Shifa hospital after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City on July 12, 2014.
A man brings a wounded Palestinian into the Shifa hospital after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City on July 12, 2014.
She survived an Israeli strike in the early hours of Saturday morning that hit a care home for Palestinians with special needs.
Two of her fellow residents were not so lucky. Thirty-year-old Ola Washahi and 47-year-old Suha Abu Saada were killed when the rocket slammed into the home, destroying it.
The two women's body parts were still being pulled from the rubble hours later, causing initial confusion over whether another person had been killed. The facility's director, Jamila Alaywa, is unable to contain her fury as she describes the tragedy that has befallen the centre she set up in 1994.
"Both Ola and Suha had severe mental and physical handicaps, and had been living at the centre since it was founded," she told AFP.
The building in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya housed 13 residents, including some who were on weekend visits at their family homes when the strike hit. Five residents and a helper were inside, screaming in terror as the building collapsed around them.
"They didn't understand what was happening and they were so frightened," Alaywa said. "They fired the rocket and it hit us without any warning. There was no warning strike with an empty rocket," she added.
Israel has said it tries to minimize civilian casualties by firing a small missile at a target first, to give non-combatants a chance to leave.
Comment: Psychopathic morality: "It's okay, we'll just shoot you in the leg first so you have a chance to limp away before we set the dogs loose. It's only fair to give you a sporting chance after all."
Anti-dollar alliance: BRICS establish $100bn bank and currency reserves to counter Western dominance
© AFP Photo
(L to R) Russia's President Vladimir Putin, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, China's President Xi Jinping and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma join their hands during the official photograph of the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, on July 15, 2014
(L to R) Russia's President Vladimir Putin, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, China's President Xi Jinping and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma join their hands during the official photograph of the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, on July 15, 2014
The new bank will provide money for infrastructure and development projects in BRICS countries, and unlike the IMF or World Bank, each nation has equal say, regardless of GDP size.
"BRICS Bank will be one of the major multilateral development finance institutions in this world," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The big launch of the BRICS bank is seen as a first step to break the dominance of the US dollar in global trade, as well as dollar-backed institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, both US-based institutions BRICS countries have little influence within.
"In terms of escalating international competition the task of activating the trade and investment cooperation between BRICS member states becomes important," Putin said.
Comment: Check out another excellent 'I'm confused' article from Neil Clark here:
Occupation of Government building was a sign of democracy in January but a sign of terrorism in April! I'm confused, can anyone help me?