Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Continuing on the story presented below in The BBC's non-apology apology, Honest Reporting's Backspin blog reports a letter to the editor in the Scotland Herald from Church of Scotland official Sandy Gemmill:
It is therefore surprising that the BBC and the Rev John Bell should apologise for having broadcast such an item on the radio.
Two thousand years ago there was a man in Israel who used such uncorroborated tales of Samaritans, servants, agricultural workers, sheep, weddings and the like to illustrate various controversial points. Clearly the passage of time has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Israeli authorities to speak out against such tales and take action to suppress apparent lies. [Emphasis added]
The foundation of the attack against Dr Bell appears to be based on a concern regarding anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, any criticism of the Israeli government and the actions of the State of Israel is now taken as being anti-Semitic. Such a term should be reserved for hostility or discrimination against Jews for simply being Jewish or for observing the Jewish faith. The term should not be used to deflect unfavourable comments about the way that governments abuse their powers.
The Israeli government is no different from those in authority in, for example, Great Britain and the United States. Governments are like monoliths in exercising power on behalf of the people and from time to time must be reminded of the need to see beyond their own self-centred interests to those of the human race. If an uncorroborated story concerning any member of the Israeli Army, real or imaginary, can aid that process then that should be applauded.
So let's say I didn't much care for some of the political activities of the Church of Scotland (the Scottish version of our Presbyterians, coincidentally), and I wanted to discredit them, would that mean it would be OK to start giving interviews saying that Sandy Gemmill buggers boys, and I know because one of the little buggerees told me himself?
Of course not, it would be outrageous. As Mellanie Phillips wrote:
But then, the idea that it's OK to just make up anything as long as it serves a desired purpose no matter the consequences of the lie - in this case, perpetuating the image of Jews as monstrous Nazis and feeding already wide-spread Judenhass - is something always tempting, and particularly vogue today, as we'll see in the next entry.
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