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Wednesday, February 16, 2005

The BBC's Inspiring Thought

From Honest Reporting.com:

Every morning at 7:45, BBC Radio provides listeners with an inspiring 'Thought for the Day' from a religious cleric or philosopher. On the program's February 10 edition, Rev. Dr. John Bell (at right) used the platform to describe an Arab-Israeli acquaintance of his ― 'Adam' ― who was

conscripted into the Israeli Army. There he had distinguished himself as a good soldier and was made a corporal. He was also imprisoned for refusing to shoot unarmed schoolchildren.

Through our BackSpin weblog, HonestReporting encouraged subscribers to notify the BBC that 1) Arab-Israelis are not 'conscripted' into the IDF (though some volunteer to serve), and 2) the claim that the IDF orders officers to 'shoot unarmed schoolchildren' ― under penalty of imprisonment ― is outrageous, libelous, and completely unsubstantiated.

In response to letters of protest, BBC removed Bell's sound clip and transcript from its online archives ― but not before HonestReporting captured the transcript on our weblog (as publicized through the popular COP 'Daily Alert').

BBC has since issued an official apology for not 'fact-checking' that Israeli-Arabs are not conscripted. However, neither Bell nor the BBC has retracted the libelous claim ― broadcast to millions worldwide ― that the IDF would order an officer 'to shoot unarmed schoolchildren.'

Comments to BBC Radio: click here

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The background image on this page is a Hebrew translation of the verse from Bob Dylan's song  It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), from which the title of this blog is taken. Translation courtesy of Yoram Aharon of Hod-HaSharon's page--found via YudelLine-- which has many Dylan lyrics in Hebrew.